Updates | Princely Umanmielen & Kelee Ringo

– Super K

***As we mentioned Monday, Kelee Ringo, is in town. By my count this is the third time Ringo has been to Austin.

He’s currently on spring break and with SXSW going on and practice happening he’s going to get more of the best Austin and UT have to offer.

He spent most of the week in Austin.

Safe to say Texas is somewhere at or near the top in this fight.

***On the Princely Umanmielen front, he recently took a visit to Texas A&M. Going into that visit, I get the sense Texas was his leader.

I think Texas A&M made a big move. TAMU was able to really explain and show Princely exactly how he would be used in their system. Sounds like the visit was good on many fronts, including the connection with coaching staff.

After that visit, I’d say TAMU has pulled even when Texas. I’d say Texas is 1a and 1b.

Other schools to watch are going to be TCU, OU and LSU. Princely is set to visit all three schools later this month. He plans to take some officials this spring/summer and make a decision.

Don’t feel this one will drag out much longer.

Sourced | Spring Practice Notes

– Super K

Talking to a few sources about closed practice period, I heard the following…

***Remember last year when we kept hearing from our sources that Keaontay Ingram would be climbing the depth chart, very quickly? This year we are hearing similar things about Jordan Whittington. Was told he is already impressing. One source said he’s so explosive and he is physically there that it shouldn’t surprise anyone if by the time the season rolls around, Whittington is the clear second team back (Ingram being the starter of course).

***Was told that during team period, Bru McCoy housed one for 60 or 70 yards.

Crazy thing was, I heard it was a slant that in ran that distance for a TD!

Taking a slant to the house is old Art Briles’ WR speed. But Bru is a big boy moving like that.

***Because, as CJ indicated, Collin and Duvernay are currently out, Bru, I’m told, took a lot of reps with the 1st team.

***As CJ indicated, D’Shawn Jamison is taking reps with cornerbacks although I am told that he got a little time at nickel, as well.

***Right now your starters at cornerback are Cook and Boyce with Jalen Green being the guy some believe could threaten for a starting spot. It depends on who you to talk to though. I’ve heard some expect for Green, at some point before the season, to seize one of those spots and not let it go. Others have indicated that it will remain Boyce and Cook. I get the sense that the competition is between Boyce and Green as Cook seems to have earned the trust of the staff last year and through this past offseason.

This is obviously a battle we will watch closely. Although Texas lost two starters at the position, they certainly don’t lack talent. Given the upside of both Green and Boyce, it’s a luxury to have guys of that caliber duking it out.

Thirsty Thursday | Big Uglies, Hoops Dreams & Diamond Notes

– Darius Terrell

Welcome back to another edition of Thirsty Thursdays! Per usual, here to quench your thirst for any and all things involving Longhorn Sports.

Before we get into the Offensive Line to conclude our spring preview, let’s quickly review how this whole spring practice deal works: The NCAA allows Football programs a maximum of fifteen practices during the spring, including an intra-squad game that typically concludes a spring calendar. Of these fifteen practices, only twelve of them are allowed to have contact. Of those twelve contact practices, only eight are allowed to be full-out, take them to-the-ground tackling. The first two must be non-contact, which is why you always see the players in only helmet, jersey, and shorts when practices first begin. All practices, meetings, and workouts have to take place within a 34-day window, however, spring break and final exams do not count towards that window. The 2019 Texas Longhorns opened up spring practice on the Frank Denius practice fields on for their mandatory non-contact practices on Monday, March 11 and Wednesday, March 13 of this week. It remains to be seen if Texas will go ahead and get their two practices in shells (Helmet/Shoulder Pads/Shorts) done as well before releasing the players for spring break next week.

Here’s what we’ve learned about the big uglies up front so far:

*Offensive Line*

Starters

LT: Samuel Cosmi (6’6 295) Sophomore

LG: Tope Imade (6’5 340) Junior OR Junior Angilau (6’6 300) Freshman

C: Zach Shackelford (6’4 305) Senior

RG: Derek Kerstetter (6’5 305) Junior

RT: Denzel Okafor (6’4 315) Junior

Projected Backups:

LT: Reese Moore (6’6 300) Freshman OR Tyler Johnson (6’6 315) Freshman

LG: Junior Angilau (6’6 300) Freshman OR Tope Imade (6’5 340) Junior

C: Rafiti Ghirmai (6’5 300) Freshman

RG: J.P. Urquidez (6’6 300) Junior OR Tyler Johnson (6’6 315) Freshman

RT: Christian Jones (6’5 305) Freshman

What We Know: Texas has eleven scholarship Offensive Linemen at the start of spring practices and they’re all healthy. They return two starters from an Offensive Line that was the best that Texas has had in recent years. The bad news is Texas lost LT Calvin Anderson, LG Patrick Vahe, and RT Elijah Rodriguez to graduation. The good news is that Texas has one of the best Offensive Line Coaches in the country in Herb Hand. Senior Center Zach Shackelford has played in 40 games (27 starts) in his career and will be looking to build off of a Junior season that earned him First Team All-Big XII honors from the Associated Press. Redshirt Sophomore Samuel Cosmi was a Freshman All-American selection and will transition over to the left side, where he should have no issues with his excellent feet. Junior Derek Kerstetter has played in 24 games (15 starts) and has experience at both Guard and Tackle. Junior Denzel Okafor redshirted in 2018, but has played in 24 games (4 starts) in his career and will get the first opportunity with the first-team at Right Tackle.

