40 Acres Sports

The Detroit Cass Tech star defensive tackle finally made his much-publicized unofficial visit to the 40 Acres.

Being 6-foot-2, 204 might make living with that name a little easier.

Nacogdoches 5-star forward [tag]Damion James[/tag] has surprised most people and decided to play next season for the Texas Longhorns. James was granted his release for the University of Oklahoma this month after coach Kelvin Sampson left (amid scandal) for Indiana. Most people guessed that James would sign with Texas A&M with the Longhorns already have Kevin Durant signed to play the SF/PF role James most likely would fill. Some people even claimed James to the Aggies was a done deal, but after a weekend visit to Austin Damion announced Monday that he would play for Rick Barnes’ Texas Longhorns.

James is a 6-foot-8 top ranked combo forward who will make an immediate impact for the Longhorns. He already has a developed inside game, runs the court extremely well, and can hit the occasional three pointer. Likely a day one starter next season.

Possible 2006 lineup

Looks like the Longhorns will be very young and very athletic. Tons of inexperience to start the year, but also a ton of upside. Here’s my guess at the Longhorns starting five:

PG: DJ Augustin/AJ Abrams
SG: Justin Mason/AJ Abrams
SF: Kevin Durant/Damion James
PF: Damion James/Matt Hill
C: Connor Atchley/Dexter Pittman

Barnes has a lot of options for his lineup, he could even send out a three guard, two forward group that could run all night. Center is the definite weak spot, can the Longhorns get solid minutes on the defensive end from Connor Atchley? Is Dexter Pittman physically ready to play as a freshman? One thing is for certain, players will bring youth and excitement to the Erwin Center in November.

Durant was co-MVP with 16 points, seven boards and four assists.

I don’t know what position QB/athlete recruit John Chiles will end up playing for the Longhorns, but damn that kid needs the ball in his hands somehow. The three and a half minute highlight reel shows why John is headed for 5-star status and why so many teams wanted him regardless of position. Check out the very first play, it really shows just how electric he can be from the quarterback position and why despite John Brantley’s recent commitment he’ll also get his fair shot to be the next great Longhorn QB.

Thanks to The Wizard of Odds for the tip.

One of the top overall players in the state of Texas and top national offensive lineman [tag]Tray Allen[/tag] will announce his choice of schools today at a press conference scheduled for 12:30pm. The future 5-star from South Grand Prairie was thought to be an Aggie lean early on but left the Texas spring game on the verge of committing to the Longhorns. He told Rivals.com this week that Texas remained his leader despite his recent unofficial visit to Texas A&M. Allen also holds offers and is interested in USC and Oklahoma, among others.

Allen was planning on waiting and letting things play out before making a choice. The only school on his list that needs him to make an early decision is Texas. The Horns probably only have five more spots left in this class and have already taken five highly rated offensive linemen. If Allen wanted to be a Longhorn he couldn’t wait too long or it might be too late. Neither OU or USC have a single lineman onboard and Texas A&M only has one, with his talent he could’ve taken it all the way down to Signing Day next February and his offer would’ve still been on the table.

A commitment from Allen would give the Longhorns the top five linemen in the state and six from the top ten. He could also be a boost in landing Dallas Lincoln’s Richetti Jones, the state’s top defensive player and another possible 5-star. The two young men have mentioned they’d like to go to the same school and Texas has long been thought to be Jones’ favorite as well. A commit from Allen might be the thing that gets Jones to finally pull the trigger as well.

My prediction: Texas. With his recent comments and the timing of his decision, Longhorn fans should definitely have a good feeling about this.

Update

It’s official, Tray Allen will be a Texas Longhorn. Listening to his mini press conference and his phone interview with Rivals Radio right afterwards, sounds like another fine young man. Well-spoken and excited to be a Longhorn. (1:00 pm)

John Brantley’s commitment last week gives the Texas Longhorns eighteen for the 2007 class, or five more commits than last year’s hot start and about thirteen more than any other school. Due to scholarship limits, the Horns are probably looking at taking five more in this class. Running back Lennon Creer, offensive tackle Tray Allen, and defensive end Richetti Jones are three blue chippers the Horns are going hard after and have a good shot of landing.

Here are my thoughts on the latest four recruits to commit to play for the Longhorns:

John Brantley IV, Quarterback

First off, from listening to his press conference on Wednesday John and his family are real quality people. His father was a Florida Gator but John III wants what is best for his son, “Johnny’s just decided he wants to be a Longhorn and that’s the beauty of being an American.” Seems there’s a lot of dads thinking the same thing and sending their sons to play for the University of Texas in 2007.

