Longhorns Land Linebacker Commitment From Transfer Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey

The Longhorns landed a much needed linebacker commitment on Friday

Shortly after taking a trip to Austin to visit the 40 Acres, one of the top transfer linebackers in the portal, James Madison's Diamonte Tucker Dorsey, committed to the Texas Longhorns, he announced via Sports Illustrated

"We're going to the University of Texas!" he told John Garcia, Jr. "The biggest part of the decision is trying to get to that next level by playing on a bigger stage.

"They've got a really good schedule this year, it's the Big 12, and Texas is a football state so it really doesn't get too much bigger." 

Tucker-Dorsey, who has one year of college eligibility remaining, and picked the Longhorns over offers from Texas A&M, Auburn, Ole Miss, and UCF, among others, since announcing his intent to hit the transfer portal on May 17.

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An FCS All-American who registered 116 tackles, including 9 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks in 2021, Tucker-Dorsey becomes the seventh player to come to the program through the portal, and the second on the defensive side of the ball.

"The facilities stood out to me the most," he said of Texas. "It's big-time football, that's what I dreamed of and that's what I wanted coming out of high school. That and the big, huge stadium with 100,000 in the atmosphere -- it felt real. It's what I've been missing out on." 

He now joins Quinn Ewers (Ohio State), Isaiah Neyor (Wyoming), Agiye Hall (Alabama), Tarique Milton (Iowa State), Jahleel Billingsley (Alabama) and Ryan Watts (Ohio State) in Austin -- each of whom, along with Tucker Dorsey, is expected to make an instant impact on the roster.

Tucker-Dorsey comes into a position group that was in desperate need of talent and depth, following the losses of Marcus Tillman Jr. and Ayodele Adeoye to the portal, as well as the uncertainty surrounding Luke Brockermyer.

"I was able to really go in depth and watch some film with the coaches, so that really helped me out as far as seeing how I fit in," he said. "I wanted to be a plug and play guy at that Will linebacker spot. I have a chance to compete in the boundary, and I'm a versatile player so they'll use me in pass coverage but also blitzing, checking running backs out of the backfield, zone coverage, stuff like that."

He will be expected to come in and immediately start alongside current star linebacker DeMarvion Overshown. 


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Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.