– Texas LB Edwin Freeman has opted to grad transfer rather than play this year at Texas. With the lack of depth Texas has in the LB room, Edwin Freeman was going to play a role as a guy off the bench. Now Texas will likely be looking for Ayodele Adeoye or Demarco Boyd to step up into that role.

Forever a Longhorn and forever grateful to the University of Texas and all coaches for giving me an opportunity to earn a degree and play football at my dream school 🙏🏿🤘🏿 #GradTransfer — Edwin Freeman (@EFTrey5) June 30, 2018

– 2019 WR Jaylen Ellis – Cedar Ridge (Austin, TX)

Not much has changed since my interview with Jaylen earlier last week.

Ellis told me today that he will be trying to get back to Texas “Whenever I can. Whenever the next time I can show up there and just hang around, of course, I will.”

Of course, the allure of the hometown team has been the main reason that he has such an interest in Texas, “It’s my hometown. My grandma – like I always say – I park at her house and walk to the stadium. That’s how close it is… Just, growing up so high on Texas. My first coaches favorite team was Texas. He’d always talk about Texas and Vince Young, and how we could be in that position one day. And the fact that I can be in that position is amazing.”

Ellis and Mehringer have a good relationship that was strengthened during his visit to Texas last month.

Ellis plans to take OVs to Baylor, Texas, Ohio State, and Michigan. – (Will)

– 2019 WR Elijah Higgins – Bowie (Austin, TX)

Many Longhorn fans are pretty confused about where Elijah will end up. I think Elijah is just a confused. As he told me, “It’s just a different team running across my mind every day.”

Higgins is being pulled a million different ways, but it seems the four teams that are really in the race are Texas, Ohio State, Florida, and Stanford. Stanford and the academics speak for themselves, and Elijah and his family (military family) have lived in Florida, Columbus, and now in Austin.

Elijah has only taken one official visit so far and that was to Ohio State last week. While he was there he met with the coaches, went bowling with them, but the thing that blew him out of the water was that when he attended a pool party at Urban Meyer’s house, “It was packed. They had all these animals out there like jaguars and penguins and all that stuff.” Apparently, Urban Meyer and the zoo are pretty tight.

Higgins tried to take an official visit to Texas back in the Spring, but Texas only had two official visits left, so Higgins let the staff use them on out-of-state target Rian Davis, “I mean I’m right across the street, and really, an official is to save money. I can do the same stuff and what they’re doing on the official any day.”

Right now, the plan is to commit “…before we get too far into football. It could be early September, early August, or July 27th.” Once he is committed, he plans on taking one official visit to the place he commits and be done with it. While there is a chance he won’t commit by the season (so he can take an official visit to Texas), he wants to be done with the process by football season.

Right now though, Texas is still very much in the race. Higgins will be releasing a top 4 in the next week. I’d imagine Texas makes it on that list. – (Will)

– Millwood (OK) WR Demariyon Houston plans to make a commitment in the near future.

i will be committing on July 7th , at 7:00 pm , who will it be ? 👀👀 pic.twitter.com/wee6lgAhbK — h o l l y w o o d h o u s t o n (@demariyon5) June 30, 2018

Charlie recently talked about how are sources our indicating that Texas could very well be on top for Houston. I asked him if he has narrowed his list from the Top 7 he dropped in early June. He said he hasn’t and is considering all 7 schools. They are Texas, Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma State, Auburn, Ole Miss, and Minnesota.

If Texas wants to take him, I think he’s a Longhorn on July 7th. And I personally hope they do take him. He’s one of the smoothest WR’s I’ve seen this cycle. He’s only around 6′ or 6’1 but I think he could play inside or outside. – (Andrew)

– Texas holds a commitment from a 2020 QB in Lake Travis (TX) Hudson Card. That hasn’t kept Tim Beck and Texas from recruiting some other really good 2020 QB’s. One is Mater Dei (CA) Bryce Young, who cut his list to six.

God’s got it from here… pic.twitter.com/RD0lnNvBJ1 — Bryce Young (@_bryce_young) July 1, 2018

We feel like Oklahoma and USC have the edge in this one. But Texas is still very much involved. – (Andrew)

Sam Spiegelman, formerly of SEC Country, is providing coverage for us at the Opening.

Marcus Washington isn’t as close to making a decision as he originally planned to be at this juncture in the cycle.

Washington, a 4-star wide receiver and top-100 prospect overall in the Class of 2019, is coming off his first official visit — to Ohio State — and has not made enough visits elsewhere to be confident enough to commit. One school he needs to see first is Texas, where he tentatively plans to head to first following the dead period in July. He circled July 28 as a date he could make his inaugural trip to Austin.

“At first, I was trying to commit before the season, but I haven’t been able to get up to every school,” Washington said. “If I don’t end up committing toward the end of the summer, it’ll probably be toward the end of the season before signing day.

