40 Acres Sports

Name: [tag]Sam Acho[/tag]
Position: Defensive End
Ranking:

Hometown: Dallas, TX
School: St. Mark’s
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 250 lbs

Background

Sam Acho looks to be the sleeper of the 2007 recruiting class. He came out of nowhere in the summer of 2006, getting multiple offers from several big-time BCS schools such as Oklahoma, USC, Virginia, and Iowa. Texas started to take notice and made a great impression on him in an official visit to Austin in August 2006.

Sam was a three-time All-Southwest Preparatory Conference (SPC) performer at St. Mark’s in Dallas, TX. He was also a three-sport letterman and a member of ESPN’s top 150 national prospects.

Sam also takes his academics very seriously. He scored a 1220 on his SAT and was a four-year member of the honor roll. He is almost fluent in Spanish and helps teach adults English as a second language at a local community center.

Immediate Impact

Tough to say what will play out with Sam Acho because of his relative obscurity in 2006. Might not play much in 2007, but with his athleticism he has great upside potential for the future.

Future

With his athletic ability, Sam could project as either a tight end or a defensive end. He is a natural fit at defensive end and says he tries to model his game after Julius Peppers. Watch out for him in the years to come. This kid looks to be a special player.

We’ll be updating this list as we get news (mostly from Rivals) of which players have officially signed their letters of intent and if everything goes as planned will be the newest Texas Longhorns in August. The first two players to become Longhorns were Ian Harris out of San Antonio and Cody Johnson from Waller. Keep checking back here because we’ll update this list as we hear more names.

Confirmed Signings

• Ian Harris
• Cody Johnson
• Kyle Hix
• Tray Allen
• Michael Wilcoxon
• Russell Carter
• Aundre McGaskey
• Tyrell Higgins
• Sam Acho
• James Kirkendoll
• Brandon Collins
• G.J. Kinne
• Ahmard Howard
• Keenan Robinson
• Malcolm Williams
• Blaine Irby
• Earl Thomas
• Christian Scott

Early Enrollees

• Curtis Brown
• John Chiles
• Michael Huey
• Andre Jones
• Ben Wells
• Fozzy Whittaker

Update: Just added Blaine Irby and Earl Thomas to the list which leaves only Christian Scott remaining. The stud safety just was the last player to commit to the Horns (just this weekend) and it looks like he’ll be the last one to fax in his letter of intent as well. Hopefully he’s not having any second thoughts. (10:38 am)

Update: Christian Scott’s letter is in and confirmed by both Rivals and Inside Texas (thanks Eric!). That means all 24 recruits, 18 today plus the 6 already on campus, are signed and will officially be Longhorns either this summer or in the fall if their grades are in order. Congrats to the class of 2007 and welcome to the family. (11:58 am)

Today is National Signing Day and recruits all around the country finally are able to sign on the dotted line and make those commitments a little more binding. We’ll be posting updates throughout the day as we hear news of the players who have signed their letters of intent and make their commitment to the University of Texas official.

There probably won’t be any surprises (good or bad) for the Longhorns or their fans but stay tuned for all the latest news.

MapGameDay.com has great information on NFL and college football stadiums, transportation, food, and hotels all integrated with Google Maps. Today on National Signing Day they’ll be updating their maps as the letters of intent roll in and plotting players on the map based on school, state or conference.

Check out the incoming Frosh from around the country. Top High School, and Junior College players will be moving this fall, and the recruiting map will help you see where your local favorites will be playing in the fall, or where your favorite university recruits most heavily. Some of these guys are gonna be piling up the frequent flier miles, and we have them covered.

Check out the their recruiting maps now.

(via EDSBS)

After his father’s shooting, G.J. Kinne is looking forward not back. The QB should sign with Texas today.

Rivals and other recruiting sites are reporting that Gilmer offensive lineman [tag]David Snow[/tag] is the Longhorns’ first 2008 commitment. Snow has been a heavy Texas lean for a long time and he couldn’t even wait till Texas’ first Junior Day on February 11th to give Mack Brown and Mac McWhorter his pledge. Nothing official yet from David or the Gilmer coaching staff but it sounds like this one is pretty much a done deal.

