Is 4-Star WR Damarkus Lodge Headed to the SEC or Texas?

For the past couple of weeks, it appeared as though 4-star Texas wide receiver DaMarkus Lodge was leaning toward either Ole Miss or Texas A&M as his future college home.

Then Wednesday happened.

Lodge made an unscheduled (to the masses) unofficial visit to Texas on Wednesday. Along with him: Texas A&M quarterback commit Kyler Murray.

And just like that, Lodge has successfully achieved mind-control status over everyone following his recruiting process. On Monday, most folks thought it was down to Texas A&M and Ole Miss, now we get to add the Longhorns to the list.

So who wins? Random, mid-week recruiting trips aren't made to troll the masses.  The Texas trip means something.  Question is, what? 

What We Know:

Fact: Here's what we know as fact: Lodge decommitted from Texas A&M in September, but the Aggies never turned their backs on the four-star receiver from Cedar Hill, Texas, and what was once a rocky relationship is now seeing smooth trails.

Fact: Lodge has always been a fan of Ole Miss. He has an official visit planned to Oxford this weekend. Ole Miss is something of a second home to Lodge, as his family is from Mississippi. He lived in Mississippi through middle school. Additionally, he has a former high school teammate there in WR Quincy Adeboyejo.

Fact: Lodge did admit to having interest in Texas after Cedar Hill won its second consecutive state championship in December. Baylor also has been a player in his process, and Lodge has watched what freshman K.D. Cannon has done in such a short time with the Bears.

Lodge, however, chose not to officially visit either Big 12 school. He still has one more visit available if he chooses to take it, and he has an open date for the weekend of Jan. 30.

While the Big 12 is a great spot for a star receiver, you have to wonder if the official visits will play a role in the final decision. With that said, Texas A&M and Ole Miss are still front-runners in his process. And if we're breaking down those schools, two questions arise.

Which school fits his game best? Which school fits his personality best?

If we're going with the first question alone, Ole Miss is the place for him. Lodge is a receiver who, while humble, is highly competitive, and he wants to be the primary receiving option in an offense. The Rebels finished the year with seven players recording double-digit receptions. Laquon Treadwell, Cody Core, Vince Sanders, Evan Engram and Adeboyejo combined for 192 of Ole Miss' 258 receptions last season.

Compare those numbers to Texas A&M, a team that loved to spread the ball out to multiple receivers. Eighteen players recorded at least one catch for the Aggies this past season. Of those 18, Malcome Kennedy, Josh Reynolds, Ricky Seals-Jones and Speedy Noil all had at least 46 receptions.

If Lodge can deal with sharing the ball, then this is where the second question comes into play. He has established friendships with quite a few Texas A&M recruits, commits and current players. He also has former high school teammates in WR LaQuvionte Gonzalez and linebacker Richard Moore, an early enrollee, in College Station. Moore was a Texas A&M decommit before recommitting just before leaving to College Station this month.

The trip to Austin for the Texas unofficial will be a topic of discussion until national signing day, but it will take a lot for the Longhorns to win the battle against Texas A&M and Ole Miss. It's definitely possible, but it won't be easy.