“I want to see how they [schools] use me and how much of a priority I am to them. Nothing is given to me, but I want a school to want me and to have a plan for me.”

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound native of St. Louis, Mo., maintains that he does not have a leader and that all six of the schools in his top six are on an equal playing field. That exclusive group includes the Longhorns, as well as Ohio State, Florida State, Georgia, Oregon, and Missouri.

All six of those schools are heavily in the mix and recruiting Washington equally as hard.

“I’m still going off my top six,” he said. “They’re all recruiting me the same and I talk to the whole coaching staff everywhere.”

Coach Tom Herman, wide receivers coach Drew Mehringer and Director of Recruiting Bryan Carrington are all spearheading Texas’ efforts with Washington. The Longhorns have already won the 4-star wide receiver over with their offense and a visit to campus in July looms large.

“Texas is recruiting me pretty hard,” he admitted. “They talk to me a lot and I like Texas. They pass the ball a lot, too, and a lot to the receivers. I like that.”

“They want me to get down there to Texas because I haven’t been able to get me down there to see how it is,” Washington added. “We’ll go from there.”

Washington noted that the five out-of-state programs in his top six will receive official visits. Missouri, the in-state team, will likely not get an official only because of the proximity to campus. – (Sam)

— Makiya Tongue’s recruitment is winding down and a commitment is very much on the horizon. His best friend, Derek Stingley Jr., has been keeping close tabs throughout the process.

Tongue released a final three of Texas, Georgia and Arizona State last month, and each school appears to be a major player in the final leg of the 4-star athlete’s recruitment.

“You don’t have to worry about him committing to a school and then de-committing. He’ll be the type of person who stays 100 percent,” Stingley said of Tongue. “He’s been to all three places and he’s been amazed by every single one. I don’t know who leads, but I can say that they’re all pretty close. It’s a close race.”

Tongue took his official visit to Texas in May and, at one point, named the Longhorns his leader.

Of the schools he’s high on, Texas is selling Tongue on the ability to begin his collegiate career at the position of his choosing.

“He likes the colors,” Stingley laughed, “and he’ll be able to go in and play receiver. A lot of people like him at linebacker or safety, but Texas wants him to play his position and he’s on their board, so he’ll be able to work in there pretty early.”

Tongue took official visits to Georgia and Arizona State in June. He was one of several Louisiana natives to make the trek out West to kick off the month. He made his way to Athens, Ga., with his father soon after.

“At Georgia, him and his dad like all the facilities and really, everything about it,” Stingley said. “The educational part, and the football part, they told him whatever position he plays, he’d be atop the board anywhere he wanted. At Arizona State, a whole bunch of people in our friend group are considering going there. He’s got a good relationship with (assistant coach and Baton Rouge native) John Simon and coach (Herm) Edwards.”

Stingley also noted that he believes Tongue will commit before the start of his senior season at University Lab School (La.).

As far his position choices go, Tongue is tentatively leaning toward playing receiver at college — where Texas likes him — a position he’s suited well for, his friend said.

“I’ll put it like this: out of 10 reps, I win six,” Stingley explained. “He’ll say that he’d win six. He’s pretty good. He’s made catches where I’m like: ‘Dude, how’d you make that catch? I’m on you, so there’s no way you should’ve made that.’ He’s a spectacular catch guy and good at route-running. He’s gaining speed and now he’s like 4.5 or 4.4. He’s just a well-rounded player.” – (Sam)

– Consider Ishmael Sopsher’s recruitment a blank slate.

The nation’s top-ranked defensive tackle is scheduled to trim his double-digit offer sheet down to five on July 30. No schools are assured spots in that exclusive group, but Texas is making a push to make the cut.

“Texas has been pushing me to come somewhere and build my own thing,” Sopsher said. “They said not to get on the bandwagon. You know, he’s talking about Alabama and LSU.”

LSU and Alabama are the favorites for the Amite (La.) High School blue-chipper. Sopsher’s most recent visits were to Baton Rouge and Tuscaloosa, with a stop at Ole Miss as well.

The 5-star tackle is expected to add Austin to that list once the dead period expires, which will mark his first visit to campus to date.

“I’ll probably (g0) toward the end of the month,” he said. “I want to see how the players work, how the coaches work with the players and to check out the facilities and overall feel for the school.”

How hard are the Longhorns pushing? On a school from 1 to 10, Sopsher indicated Texas is sitting it an eight. Communication has been steady on a daily basis.

“It’s almost every day,” Sopsher said. “(Texas is) very likely to make the top five.”

Other schools vying to crack Sopsher’s final five at the end of the month include LSU, Alabama and Texas A&M — the favorites — as well as Florida, Oregon and Michigan.

Sopsher won’t make a final decision until National Signing Day in February. He also stated that no school is assured a hat on the table at this point.

