Longhorns Drop To No. 8 In SI National Recruiting Rankings

Despite a handful of de-commitments, the Texas Longhorns retained a high ranking in Sports Illustrated's national recruiting rankings

Matt Galatzan | Dec 2, 2021

The Texas Longhorns have had an up and down month on the recruiting trail as of late, re-gaining the commitment of defensive back Jaylon Guilbeau, but losing a handful of pledges to de-commitments (Eoghan Kerry, Jamarion Miller, and Armani Winfield), as well as losing a major target in Evan Stewart to in-state rival, Texas A&M.

As a result, the Longhorns remained in high-standing in the December edition of the Sports Illustrated national recruiting rankings, dropping from No. 7 to No. 8 after the tough November.

However, all is not lost for the Longhorns, who remain with a strong group of 20 pledges, including four SI-99 members in quarterback Maalik Murphy, running back Jaydon Blue, and defensive linemen Justice Finkley and J'Mond Tapp.

The Longhorns are also still in the running for a myriad of impact recruits in the SI 99, with defensive back Denver Harris, linebacker Harold Perkins, and offensive linemen Devon Campbell and Kam Dewberry yet to make their decisions.

Not to mention the flood of Oklahoma de-commitments, following the exit of head coach Lincoln Riley to USC.

Can the Longhorns finish strong?

That remains to be seen. Either way, the 2022 class is still in very good shape, less than two weeks from the early signing period.

Here is what Sports Illustrated's John Garcia had to say about the Longhorns class thus far:

20 Verbal Commitments, 4 SI99 Members

The 6-game losing streak in Austin wasn’t the only rough spot for Sarkisian and his staff in November. A trio of pledges backed off of UT commitments, two from within state lines no less. The foundation of the haul is still intact and it's still in position to potentially close better than any Big 12 program since Oklahoma remains open.

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Published Dec 2, 2021

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.