Michael Fasusi Commits to Oklahoma: What is Texas Longhorns Impact?

The Texas Longhorns have struck out at another big Texas target, and its now back to the drawing board at yet another position. Can Texas make up for Fasusi's loss with commitments from their final big targets?

Longhorns Offensive coordinator Kyle Flood answer questions from the local news media during the first press conferences for the 2023 football season on August 1, 2023. / Ricardo B. Brazziell / Austin American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK

Another big swing, and another big miss for the Texas Longhorns on the recruiting trail.

On Wednesday, 2025 five-star offensive tackle Michael Fasusi, a top-five player at his position and a top-10 player in the state of Texas, committed to Oklahoma over Texas and Texas A&M. It was a key recruiting win for Brent Venables and his staff.

Fasusi marks the second Texas five-star that the Longhorns have let leave the state this summer, with No. 1 reciever Dakorien Moore picking the Oregon Ducks over Texas.

Fasusi would've become the Longhorn's second five-star in the 2025 class, easily allowing them to jump over their rivals in the rankings. Unfortunately for the Longhorns, Oklahoma has stolen their thunder, and will now possess one of the SEC's seven top-10 classes for 2025. Texas is not among them.

But just how bad of a miss is this for the Longhorns?

On the positive side, there is still some hope on the offensive tackle front. Though Fasusi was the main target for Texas, the No. 14 tackle in the class, Nick Brooks, will announce his commitment tomorrow, Friday the 23rd, with Texas solidly in the mix and expected to prevail. Brooks is a mammoth, part of head coach Steve Sarkisian's identity of recruiting 'big human beings', but does not have the technical skill or NFL potential of Fasusi.

But the floodgates will really open if Brooks decides on USC, who is seen as the biggest threat to the Horns. Texas does not have the luxury of losing another offensive tackle in this recruiting period. The Longhorns do have four offensive linemen committed already, but three of them profile as guards and all four are three stars, not nationally ranked by 247Sports.

Offensive line coach Kyle Flood has had a field day in recruiting since joining the Longhorns, having already landed commitments from five stars DJ Campbell, Kelvin Banks and Brandon Baker in the last three recruiting cycles. On top of being a master recruiter and developer, Flood has the backing of NIL with "The Pancake Factory", a Texas Longhorns offensive line-specific NIL fund that adds $50,000 of charitable money on top of any committed lineman.

Jul 17, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Texas offensive lineman Kelvin Banks Jr. speaking at Omni Dallas Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Brett Patzke-USA TODAY Sports / Brett Patzke-USA TODAY Sports

So Flood has shown an elite combo of development (see Christian Jones, Jake Majors and Cole Hutson), recruiting (Campbell, Banks and Baker), and has one of the best NIL funds in the country at his back. To say that losing both Fasusi and Brooks this week would be a failure is sugarcoating it.

The class of 2025 now sits on the outside looking in, ranking eighth in the SEC. Texas has been one of the four best recruiting teams in the nation from 2022 to 2024, joining Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State as the only teams to have a top-five class in all three recruiting cycles. Now, as the Bulldogs, Buckeyes, Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers sit with the top four classes, the Longhorns aren't even in the top 12.

Another bad sign from this loss is the Longhorn's control, or lack thereof, of the state of Texas. In each of the last two recruiting cycles, Texas has secured three of the top 10 players in the most contested state in all of recruiting.

The Longhorns are never going to get five or more elite guys in the state when battling with Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Clemson and Ohio State, but the Longhorns are in a pretty rough spot at the moment. Of the 12 state of Texas players ranked in the top 100 of 247Sports class of 2025 rankings, Texas has just two commitments: recent five-star commit Kaliq Lockett and defensive lineman Lance Jackson. Texas has lost a lot of ground in the state with the losses of Moore and Fasusi, but there may be hope that it can get better.

The Longhorns still have some hope, as Brooks, Jonah Williams, Jamie Ffrench, and Michael Terry III look like solid picks for the Longhorns. Williams will commit on Saturday, while Ffrench and Terry III will commit near the end of August.

The Longhorns aren't even close to having failed yet, as Early Signing Day isn't for another four months. If Texas were to win big and secure these three five-stars and an extra four-star commit, the Longhorns could realistically jump into the top five, at the spot Auburn is on 247Sports recruiting rankings, while commitments from Williams and Terry would give Texas four of the top 12 players in the state, and seven of the top 25.

Texas is not doomed, nor should fans think the sky is falling. But, losing Fasusi to a bitter rival is huge.

Texas will likely be behind a class on offensive line talent, which means Flood needs to turn 2024 freshmen like Baker and guards Daniel Cruz and Nate Kibble into multi-year starters.