“I’ve been keeping everything confidential to try and make a good decision in February,” he said. “I’m talking to coaches to get good visits for each school.” – (Sam)

2019 LB DeGabriel Floyd – Westlake (Westlake, CA) TEXAS

DeGabriel Floyd has to be one of the most vocal Longhorn commits in the class. While he’s in here in Dallas, he’ll be continuing that role of recruiting. Floyd is the leader in getting the out-of-state guys to Texas, and it been working, “It’s coming along really well. You see Chris [Adimora] committed earlier. I have a few other guys where I’ve really been in their ear talking about making the move. I’m getting this class happening. I’m getting ready to do something really big.”

And his help shows at Texas has had tremendous success in California and Arizona. When asked why he thinks this is the case, he said that “Some kids are interested in moving to a new state and being on their own in a new environment where they have to adapt to be more comfortable, and Texas is kind of the closest thing to California, in my opinion. That played a lot in my commitment as well as Chris’s, I believe. And it’s also that, Texas has a lot of talent in state, so we feel like if Texas is coming way out here to show interest in us it shows that they’re actually trying to get us to their school…”

His main focus of the week is Bru McCoy. The two have been friends for years and know each other very well. So it is no wonder that DeGabriel Floyd is pushing McCoy to go to Texas, “He and I are real close, so I know a lot about his situation, what’s going on, and what he’s thinking. I’m telling him the same thing I’m telling everyone else, how bad our defense can be. He can go do his thing on offense, but at the same time, he can come play defense and we can be together on the same defense and that’s a baaaaad situation for the offense. So, it’s like why not?”

Despite that Floyd was following Rian Davis around today like they were attached at the hip, “I’m telling him the same thing I told Chris [Adimora]. With us, on the same defense, there is no running the ball. I’m letting him know the realisticness of how the scheme will work out for us. I’m just keeping it real. Us together in the box is just bad. With me and him being boys, I’m trying to play together.”

DeGabriel Floyd has put on some weight and is now up to 240lbs, but he is still putting up pretty impressive numbers in the testing. He dropped 4.7 on the 40, 4.38 on the shuttle, threw the power ball 43″, and jumped 33″. He also showed out on the field being one of the most impressive LBs out there in terms of athletic ability and understanding. He was only beat once and it seemed like he never subbed out.

DeGabriel Floyd did beat Trey Sanders in one-on-one’s, but he is working hard to make sure Sanders and Noah Cain are well aware that they are wanted by Texas.

Right now, the only school that is keeping in contact with Floyd is Alabama. It seems the offer is very intriguing to visit Alabama, but it doesn’t sound like that will happen any time soon, “I’ve been in California my whole life. And, yes, I’m 100% committed to Texas. But the interest of traveling kind of catches my eye, but in a sense, I can do it later. I’d have to be really interested in a certain state or being in a certain environment for the first time ever to take a visit on my officials.”

One big part of Floyd’s recruitment was looking for a father figure in his life, so the role Bryan Carrington played was instrumental, as Floyd says, “That’s my guy. He’s like a big brother/friend/one of my father figures. He and I are just really close. We talk about everything. All the commits have a group chat with him where we talk about everything, laugh with him, and have real conversations with him.” – (Will)

2019 CB Jeffrey Carter Jr – Mansfield Legacy (Dallas, TX)

Recently, Carter dropped a top four that included Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Alabama. While currently, I’m not very confident in Carter ending up in Burnt Orange, there is a possibility. When I asked him what it would take to end up in Austin he told me that Texas needs to make him feel the love more, “Show me that you’re really serious about recruiting me. Show me that and give me my chance.”

Another strong component in this race is the younger cousin, Taurean Carter. Jeffrey Carter Jr recently made the switch to play with his cousin in Mansfield Legacy, and the two would like to continue playing together in college, “He’s very important to my process. I really care about my little cousin. If he chooses to go to Texas, and they tell him that they’re going to treat him right I could be there.”

As of now, I’m getting the feeling he ends up in maroon, but that won’t stop Texas from testing the waters. – (Will)

2019 OT Stacey Wilkins – Camden Fairview (Camden, AR)

Right now, our Oklahoma side feels very confident in where OU stands with Stacey Wilkins, but again, Texas won’t stop trying until the papers are signed. Stacey Wilkins is planning to take all five official visits after the dead period ends starting with Arkansas on July 27th, then Texas and Oklahoma in September, Georgia for the Auburn game, and debating if he’ll head to Miami.

Texas will have a very good chance to entertain and impress Wilkins, as he plans to official for the USC game on September 14th. He let me know that he’s looking forward to the gameday atmosphere, but that he’s really looking forward to the in program atmosphere, “Coach Hand knows what he is talking about and I always have fun down there. It just feels like family. I want to experience that again. – (Will)