Though it was coming for quite some time, two 2014 defensive tackle prospects decommitted from Texas yesterday evening, on the heels of former defensive tackle coach Bo Davis departing for the same position at Southern California. Shortly after those visits, rumors broke of the third and final defensive tackle prospect, Longview’s Zaycoven Henderson, also potentially leaving. At about that time, linebacker commitment Otaro Alaka announced he was taking two visits, including one to Texas A&M.
Of the four, the most surprising is Zaycoven Henderson, who had told multiple outlets he was going to sign with Texas regardless of who the coach was. Henderson was to enroll at Texas within the next day or two and be in for spring practice, but his last tweet yesterday was one asking why Bo Davis had left. I have a message into Henderson, and from talking to him before I can tell you this is a smart kid with a bright future. He may very well enroll at Texas Tech, or he may come back around to Texas. His loss would be the biggest, but things like this happen when change occurs.
**UPDATE** – As of 8:00pm, January 8, 2014 Henderson will enroll at Texas A&M, totally out of the blue, after being committed to three different schools in the same day.
Courtney Garnett is a situation Texas should not have found itself in. The kid can play ball, but I honestly question if his offer had to do with strong Texas interest, or because of the hot pursuit of his teammates Leonard Fournette and Jermaine Roberts. Garnett came out of the blue last summer and committed, but the commitment was exactly “taken” because of grades. Grades were an issue when this all went down, and the offer was extended anyway. That situation has not improved, and the overwhelming sentiment is Garnett will end up at junior college, unable to academically qualify at Texas. Garnett has been all over social media for several days going hot and heavy courting the Oklahoma fan base, and finally decommitted last night, but as stated, he is probably going to go JUCO.
Trey Lealaimatafao was an Army All American, but left last night saying it was late in the game and he wanted to be coached by Bo Davis, which is odd considering he was a very “soft” commit long before Mack Brown’s tenure came to an end, even going so far as to visit other schools. I’ve spoken with folks in the area, and the word I get is this is a situation which will benefit Texas and possibly Lealaimatafao in the long run. Even under Brown and Davis, the Longhorns would likely have ended up in a situation where thye lost this commitment at the last second and had no time to recover.
Otaro Alaka remains committed but wants to take visits. Of this situation, I can only say leave the kid alone and let him look. He hasn’t had a chance to meet his new coaches and see where he fits in the the new scheme. He may come back, he may not, but much like Henderson, when a new staff comes in these things can happen.
