Texas Longhorns Recruiting Report: Top Guns

The big Texas Longhorn news this week happens to be the two camps held in Virginia and Baton Rouge.

The Top Gun Camp held in Virginia was of particular importance to Longhorn fans as the Maverick and Goose of Texas running back prospects interviewed one another and hinted about wanting to attend the same school.

The interview couldn’t have been any more positive, short of the talented San Antonio tandem serenading BEVO with You've Lost that Loving Feeling.

In Baton Rouge, we were the first to report that Jermauria Rasco was a no-show to LSU’s four day camp which started last Sunday.

That’s absolutely huge news considering the Bayou Bengals had buzzed the Longhorn Tower with depth chart pitches from the fork-tongued Lester Miles, which seemed to have placed LSU right back into the thick of things with Texas and Bama. A temporary setback for the purple and gold clown car; more on Rasco in a minute.

Other bits and pieces include David Jenkins stock really taking off, making the Longhorns conditional offer about as attractive as modern day Kelly McGillis. Unless the Longhorns hop aboard the Jenkins love train, he’s likely going out of state.

So without further adieu, on to the predictions.

Malcolm Brown

Odds of committing: 100 percent—holding steady.

This one belongs in the category of TOO CLOSE FOR MISSILES, WE’RE SWITCHING TO GUNS, and what has been locked on radar for months should be official within a few weeks. (PSA: If you’re ever too hammered to eat Sushi with chopsticks, run that line right before you grab a fork and most everyone will overlook your indiscretion.)

We were the first to report Brown’s impromptu visit to the 40 acres with family last week, and the staff’s strategy was to surround Malcolm with the faces of the program—guys like Jordan Hicks, Jackson Jeffcoat, the Achos, and Aaron Williams.

As usual, that tactic was dead on balls effective since Brown told the coaches he’s coming but won’t make it official until early August.

It was also reported that Nick Saban and company had been playing up Austin as being a bad place in terms of distracting kids and pointed to the off the field issues the Longhorns program had back in 2007.

While there wasn’t much indication that this tactic had gotten any traction with the Brown's, it’s now a moot point with the recent NCAA investigation of Marcel Dareus, a rumored investigation of Trent Richardson, as well as an NCAA inquiry into Alabama’s cozy relationship with seedy agents.

Irony, once again, is lost on Nick Saban, and somewhere, Albert Means and Logan Young must be chuckling…

Throw in the Top Gun Camp interview between Green and Brown and it’s easy to see why this one’s academic. The question is whether Green eventually joins Brown on the 40 Acres and they tacitly agreed that one back isn’t enough to carry the load.

Lip service to Rivals cameras? Perhaps. Theatrics aside, the staff won’t risk losing Brown by pursuing Green but if there’s a chance to land both and keep all parties happy they’d obviously take it.

Jermauria Rasco

Odds of committing: 70 percent—up from 50 percent.

Last week we posited that Texas needs to counter punch LSU’s depth chart pitch with some salesmanship of our own. Some well-placed Muschamp magic via Phillip Geiggar or Evangel’s head man seemed to do the trick considering Rasco skipped out on LSU coach Les Miles this week.

But there’s more to this story than we first reported. The message being used in the tug-of-war with SEC powers must resonate with Mamma before it makes a dent with Jermauria.

Word is Mamma Rasco isn’t like Mamma McFarland and actually does want what’s best for her son. That’s huge news for Longhorn fans because with the shenanigans going on at Alabama, Les Miles perpetually uncertain future, and the fact the Horns have emissaries on location in Shreveport to constantly deliver their positive message to the Rascos is a terrific confluence of events for the Longhorn staff.

But this is still Louisiana and the SEC, so a perfect storm may be exactly what Texas needs to pull this super-talented defensive end.

Aaron Green

Odds of committing: 30 percent—up from 20 percent last week.

After what transpired at Top Gun camp yesterday, perhaps the data on the MIG was inaccurate. Chalk it up to the appeal of the Texas program, proximity to San Antonio, Nebraska bolting to a Siberian Conference, and perhaps a genuine interest in playing lightning to Malcolm Brown’s thunder, but this one isn’t over.

Our source told us about a month ago that Green was a real possibility to join Brown on the 40, but this seemed to be discredited when Green proclaimed to a Nebraska reporter that he wasn’t even being recruited by Texas.

Of course in recruiting, context is everything, so it wouldn’t be all that surprising if he was a) telling a reporter from the school his brother attends what Husker fans wanted to hear and/or b) wanted to please the majority of his family who would rather see Green at Nebraska instead of Texas.

Darius White is the perfect example of a recruit that said all the right things to please outside influences. Throughout the recruiting process White said things to reporters that made it seem like OU was leading and would be the school at the end of the day. But White’s heart was always with Texas and ultimately the Horns won out.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins

Odds of committing: still 95 percent

Anytime a recruit’s family shells out a few hundred bucks to make an unofficial trip, announces he’ll be making his final decision just after that trip, and has essentially recruited the school in question from the get-go, that’s a great sign.

Anthony Wallace

Odds of Committing: zero percent—down from 10 percent

We reported last week that our source had a feeling that the staff had moved on as far as Wallace’s recruitment goes. Another source I talked with (more of a regional guy) claimed that some schools have even backed off Wallace for some reason.

“If it’s clear he’s not going to Texas then you would think other schools beside Oklahoma would step up and throw their hat in the ring but that hasn’t happened. Even A&M seems to have backed off. Perhaps he’s a silent to Oklahoma or perhaps he waiting for a re-offer from UT, but it doesn’t seem like he’s a priority for the Ags. I haven’t heard any off the field rumors like grades or the sort, so who knows. It’s strange.”

Wallace may be taking a wait and see approach based on what his buddy Chris Barnett is doing. Lately, Barnett has been all about Arkansas and Wallace seems to be following suit.

In fact, our source said that if a decision had to be made today, Wallace would be a Hog along with Barnett.

This one’s done if you’re a Longhorn fan, but it’ll be interesting to compare Wallace’s career with someone like Chet Moss in the coming years.

David Jenkins

Odds of Committing: five percent

Jenkins has blown up and is every bit the corner back prospect that Charles Jackson is, thus the long and distinguished offer list.

The Longhorns’ conditional offer probably doesn’t resonate too strongly considering Jenkins has plenty of offers from BCS schools with no strings attached.

The reason this stays at five percent is the possibility that Texas misses on one or two of its remaining targets, or if Jenkins just blows up this season to the point where Texas views him as a must have.

Things are heating up with college football just over a month away. Check back soon for a seven on seven update.

From the FanTake blog: Recruitocosm

Follow on Twitter: @Recruitocosm