Longhorns Recruiting Tracker: 2026 4-Star Impressed After Texas Visit

Stay tuned in with the latest recruiting news and notes for the Texas Longhorns with daily updates here:

Sep 14, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian stands for the Eyes of Texas with players and fans after a victory over the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

SEPTEMBER 25 - LONGHORNS HOST 4-STAR NEBRASKA COMMIT

The Texas Longhorns blew away the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks last Saturday night in a 51-3 route at DKR.

Fortunately for the Horns, four-star Hitchcock (Galveston, TX) defensive tackle and Nebraska commit Malcolm Simpson was in attendance to see it happen.

And according to an interview with On3's Steve Wiltfong, Simpson was very impressed by what he saw in Austin.

"It was great. Electric environment!" Simpson told Wiltfong. “A potential good fit because they are physical up front and take pride in being bullies up front. I feel I would be able to play inside and out in the edge. Overall great  atmosphere. We had fun for sure.”

Simpson ranks as the No. 17 defensive lineman, No. 29 player in Texas and No. 180 player in the nation, per On3.

SEPT 23 - POWERS ATTEMPTING TO FLIP LONGHORNS 5-STAR COMMIT

According to Marshall Levenson of Rivals, LSU and Alabama are in "heavy pursuit" of Texas five-star safety/linebacker commit Jonah Williams despite his pledge to coach Steve Sarkisian and co.

That said, according to Williams, he is still very much locked in to the Horns.

"It'll take a lot for me to take my chances with visiting any other school," Williams told Rivals. "Right now, I'm pretty locked in with Texas. It'll really take a lot for me to flip."

Williams will be back on campus this Saturday for Texas' SEC opener against Mississippi State before taking his official visit on Oct. 19 when the Longhorns host the Georgia Bulldogs.

Per 247Sports' rankings, he's the No. 7 overall player in the 2025 class and No. 3 in the state.

SEPTEMBER 22 - 2026 4-STAR CB HAS TEXAS IN TOP GROUP

The Texas Longhorns already have an elite defensive back commitment in the 2026 class in safety Zelus Hicks.

But now, another top player has his eyes on the Horns.

Per an announcement from his X account, 4-star Connally (Waco, TX) corner Jamarion Vincent has placed the Longhorns in his top 8, alongside Texas Tech, TCU, Nebraska, Kansas State, Houston and Baylor.

Per 247 Sports, Vincent ranks as the no. 15 corner in the nation, the No. 29 player in Texas and the No. 201 player in the nation.

SEPTEMBER 12 - 2026 5-STAR COMMITS TO TEXAS

The Texas Longhorns earned a massive commitment just before their Saturday matchup with UTSA, with five-star 2026 Carrollton (GA) safety Zelus Hicks pledging to the program.

247Sports has Hicks listed as a five-star prospect on its composite rankings and a four-star on its standard rankings. He has received offers from programs like Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Florida State, LSU, Michigan, Miami, Ohio State and many more. Texas offered Hicks back on May 1.

Hicks is now the third commit for coach Steve Sarkisian and staff in the 2026 recruiting class, joining four-star quarterback Dia Bell and three-star receiver Chris Stewart. Bell committed on June 17 before Stewart did the same eight days later on June 25.

All that said, Hicks could conceivably re-classify to the 2025 class, and come to Austin alongside five-star commit Jonah Williams.

SEPTEMBER 10 - 5-STAR FSU COMMIT TO VISIT AUSTIN

Per On3's Hayes Fawcett, Texas will host five-star FSU decommit Javion Hilson for a visit, with the date yet to be announced. The edge rusher will also be making trips to Texas A&M, Michigan, Alabama, Georgia, Syracuse, Florida and "plans to add more."

The Longhorns flipped four-star defensive lineman Myron Charles from Florida State on Saturday after beating Michigan and will now look to snag Hilson as well.

Hilson de-committed from Florida State on Sunday.

He is currently rated as a five-star recruit and ranks as the No. 15 player overall player in the country, the No. 1 edge rusher, and the No. 2 player in the state of Florida, per Rivals.com.

Last season with Cocoa, Hilson was a dominant force, racking up, 97 tackles, including 27 tackles for loss, 14 sacks, two pass breakups, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. In his sophomore campaign, he also had 9.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss with two forced fumbles.

AUGUST 30 - FFRENCH 100 PERCENT DONE

The Texas Longhorns landed a major commitment in five-star Mandarin (Jacksonville, FL) receiver Jaime Ffrench on Friday.

But while many players would continue to play out their process until Early Signing Day, Ffrench is shutting it down, and is totally locked into the Horns.

“I am 100% done," Ffrench revealed to Chad Simmons of On3. "I am closing my recruitment out and enrolling at Texas in January.”

With Ffrench now in tow, the Horns rank No. 6 in the 2025 class rankings per On3 and No. 7 per 247Sports.

AUGUST 30 - WILLIAMS DOMINATES OPENER

Five-star Texas safety commit Jonah Williams can do it all... on both sides of the ball

And in Galveston Ball's season opener he proved just that, scoring five total touchdowns for his team.

Williams opened the game with a kick return for a touchdown, as well as a blocked PAT on the next possession for Manvel.

OPENING KICK
Before kickoff I said

Don’t kick it to #0

⁦@TexasFootball⁩ commit ⁦@JonahW409⁩ returns it for TD

7-0 ⁦@GalvestonFB⁩

⁦@abc13houston⁩ #txhsfb pic.twitter.com/wXiBUuOTr8

— Joe Gleason (@joeagleason) August 29, 2024

A few players later later he was in for a rushing touchdown out of the Wildcat package. That was followed by two touchdown receptions in the fourth quarter, as well as another rushing score, giving him five total touchdowns on the evening.