All-American Bowl Primer and check-in thread
Players are arriving in San Antonio for the All-American Bowl today, and we will try to get a few interviews as they check-in. I will be at check-in this afternoon and post updates in this thread as I get them. Practice begins on Tuesday and the game will be played at noon on Saturday, January 4 at the Alamodome. Four Texas A&M signees will play in the game. One on the West squad and three on the East squad. The number listed next to their name is their jersey number. West 23 LB Antonio Doyle, St. Louis (MO) Lutheran North East85 WR Muhsin Muhammad III, Charlotte (NC) Myers Park19 DE Donell Harris, Miami (FL) Gulliver Prep33 S Antonio Johnson, East St. Louis (IL) A few of Texas A&M's uncommitted targets are also in San Antonio this week. West 44 DT McKinnley Jackson, Lucedale (MS) George County - LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, and Georgia are among those also under consideration. He plans to take an official visit to Texas A&M in January. 5 LB Edgerrin Cooper, Covington (LA) - the former Oklahoma commit plans to announce his college destination at the game on Saturday. Utah has been a school to watch and Texas, Alabama, Mississippi State, and LSU have also been connected to the Louisiana standout. He took an official visit to Texas A&M in December. 18 QB Malik Hornsby, Missouri City (TX) Fort Bend Marshall recruited by the Aggies as an athlete. He is being pursued by others at QB and he has indicated QB is where he would like an opportunity. Purdue and Baylor are other schools to watch in his recruiting process and both are recruiting him at QB. East 72 OL Brady Ward, Mobile (AL) St. Pauls he received a greyshirt offer from the Aggies in December. He plans to take some visits in January and sign somewhere in February. Other Texans in the Game East24 CB Jalen Kimber, Mansfield Timberview - Georgia47 P Matthew Shipley, Liberty Hill - Hawaii West11 WR Jaxon Smith, Rockwall - Ohio State16 WR Daniel Jackson, Cibolo Steele - Iowa State14 TE Jalin Conyers, Gruver - Oklahoma54 OL Andrej Karic, Southlake Carroll - Texas78 OL Garrett Hayes, Athens - TCU43 DE Devin Grant, San Antonio Antonian - Colorado99 DE Alfred Collins, Bastrop Cedar Creek - Undecided32 LB Prince Dorbah, Dallas Highland Park - Texas28 CB Dwight McGlothern, Klein Oak - Undecided4 S Xavion Alford, Pearland Shadow Creek - Texas - out with injury20 S RJ Mickens, Southlake Carroll - Clemson Other familiar names East2 TE Arik Gilbert, Marietta (GA) - LSU70 OL Michael Carmody, Mars (PA) Mars Area - Notre Dame37 DT Omari Thomas, Memphis (TN) Briarcrest Christian - Tennessee31 S Jordan Morant, Oradell (NJ) Bergen Catholic - Michigan48 S Vito Tisdale, Bowling Green (KY) - Undecided West25 RB Sam Adams, Sammamish (WA) Eastside Catholic - Washington90 DT Jacobian Guillory, Alexandria (LA) - LSU3 LB Noah Sewell, Orem (UT) - Oregon29 LB Kourt Williams II, Bellflower (CA) St. John Bosco - Ohio State26 S Myles Slusher, Broken Arrow (OK) - Arkansas
Around the SEC: Recruiting news and trends
It's time to take a look around at the biggest pick-ups on the recruiting front as well as some of the top recruiting news and notes from around the SEC. Jason Howell details that and more in this week's Around the SEC.
A few Thursday notes
West Memphis (AR) OL Chris Morris was visited by coach Fisher, coach Henson, and coach Dickey yesterday, and I am told the visit went very well. Morris is as locked in as any prospect in the class and has been a great recruiter for Texas A&M behind the scenes. He may take an official visit to Miami before signing, but I would put Morris would be right there with Demas and Bankhead in terms of how locked in he is. Right now, he's focused on preparing for the Under Armour All-American game and then enrolling at Texas A&M in January. Speaking of official visits, I posted about Covington (LA) LB Edgerrin Cooper taking his official visit to A&M the weekend of Dec. 13. He will not be the only one in town that weekend, the Aggies are also expected to host commitments DE Donell Harris, S Antonio Johnson, and DT Isaiah Raikes. Antonio Johnson is also expected to host Coach Elko tonight. Coach Fisher, coach Graham, and coach Price are expected to go in-home with EJ Smith. I hear the chatter out there about McKinnley Jackson and the positive vibes in Baton Rouge, but I continue to hear some things behind the scenes that make me think the Aggies are very much involved and in a great spot. On Omari Thomas, I get the impression things do not look as bright. He is currently slated to announce his choice Dec. 9 and Tennessee and Ole Miss continue to have quite a bit of buzz in Thomas' recruitment.
A glance at what is still in play
I figured I'd consolidate all the names we are hearing that the A&M staff is still at the very least having conversations with down the stretch as we are just over two weeks away from NSD 1. QB - noneRB - Daniyel Ngata, EJ Smith, Zach Evans WR - noneTE - noneOL - Javonne Shepherd (transfer), Ty'Kieast Crawford (academic questions)DE - Alfred Collins, Princely Umanmielen DT - McKinnley Jackson, Omari Thomas LB - Antonio Doyle, Edgerrin Cooper CB - Dontae Manning, Brian George, Ronald Williams, Scooby Carter (transfer)S - Jordan Morant ATH - Malik Hornsby I do not anticipate A&M adding any more at defensive end or safety, but they have been in talks with all three players listed at those positions this week. A source tonight told me that Bradley Dale Peveto was in Louisiana to meet with Cooper. I've also gotten a vibe today that there was growing confidence again with Doyle. Regardless, I suspect the Aggies to add a solid LB to the class. I also believe there's a strong chance Kenneth Phillips delays his arrival in College Station until his rehab is complete. I'd look for a decision to come down from Omari Thomas in the next week or so. I've been able to glean that Tennessee (and their fans) think they're the team to beat, but I wouldn't count those chickens just yet if I were a Volunteer. I'd consider it a pretty huge coup if the Ags can nick one of him or Jackson.
A few Tuesday morning quick hitters
- As Jason pointed out in the other thread, Coach Terry Price will visit with Alfred Collins and Princely Umanmielen today. The recent momentum for both has been with Baylor, but I'd watch Auburn for Princely as well as Oklahoma for Collins with Texas still hanging around for both. A&M is still putting in the time to see where they fit for both guys, but I'd say they are behind for both while still working targets like McKinnley Jackson and Omari Thomas. - Price was in Florida yesterday where he met with Donell Harris and his family extensively last night. A source in the Sunshine State said the early return on the visit was extremely positive, and the family really like TP's personality as well as his CV with defensive ends. Harris will take an OV to Florida this weekend, but the Aggies hold the final OV the weekend before early signing day. - Seeing as how I'm talking about his dad, I guess this is as good a time as any to post Devin Price's senior season highlight tape. https://t.co/y2azOe97v2- A pair of southeast Texas sources told me last night that it will likely come down to Texas A&M and LSU for the Port Arthur Memorial duo of Jordon Thomas and Jaylon Guilbeau. One source was confident that neither of the two were very keen on playing anywhere but the SEC. - Howell has been all over the recruitments of Marcus Burris and Landon Jackson, but I had an east Texas contact tell me last night that the Aggies continue to trend in the right direction with the pair of elite DL out of Pleasant Grove. It still sounds like Burris' recruitment could come to a conclusion sooner than Jackson's. - I'm still keeping an eye on what long time DT commit Dallas Walker is going to do. Auburn hasn't backed off, and I think they're selling their departing talent and depth chart.