Not many official rankings out yet for 2008 recruits but Snow is one of the top players in the state of Texas and likely one of the nation’s top offensive lineman. With Tray Allen and the rest of the “class of beef” last year and several other big time targets this year, the Longhorns are building an incredible foundation up front. Future offensive skill position guys have to love the thought playing behind all that talent on the offensive line.

It looked like the Longhorns had their recruiting class wrapped up back in June, but there have been some unfortunate changes the last thirty days that have made things a little more interesting. This weekend the Longhorns hosted several recruits and apparently made a big impression on them. And there’s two more athletes coming in next weekend as well.

Defensive tackle [tag]Tyrell Higgins[/tag] and safety [tag]Christian Scott[/tag] were in town over the weekend on official visits. Higgins made it official as soon as he could and gave Mack Brown his verbal commitment before he left town. Scott left Austin uncommitted but the Longhorns are thought to be the leader for the services of the talented defensive back from Dallas. LSU and Oklahoma are the other teams in the mix.

Two players who were committed to Big 12 rivals until recently will be in town this coming weekend. Tight end [tag]Ian Harris[/tag] (pictured) was a Missouri commitment going into the weekend but today he’s a Texas Longhorn. Zach Pianalto’s decommit to North Carolina opened up a spot for another tight end in this class and Harris jumped on Texas’ offer as quick as he could. Wide receiver/cornerback [tag]James Kirkendoll[/tag] was an Oklahoma Sooner yesterday but now he’s set to visit the good guys. It would be a big surprise if he’s not a Longhorn soon.

Higgins and Harris are solid prospects who help round out Texas’ top three recruiting class. Scott and Kirkendoll would be huge additions who as an added bonus could be stolen from their rivals. We’ll have more news on those two when it happens and plenty more recruiting opinions as National Signing Day approaches on February 7th.

Update

Orangebloods is reporting that Kirkendoll is “nearly ready” and will officially commit to Texas this weekend. He is now listed in his profile as a “soft verbal.” Great news for Texas fans and bad news for the Okies. (1/24/2007)

Can’t blame him now that Petrino is gone. Why not Rutgers?

Just a reminder that the US Army All-American Bowl will be on NBC today at noon. The game takes place in San Antonio at the Alamodome and features some of the best high school football players in the country.

This will be most Longhorn fans first opportunity to watch any of the 2007 football commits in action. Bevo Sports will have some thoughts on the game and possibly some video later this weekend. There will be 13 Texans on the West squad and the Longhorns have six commits and a few targets playing in the game. Here’s the guys to keep an eye on during the game:

Texas Commits

• Tray Allen, West #56
• Curtis Brown, West #3
• John Chiles, West #5
• Michael Huey, West #70
• Blaine Irby, West #19
• Andre Jones, West #89

Texas Targets

• Ron Brooks, West #81
• Joe McKnight, West #4
• Christian Scott, West #23

Others to Watch

• John Brantley, East #12
• Matt Simms, East #2

Rivals.com is reporting that John Brantley has officially decommited from the University of Texas, and will now become a Florida Gator. This isn’t a huge surprise, as this rumors have been floating around lately, but it is still disappointing to lose such a highly rated recruit.

Honestly though, I really don’t understand this move by Brantley. Florida just doesn’t seem like a good fit for him. He isn’t the type of quarterback that Urban Meyer particularly likes, and with most of the fans down there on the Tim Tebow bandwagon, it may be hard for Brantley to see the field. Hopefully his girlfriend going to Florida didn’t play too much of a role in this decision, because I know for a fact that the girls at Texas are better looking.

But look on the bright side here folks, we still have Colt McCoy coming back, and we have the secret weapon in John Chiles. What to see what I am talking about with Chiles? Just check out this highlight video. Unreal! Things are looking good at the quarterback spot for Texas, and losing Brantley will soon be a distant memory.