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Texas Recruiting Notes 2020


Reese Bennett

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IT

From: Eric

JALEN KIMBER

This weekend afforded the opportunity to get much more familiar with priority cornerback Jalen Kimber's recruitment. Not only was he at the Endzone 7on7 camp in The Woodlands but so too was his father, Art. I had heard Art was a heckuva guy and that was immediately evident and we chatted about everything from the family's move to Texas from Chicago 4.5 years ago to Jalen's recent head-turning testing at the Dallas Opening Regional.

That move was as much about opportunity for Jalen as it was his father. His dad was in pharmaceuticals and had a business training athletes on the side. When the opportunity arose to move from Chicago, he had three destinations in mind: Texas, Florida, or Georgia. "I had done my homework on each place, but the tie-breaker was my friend from college lived in Texas. We weren't here long before Jalen was working with Clay Mack. I did my homework on him too."

Mack is one of the best known defensive back skills trainer in the nation with his most famous pupil being Jamal Adams, who he started working with when Adams was in the 8th grade. He started working with Kimber at the same stage.

Kimber was already a well known commodity but nobody expected him to test so well in Dallas. He had the #1 SPARQ rating at a very impressive 125.85 that included a 4.47 40-yard dash, 40 inch vertical leap and a 4.00 shuttle. These are dream numbers for a 6-foot corner.

Since that day the phone has been ringing off the hook with offers from Oklahoma, Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Florida, Auburn, Ole Miss, Georgia, and the Under Armour All-American game.

I confided with Art that I had no idea Jalen was that athletic. He responded, "Nobody did. Football isn't played in straight line unless you're on kick-off or trying to catch up after getting beat. Clay said because he's rarely out of position he isn't forced to make wow plays."

Clay echoed the technical aspects, "You can start working on the technical side early. The physical development, that doesn't come as early but it's never too early to get your technique down." At that point I recanted Mack's own words stated to me years ago, "if they have technique down going into college they can get ahead learning scheme." He replied, "that's exactly it, why do you think Jamal was ready to early. He already had all the technique he was going to need."

The lone knock on Kimber is now physicality and size, which are part and parcel for him. As you well know, muscle and mass are the two easiest things to add to a young player.

Some more notes: 

- Jalen wants to make a summer decision. Before then he'll take many more visits including Notre Dame, Georgia, and Alabama. An early decision may help UT if other schools aren't pushing quite as hard.

- Said Art Kimber of the Texas visit, "He connected with Washington the more they talked. Jalen has a high football IQ and I could see them bonding the more film they watched."

- Texas has been recruiting as hard, if not harder, than anyone since the 2019 class signed. A&M has been recruiting him hard before then and the Aggie staff has likened Kimber to Marcus Banks, just more advanced.

- Kimber states he'd like to get back to Texas this spring.

- He's planning to enroll early.

- Kimber's cousin is a sophomore who moved to Texas for similar reasons to Jalen. He's a good looking wide receiver the staff will want to know about. I believe his name is Justin. He's an obvious college wide receiver, I just don't know what level yet.

I like UT's chances here but don't love them. That SPARQ score along with quality tape (previously I called it the best corner tape in the state) has put a target on his back as evidenced by the recent run of offers.

RYAN WATTS

I was able to see the 6-foot-2, 190 pound corner in action this weekend. By the way, he's all of that listing with a 6-foot-8 wingspan. My read after seeing him in person is as long as he works on technique he's definitely going to stick at cornerback.

These quotes were given to Christian McCollum at Irish Sports Daily, but he basically reiterated all the same to me on Saturday.

ND Official Visit 4/5

“I’m trying to find out the most realistic schools out of state that I could actually see myself playing at. Notre Dame is a highly academic school. I know it’s not too big of a university to where I feel uncomfortable. I’m just going to try to see what it’s like up there.”

“If it’s comfortable there. I know it’s cool, but that really won’t matter. Just the tradition, how everything is set up. Basically, it’s going to come down to whether I feel comfortable.”

“I talk to Coach Polian about twice a week and I’ve talked with Coach Aaryn Kearney.”

“They just want me to get on campus just to see what it’s like and if I feel comfortable there. They’ve been preaching about how I could fit in the system.”

“I like Coach Polian. He seems like a wise man. I can trust him and I feel like myself around him, so I’ll just continue to keep my eye on what kind of person he is when I get there, but for the most part, over the phone, I like him.”

Other Visits

“I’m taking an official to Oklahoma the week after, so April 12th. Probably Miami, definitely Cal-Berkeley and I might be going to Arkansas too.”

“I’m considering Texas A&M, Texas, Baylor, those are some strong schools. I just don’t want to take officials there.”

Texas

“They told me a lot about how they can develop me and get to the next level. They have produced a lot of DBs in the past. It’s basically like the new DBU. That really meant a lot to me. It really opened up my eyes. How much they invest into the players, they seem like they really care about us, so that did mean a lot.”

Texas A&M

“They’re probably recruiting me the hardest of every school. They talk to me every day. I talk to Coach Fisher about once or twice a week. They’re really showing that they want me and that I’m a high priority for them.”

Timeline For Decision

“I’m making a Top 10 this spring, pretty soon. I’m making my decision later in the summer, before the season.”

My read on Watts is OU is the most likely school, especially with him taking an official visit there for the Sooners spring game. However, he does like UT and A&M quite a bit.

