Sarkisian, Longhorns enjoy big Signing Day with no real surprises

The Texas Longhorns signed a total of of 22 high school recruits today, which serves as the beginning of the early signing period for high school senior football players. Additionally they signed two impact players obtained via the transfer portal. It was a highly successful day for Steve Sarksian and the Texas program that felt like they addressed the needs of the program, both immediate and long-term, with versatile and skilled athletes that are “culture fits.”

National Signing Day can bring moments of anxiety for some programs, but there were no real surprises on the day for the Longhorns. There was some early chatter this morning that Missouri was making a late push for 5-star wide receiver Ryan Wingo, but Wingo signed with Texas as expected, and a collective Longhorn sign of relief could be felt through social media outlets.

The only non-surprise of the day was the flip of 4-star Daingerfield (TX) athlete Aeryn Hampton from the Longhorns to Alabama. Hampton had originally committed to Baylor and then flipped his commitment to Texas in February of last year. He was then offered by the Crimson Tide in April, 2022 and decommitted from the Longhorns last November. After a visit to Austin in June of this year he recommitted to the Longhorns the following month. Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide pushed hard, visiting Hampton at his East Texas home recently. Despite him maintaining his intentions to sign with the Longhorns as recent as last week after an in-home visit with Blake Gideon, in the end the Crimson Tide won out.

Hampton’s flip was overshadowed by the totality of a Texas recruiting class that included four 5-star players, fifteen 4-star players and three 3-star players, according to the 247Sports Composite Player Rankings. The Longhorns also signed Houston transfer wide receiver Matthew Golden and Clemson safety and Austin LBJ product Andrew Mukuba (both 4-star recruits out of high school).

While the Longhorns are still in the mix for several unsigned prospects, as of late Wednesday, Texas holds the #5 recruiting class overall in the 247Sports Composite Team Rankings.

2024 Texas Football Recruiting Class Signees