Brantley is 6-foot-3 and still a little lanky, one of the reasons they chose Texas was that he would be allowed a redshirt season to develop and put some weight on. I think about 95% of QB’s could use a redshirt year, so it’s refreshing to hear a young man put so much value in that extra development. The extra year will also put a little more space between him and Jevan Snead and Colt McCoy. Smart kid, big strong arm, and excellent athleticism make him one of the nation’s best quarterback prospects and possibly the next great Longhorn QB.

Judging by the classy way they handled their press conference and the comments from both Mr. Brantleys, I can’t imagine a repeat of what happened with our last out-of-state 5-star QB commit. John Brantley is a man of his word and will sign with the Texas Longhorns in February 2006.

John Chiles, Quarterback/Athlete

Probably the best pure athlete in the state. Chiles has legit 4.4 speed and athleticism that will remind you of a certain former Longhorn quarterback. He’s 4 inches shorter and isn’t the complete physical freak Vince Young is, but is rated the number two player in the state and has special ability. A dual-threat quarterback who needs more development as a passer but has a strong arm and a more prototypical throwing motion than Young.

Chiles will definitely be an impact player for the Longhorns somewhere. He’ll get his chance at quarterback because of his amazing upside, but he could also end up being a gamebreaking wide receiver. John just needs to be on the field somewhere and needs the ball in his hands. I don’t know where he ends up, but I’m excited to see him in the burnt orange.

Cody Johnson, Fullback

Colton “Cody” Johnson is definitely an intelligent kid. He chose to commit to the University of Texas as a fullback over an offer to be probably the fifth or sixth “next LaDainian Tomlinson” for the Aggies. You’ve got to respect a kid that knows he won’t be coming in at the exact position he wants to play but still chose his favorite school.

Watching his film you can easily see why Johnson is often compared to former Longhorn great Ricky Williams, who also spent his freshman year as a fullback. He’s a big, strong kid (somewhere between 225 and 250 pounds) who has good quickness and vision. I think Johnson will get a shot to prove himself at tailback when he gets on campus and if he ends up at fullback he’ll give the Horns a dimension they haven’t had at the position in a long time. I think it depends on how the other guys do, the offense being run, and what the team needs are as much as how Johnson performs.

Malcolm Williams, Wide Receiver

Big, fast, and talented. Malcolm Williams missed half of last season with injuries, but he possesses the prototypical size and athleticism that colleges are looking for in a wide receiver. With Gilmer’s Curtis Brown likely headed to the defensive side of the ball, Williams was the Longhorns’ number one target at wide receiver and that says a lot about what t.

There’s also a chance the Horns look out of state at a player like Brantley’s Trinity Catholic teammate Dion Lecorn. There’s a few more top tier guys in-state, so the fact that the staff hasn’t extended scholarship offers to any of them probably means they’re not Mack Brown guys or they’re done at the position. The Horns have a pretty solid young receiving corps on campus, signed three (or four if you count Deon Beasley) in the last class, and John Chiles might also end up at the position in the long run.

Since Williams plays for Garland and is located near the Bevo Sports compound, we might be able to check him out in person this fall.

Commit List

*Note: The star ratings are just my best guesses based on the little bit of video I’ve seen of the recruits and Orangebloods.com’s Lone Star Top 100.

Ocala (FL) Trinity Catholic quarterback John Brantley has just committed to play football for the Texas Longhorns. The national top 100 and probable 5-star recruit chose Texas over offers from Florida, Oklahoma, Alabama, and others. Brantley is actually excited about the opportunity to redshirt and get accustomed to college both athletically and academically. We’ll have more on this and the other recent commits later tonight tomorrow.

Welcome to the Longhorn family John.

Update: Well, it looks like we will not be welcoming John Brantley into the Longhorn family. John Brantley has officially decommited from the University of Texas. Oh well, bring on Chiles.

Zack Pianalto out of Springdale, Arkansas (same school as Mitch Mustain and a handful of other excellent players last year) has become the Texas Longhorns’ 14th commitment. Pianalto, a 6’4″ 210 pound TE/WR combo in the David Thomas mold, is the second tight end prospect to commit this week.

Young kid who still has some growing to do physically but it sounds like the Texas coaches likes him and that’s certainly a big endorsement. The Horns have had a couple of fantastic tight ends the last few years in Thomas and Bo Scaife, redshirt freshman Jermichael Finley looks like he’s going to be big time as well, so I trust the staff to evaluate the position.

Welcome to the program Zack.

Right on the heels of getting the Ahmard Howard commitment.