JOSH WHITE TAKES IN TEXAS

Cy Creek's Josh White recently picked up a Texas offer, an offer that was widely rumored to be the one he was waiting on. The 6-foot-1, 208 pounder (he's running track) wasted little time making a return visit to spend time with Todd Orlando and Tom Herman.

On the Texas visit:
"It was great. I had a good talk with Coach Herman and Coach Orlando. Me and Coach Orlando talked ball for a long time. He showed me how I'd fit in the defense, what position I'd be playing. He said I could start off at Rover and from there if I build on weight I can go to Mac, or just stay at Rover. Really I could play anything."

On Herman:
"He's a great coach, great coach. He's really funny [White started smiling as he talked as if he remembered a joke or two], I like him a lot."

Timeline: 
"My timeline is really going to be before the season starts. So now I'm between five schools which are UT, OU, LSU, Alabama and Oklahoma State."

Spring game decisions: 
"I'm going to try to make one of the spring games, I haven't figured out which one yet. I gotta make a hard decision."

It's going to be wild to see which spring games players go to with UT, OU, and A&M all holding their spring games the same day.

After recording but not off-the-record, White said one thing that he liked about OU was the depth chart. He made sure to say he's fine with competition but he believes Alex Grinch's sell that he could play early. Grinch told him, "this isn't the linebacker coach telling you, it's the defensive coordinator."

White stayed the night in Austin along with wide receiver Troy Omeire. The duo hung out with Malcolm Epps, Joseph Ossai, and a bunch of linebackers. White said he bonded with De'Gabriel Floyd who was telling him he had to come to Texas.

He'll visit Alabama soon but I feel like if UT prioritizes him he'll stay close to home.


From: Justin

TROY OMEIRE

At 6-foot-4, 215, the state's second best pass-catcher made his unofficial to Austin over the weekend. The holder of 30 offers (UT, A&M, Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State), Omeire has seen his stock skyrocket during the 2019 calendar year. There's a demand for big, fast receivers in the spread happy college game.

"It was fun, getting to see all the players," Omeire said. "I got to hangout with Joseph Ossai and Malcolm Roach. It was fun. That boy (Ossai) is big now."

What about his interaction with the UT coaches?

"It was nice," said Omeire. "I got to see everybody really. I got to go in-depth with coach Herman and got to talk to coach Mehringer. He tried to show me how they run plays and how they can use my body for the better."

Omeire is seen as a replacement for senior Collin Johnson at the 'X' spot. He noticed the season Johnson and Lil Jordan Humphrey had last year.

"Both the big guys (Collin, LJH) had great seasons," said Omeire. "So I can see myself, probably do better because I feel like I'm better than them now (at this stage), then I can only get better."

With upcoming visits, Omeire is hitting Florida in two weeks, and if he has his preference, he'd prefer staying down south because of his disdain for cold weather. Omeire was born in Houston, but his mother was born in Nigeria. It's been noted how influential his mother has been and will continue to be throughout the recruiting process. She was in Austin with Troy for a bit on Saturday, and that's a great data point. Win mom, and you probably get the Fort Bend Austin four-star.

"I want to see the Spring games," Omeire said, about a decision timeline. "And how many reps the freshmen get. I want to see how they use them and want to see the plays. I want to see everything."

Omeire said he could be attending the Texas spring game, but mentioned a lot of the schools (UT, OU, A&M) have their spring games on the same day. It will be very telling for a lot of the prospects those three schools are in on, and who visits where.

XAVION ALFORD

The 2020 safety from Alvin Shadow Creek is making a return trip to Austin. Again.

For the third time in less than two months, the four-star defensive back will trip to the ATX to watch UT's spring practice. Now, the Longhorns will host plenty of prospects over the next month, but Alford's eagerness to get back to DBU is something to watch. He's got Texas on his mind right now, and even though LSU and Texas A&M are also on his radar, it's clear the Horns hold the cards.

Co-DC and safety coach Craig Naivar has prioritized the 6-foot-1, 180-pounder for months, and Alford's returned the love with multiple visits. Alford is versatile enough to play nickel and wants to see how Texas uses the position. This one is trending nicely for the good guys.

2022 Soutlake Carroll QB Quinn Ewers and 2020 Manor DL Princely Umanmielen are also supposed to catch practice this week, as soon as today.

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9 minutes ago, Machinator said:

IT

 

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RYAN WATTS

Texas

“They told me a lot about how they can develop me and get to the next level. They have produced a lot of DBs in the past. It’s basically like the new DBU. That really meant a lot to me. It really opened up my eyes. How much they invest into the players, they seem like they really care about us, so that did mean a lot.”

 

Kids...

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6 minutes ago, Machinator said:

...and offered.

since when do we use fullbacks? All our TEs/H-backs (Brewer, Leitao, etc.) were recruited as traditional TEs.

edit: forgot about Mikey Henderson. Guess this is his replacement.

Edited by satyanash
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Remember how good Chris Warren looked in (very) limited action at the TE spot?  That's exactly what this kid's highlights remind me of. 

Damn.  I love this Hullaby offer.

Imagine that kid running some shovel pass triple option stuff with RoJo and Whittington.

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1 hour ago, Katfid54 said:

Remember how good Chris Warren looked in (very) limited action at the TE spot?  That's exactly what this kid's highlights remind me of. 

Damn.  I love this Hullaby offer.

Imagine that kid running some shovel pass triple option stuff with RoJo and Whittington.

I also remember him getting blown up while trying to block but maybe I just remember the negatives with CWIII

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