Recruiting Country: The latest recruiting news surrounding the Maroon & White

TexAgs' recruiting analyst Ryan Brauninger joined TexAgs Radio on Wednesday morning for another edition of Recruiting Country, highlighting the latest news and notes from the recruiting trail surrounding Texas A&M.

Key notes from Recruiting Country

• Dominick McKinley‍ to LSU started moving in that direction once the firing of Jimbo Fisher was made public. It sounded like Texas A&M would have had a hard time holding onto him in mid-December. It has been going this way for a while. I was surprised it took that long. 
   
• They still have work to do to hold onto Terry Bussey‍, but I think A&M is still in a good spot there.
   
• It is not a surprise that McKinley backed away from his commitment to A&M, but maybe a little more surprised it was LSU. We had heard so much about Oklahoma and Texas.
   
• Based on our latest intel, it will take a lot of relationship-building from Ishmael Aristide, Mike Elko and Jay Bateman, but I feel they have gotten off to a good start with Bussey. Terry's level of comfortability in College Station, taking visits to Georgia and USC, I still feel like that's not who Terry is. I could be wrong. A&M signing Myles Davis‍ and Dealyn Evans‍, two of his best friends in the recruiting cycle, went a long way for A&M.
   
• If you look at things and how they are unfolding with Holmon Wiggins being here, I think the majority of their recruiting time will be spent on the portal which means Terry Bussey will get a lot of focus if he is one of few high school targets remaining.
   
• We will add some names to our portal list on the site probably later today. The only time a high school prospect gets real is when an offer goes out. If no new offers go out, there is no sense in even speculating.
   
• I do like they are bringing in portal running backs. There is a plan. Elko has a plan and will be organized. You can see that with his staff and the visitors this weekend. If you are not a subscriber, A&M is bringing in over 20 players from the portal. That is way more aggressive than previous coaching staffs have been.
   
• Nic Scourton is on a visit right now. A source in Bryan told me they were going to start the visit at midnight, right when the dead period ended. Nic does have visits scheduled to Oklahoma State, Florida and Missouri. I like where A&M is at. Ideally, you don't let him get on a plane and go to those places. All you can do is put your best foot forward and see what happens.
   
• A&M has a great plan for Nic. There is a direct line to him being an impact player in the SEC right down the road from where he grew up. His family can watch him play. There is local momentum to getting him back here. I imagine that will be a part of the sales pitch. He has ties to the coaches.
   
• There was a time when Mike Elko had a real interest in him out of high school. Elko did not have the final say on if the offers went out. Nic played off-the-ball linebacker, stand-up edge and with his hand in the dirt in high school. He changed positions. Now he is a 6-foot-4, 280-pound monster that led the Big Ten in sacks. There is a lot of draw for A&M for Nic.
   
• That visitor list we put out could blossom close to 40 or get cut down to 10 like that. We felt good about the Caullin Lacy kid. When he left campus, we felt good. 48 hours later, it was undone. 
   
• A&M will have a few guys in this week that are committed elsewhere.
   
• Denver Harris will be a popular question. I do think that Denver is an option. He will visit this week. There will be no one more aware of what has happened to him than Mike Elko and Ishmael Aristide. I don't think this was initiated by the Texas A&M staff. I think it was initiated by people close to Denver's recruitment. Mike Elko is a smart guy. I imagine, there will be a lot of one-way conversations taking place, like "If you come here, this is how you will behave."