Ricky Seals-Jones: Texas Must Do What It Takes to Bring Recruit Back

Old school fans of college football don’t want to hear this, but Texas needs to get on its hands and knees and beg Ricky Seals-Jones to change his mind.

He has decommited from the program, and now Texas is left scrambling trying to pick up the pieces.

The No. 1 ranked receiver by Rivals.com and the No. 7 overall recruit of ESPNU for the class of 2013 had previously committed to the Longhorns back in February, giving Texas an incredible weapon in its offense for the foreseeable future. At 6’5’’ and 220 pounds, he was the big burly target that the Longhorns so desperately needed.

How does Texas plan on getting him back?

According to William Wilkerson of the HornsNation blog on ESPN.com, it sounds like he prefers to play for a school where he can be on both the football and basketball team:

"

Seals-Jones’ decision is believed to have something to do with his desire to play both football and basketball in college. But it might be simpler than that. 

“He says he might play basketball only in college,” said one source close to the situation. “[He] wants to look around and see what that would be like. He said he might go visit Kansas.” 

"

Wilkerson reports that in addition to Kansas, LSU and Baylor had both offered Seals-Jones a spot on both teams.

Texas has to join them.

If that’s what it takes to ensure the No. 1 receiver stays in Austin, so be it. He is a rare talent as well as the cousin of Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson. His future is incredibly bright. With no receiver catching more than three TDs last season for the Longhorns…it’s a clear position of need moving forward.

You have to give the kid what he wants, which doesn’t sound right, but is the reality of collegiate athletics in 2012.

18-year-old kids have all the power as the adults around them are simply trying to do what it takes to win and keep their jobs. The pressure-cooker that is being the head coach at Texas is getting to Mack Brown after two lackluster years in a row, and there is no question he enters this season with question marks hanging over his head about his future with the program.

If that means getting on his hands and knees to beg…so be it.

Besides, with the talent this kid has, allow him to put up gaudy numbers his freshmen season, watch him struggle to star on the basketball court and try to convince him to stick with the gridiron.

It’s not rocket science. The premier athletes in high school think they can do it all, but once Seals-Jones gets a grasp of how much time he must surrender to play two of the most demanding sports available…he’ll eventually change his mind. College life is too valuable to be stuck in a gym or practice field for 85 percent of it.

Brown has to have this thought in the back of his mind and has to ensure that one of the top recruits from his class doesn’t skip town over something as silly as trying to be a two-sport star.

The stakes are too high, the competition is too stiff and the fans are too impatient in Texas to allow a potential All-American to walk merely because Texas wouldn’t allow him to suit up with the hoops team.

It’s up to Brown and his coaching staff to ensure this problem gets fixed, or he will be entering the ’12 season on a sour note.

After posting a 13-12 record the past two years…that’s the last thing he needs.

Follow Eric Ball on Twitter.