40 Acres Sports

The 2007 Rivals100: One year in. Notes on how all the top prospects did in their first seasons on campus, including Tray Allen and Curtis Brown.

Many Texas fans are disappointed that stud prospect Russell Shepard won’t be a Longhorn, but the coaches did reel in the player I think is an even bigger recruit in Lake Travis quarterback Garrett Gilbert. The elite QB can sling the football around the field with the best the state’s ever produced at the position. He’s intelligent, talented, and polished, and with the talent that will be around him at Texas my expectations for him are incredibly high.

If you’ve got any doubts, check out the highlight video below from his sophomore season:

I can’t help but think Gilbert’s career leading the Longhorns is going to be a fun time to be a Texas fan.

Lil’ Romeo and Tim Floyd make USC’s basketball program even dirtier than USC football. Even worse, Floyd seems to know and not care about the ethics involved.

Oklahoma recruit Josh Jarboe was arrested Thursday for receiving stolen property and having a weapon on campus. What the heck are these kids thinking?

Irving Macarthur linebacker [tag]Tariq Allen[/tag] was one of the most sought after defensive prospects in Texas this spring before commiting to the Longhorns this week. Allen has offers from Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Kansas and national programs like Michigan and Notre Dame were showing heavy interest as well in the speedy middle linebacker. Now you can see for yourself why so many teams are after him.

It’s not the Rivals’ video I mentioned earlier, but it is definitely a lot of the same highlights. Check out video from Allen’s junior year below:

Impressive stuff, definitely has a nose for the football. Can’t wait to see Tariq on the Forty Acres anchoring the middle of our defense.

It’s barely March but it looks like [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] is close to wrapping up his 2009 recruiting class already. After starting out strong with Garrett Gilbert and six other commits at the team’s first junior day, the Horns have since added eight more of the state’s top football players to bring the total tally up to fifteen.

Two of the biggest commits were at linebacker, where Irving’s Tariq Allen and Grand Prairie’s Patrick Nkwopara made their pledge to play for defensive coordinator [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag]’s defense. Both players were top targets of the Texas defensive coaching staff and appear to fit their mold perfectly for a linebacker, speed guys who aren’t afraid to knock your head off. If you’re a Rivals subscriber, watch Allen’s videos and you’ll be very excited about our future middle linebacker.

The team also got help in the defensive backfield by picking up commits from cornerbacks Eryon Barnett from Euless and Kenny Vaccaro out of Brownwood. Vaccaro is one of the state’s most heavily recruited DB’s and held offers from the likes of Florida, Oklahoma, and Stanford when chose the Longhorns. Barnett was a virtual unknown before committing to the Horns but Texas offered quickly and he certainly passes the eyeball test so he looks like a player who will shoot up the rankings once the scouting services get film of him.

Texas also did an excellent job filling needs from the top in-state options. Defensive end and tight end were both positions the Horns needed to fill holes at in this class. At defensive end the two big fish are still out there, Alex Okafor and five-star Devon Kennard, but the Horns added two very capable prospects in Dominique Jones and Kyle Kriegel. The tight end commits look like the two best in the state in Trey Graham and Barrett Matthews. I’m particularly excited about Matthews, whose versatility, athleticism, and toughness allow him to play an H-back role or maybe even end up on defense. It doesn’t hurt that he plays for Galena Park North Shore, a school that has now put out three top Division I tight ends in a row.

The fifteen current commits are listed below:

Name	Position	Rating*	LSR**	Hometown
Tariq Allen	LB		65	Irving
Thomas Ashcraft	OL		13	Cedar Hill
Eryon Barnett	DB		NR	Euless
Marcus Davis	DB		15	League City
Garrett Gilbert	QB		2	Austin
Trey Graham	TE		NR	Waco
Dominique Jones	DE		NR	Kilgore
Paden Kelley	OL		31	Austin
Kyle Kriegel	DE		64	Elysian Fields
Barrett Matthews	TE		59	Galena Park
Patrick Nkwopara	LB		NR	Grand Prairie
Garrett Porter	OL		30	Odessa
Greg Timmons	WR		10	Aldine
Kenny Vaccaro	DB		53	Brownwood
Chris Whaley	RB		8	Madisonville

*Note: Most of the star ratings are just estimates based on the video I’ve seen of the recruits and Orangebloods.com’s state rankings.

**Note: LSR is Geoff Ketchum’s Lone Star Recruiting Top 100. The numbers represent the player’s ranking as of 2/13/2008.

The Longhorns basketball team only has one commit for 2008 and none for 2009, but they’ve already picked up a huge commitment for 2010. [tag]Tristan Thompson[/tag], a sure five-star power forward from Newark St. Benedict’s Prep, gave [tag]Rick Barnes[/tag] and assistant coach Rodney Terry his verbal commitment on Tuesday. Thompson is the fifth ranked sophomore in the country according to both Scout.com and RISE Magazine.

Texas fans can also thank former Horn [tag]Kevin Durant[/tag] for helping reel in Thompson. The young man, originally from Canada, admitted he was a big Durant fan and loved the way Coach Barnes featured big, versatile front court players. Thompson is big, quick, and athletic and just sounds like he’s going to be a ton of fun to watch in burnt orange.

As always, verbal commitments are non-binding. As a sophomore Thompson will not be able to sign his letter of intent until November 2009.

Orangebloods.com is reporting that five-star athlete/QB Russell Shepard has committed to [tag]LSU[/tag]. The young man out of Houston Cypress Ridge was thought to be a Texas lock for the last year or so, but after the Longhorns secured a commit from top quarterback Garrett Gilbert the Texas coaching staff pursued Shepard only as an athlete. Shepard wanted the promise that he’d at least get his shot to be a college quarterback. He’ll apparently get that at LSU.

Good luck to Russell, I hope he has a great career for the Tigers(as long as they’re not up against the Horns of course.) I also hope he keeps the door cracked just a tiny bit in case the situation changes around here.

Ryan Perrilloux in trouble again, may be off the team soon. Les Miles could dismiss him but he’s also threatened to quit too.

Texas’ first Junior Day of 2008 over the weekend resulted in seven young men giving Mack Brown their pledge to become Longhorns in 2009. It started a little early last week with quarterback Garrett Gilbert‘s commitment and the last one came in yesterday as lineman Thomas Ashcraft called the staff to tell them he’d be a Longhorn.

The future of the offense looks bright as Horns picked up commitments from the top quarterback (Gilbert), top running back ([tag]Chris Whaley[/tag]), and top wide receiver (Greg Timmons) in the state of Texas. Those guys will have Ashcraft and two other top offensive linemen blocking for them up front. Cornerback Marcus Davis is the defense’s lone commit so far, but the highly recruited player out of the Houston area is a heck of a start.

Here’s the list of 2009 commitments so far:

Name	Position	Rating*	LSR**	Hometown
Thomas Ashcraft	OL		13	Cedar Hill
Marcus Davis	DB		15	League City
Garrett Gilbert	QB		2	Austin
Paden Kelley	OL		31	Austin
Garrett Porter	OL		30	Odessa
Greg Timmons	WR		10	Aldine
Chris Whaley	RB		8	Madisonville

*Note: Several of the star ratings are just estimates based on the video I’ve seen of the recruits and Orangebloods.com’s state rankings.

**Note: LSR is Geoff Ketchum’s Lone Star Recruiting Top 100. The numbers represent the player’s ranking as of 2/13/2008.