What We Hope: Kerstetter wasn’t a full time starter last season and Okafor wasn’t a part of the rotation at all, but the two Juniors are far from inexperienced. Both players are also possibly interchangeable with their flexibility to play Guard and Tackle, meaning that there are ways that Coach Hand can tinker with his line without necessarily having to remove or replace anyone. The hope is that Kerstetter and Okafor can develop some chemistry on the right side together this spring. Redshirt Freshmen Reese Moore and Christian Jones have been acclimating very well. The hope is that they can provide some depth at the Tackle positions and possibly even push for playing time if there were to be any injuries or if Okafor struggles.

What to Watch for: Texas was able to redshirt their entire 2018 Freshman class and they are joined by a consensus top-100 2019 national recruit, Tyler Johnson, this spring as an early enrollee. Redshirt Freshman Junior Angilau was an All-American coming out of High School and has drawn positive reviews all offseason. The Left Guard position is one that is unsettled and will likely remain that way until the fall. Fourth-year Junior Tope Imade has yet to participate in any live action for Texas. The expectation is that the massive road grader will be a contributor in the Texas rotation in 2019. He has an opportunity to earn the starting job this spring, but will have to beat out some talented younger players, not to mention Georgia Tech grad transfer Parker Braun, a 2-time All-ACC selection, who will arrive in the summer and is expected to contribute immediately.

Let’s talk Texas Basketball for a second.

Texas is currently 16-15, with an 8-10 record in conference, which is good for sixth place. The Longhorns play the Kansas Jayhawks (23-8, 12-6 3rdplace) tomorrow in the Big XII tournament. Texas is sitting on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament right now. With a 16-16 record after a projected loss tomorrow, Texas is still somehow listed as having over a 44% chance of earning a bid as an at-large team. I’m having a difficult time seeing that actually happening, especially when there has never been a team with a losing record receive an at-large bid to the “Big Dance” before.

Tomorrow’s game against Kansas feels like a must-win for Texas and any NCAA Tournament hopes. The good news is that Kansas has been very beatable away from Phog Allen Fieldhouse this season, with all eight of their losses coming on the road. Kansas is 3-0 in neutral site games this season and it will be a home environment for the Jayhawks with the game being played in Kansas City. Texas will get the previously suspended Senior Guard Kerwin Roach II back for the game and will need to play one of their best games of the season in its biggest moment of the season.

Coach Shaka Smart is in his fourth season at Texas after spending his previous six seasons as a Head Coach at Virginia Commonwealth. At VCU, Smart compiled a 163-56 (74.4%) record over six seasons and made five NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Final Four in 2011. Smart was one of the hottest names in college basketball when Texas hired him in 2015. He is respected in the basketball community and was selected by USA Basketball to lead the National Under-18 Team in 2016. At Texas, Smart has compiled a 66-65 (50.3%) with two NCAA Tournament appearances, both First Round exits.

As much as I hate to admit it, Texas appears to be failing to take the next step as a program under Smart. He has been a successful recruiter (4 Five-star signees, not including 2019 lottery pick Jaxson Hayes), but has failed to develop any type of offensive identity for any of his four teams while in Austin. He has not brought the “Havoc” style that he was so successful with at VCU to Texas. Smart is under contract until the conclusion of the 2022-2023 season and would have a buyout of nearly $13 million if Texas were to remove him of his coaching duties following this season. I think that Texas fans that may be hoping for a change at the end of this year are going to be disappointed.

Here’s to rooting for a Texas-sized upset tomorrow in Kansas City.

Diamond Notes

On a more positive note, Texas Baseball is off to a strong start this season. Texas is coming off of a 17-3 beat down of Texas Southern on Tuesday and the Longhorns are ranked 12th nationally, with a 13-6 record heading into Big XII Conference play. The 2019 Texas Longhorns have exceeded the expectations of many to this point.

Texas is about to face an extremely tough stretch of their schedule. With a five-game home stretch coming up, if you live in the area, this weekend would be a great time to make it out with the family to Disch-Falk Field to cheer on the Horns against a very strong Texas Tech team.

Beginning this weekend, 11th ranked Texas Tech will be in Austin, followed by a two-game midweek series with 14th ranked Arkansas. If that weren’t enough, a trip to Fort Worth for a three-game series with 21st ranked TCU concludes next week. Texas has an impressive series sweep of number 1 LSU on their resume, so they have proven that they are capable. We’re about to see what Texas is really made of.