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 and transfer portal trail surrounding Texas A&M.

Key notes from Recruiting Country

• Busy. Trying to keep up with what Mike Elko is doing. We have the Texas High School Football State Championships this week. This is the largest gathering of high school and recruiting media.
   
• Kevin Concepcion’s visit is anticipated to start tomorrow. I was doubting that was going to happen. It probably wasn't going to happen if A&M landed Nic Anderson. A&M is in the market for one more wide receiver. There were reasons I had my doubts about Concepcion visiting.
   
• Votile is a keyword I would use with this portal stuff. Look at how many coaches have addressed the transfer portal. Mike Elko made numerous comments on it. Rhett Lashlee, too. Rich Rodriguez was talking about the portal calendar. You have to deal with agents with bowls and playoffs happening. Who is going to do it, and when would you move it to? School starts in January.
   
• If you compress the total window, can you image the madhouse? It's insanity right now, and it's a month long. Somebody has to dictate when this can and can't happen and what can and cannot happen. The NCAA has no power to say anything. If they say, “We are drawing a line,” they will sue, and the court will favor the student-athlete. You have opened Pandora’s box. To sign it into law with no rules and regulations has led to more than the Wild West. 
   
• Even if the Power Four commissioners said, “We would like to start a new governing body.” How would they have any more power? Maybe somebody on the political side... Imagine adding that fuel to that furnace. You would add another element to this that can only further the layers of crap. It may be too far gone now.
   
• You have ridiculous stuff that is making its way to social media. The graphic circling of the Micah Hudson NIL deal is total buffoonery. Every piece of the screenshot is incorrect. People just accept it. It’s unequivocally false.
   
• What's Auburn spending? LSU? This is speculation, but some may say it's cheaper to find as much talent as they can in the portal than to play a buyout. Now, they are cherry-picking guys out of the portal. You know who is doing a good job in the portal? Texas Tech. They are willing to spend the money. For the Big 12, they are flipping their roster.
   
• There will be another wave of guys in the portal. We are still in the second quarter. We are not even at halftime. 
   
• There has been a 180-degree flip on the word agent. Years ago, it used to hold weight. Now, an agent means, “I know the kid.” This is not anywhere near the same sport as it was five or six years ago. What will people say when they look back on this era of college athletics? 
   
• If they do not add another wide receiver, I feel good, but not great. Mario Craver and Micah Hudson are young. You are adding them to Terry Bussey’s class. They need one more big one. Concepcion fills that mold. I think they would like a big-bodied guy. I have heard Isaiah Horton name. Duce Robinson has been asked about. I don't get the feel right now A&M is in the running there. He is part of the list of guys they are combing through. Outside of Concepcion, now they are looking through their list and seeing who else could go in.
   
• Miami is likely to get CJ Daniels from LSU. Who’s going to be the quarterback at Miami? I would ask the same about Oregon.
   
• Getting Concepcion to campus this week after what happened with Alabama to prevent the first visit from happening... That is big to get him on campus. You are in the ring swinging. 
   
• Concepcion’s tape is layered with a lot of different things. That's why I say at least once more. They could get Concepcion and be done, or they could go get another big outside guy.
   
• Jerome Myles‍ is a big dude but is a true freshman coming off an ACL injury. They think they got a real steal in Kelshaun Johnson‍. Tristan Norman‍ had a monster senior season. He has an arrow pointing up. They fired up about Ashton Bethel-Roman and Izaiah Williams. Bussey and Noah Thomas are known commodities returning next year.
   
• They have landed two of their primary targets, and they are young. 
   
• For next year, Elko said yesterday, they feel good about Cashius Howell, DJ Hicks, Rylan Kennedy, and what about Dealyn Evans and Solomon Williams? I want to see them in the bowl game. You want to get proven guys, but there is a battle you fight between the devil you know and the devil you don't. You know the guys in your program. Those are valuable pieces of information.
   
• You can get a talented kid, but what if he splinters the locker room? A&M is playing the game, and they are in there swinging. They just have to be smart about the personalities they take as well.
   
• You have to play the portal game. Dabo Swinney has been outspoken about not doing NIL and portal. It will be harder to win moving forward. I think he is coming off that because Clemson will be in on a couple of guys. 
   
• Jason Howell and I will be in Arlington. Jason will watch 2A DI tonight. I will leave tomorrow morning to try and get there for the 3 p.m. game. There is only one A&M signee playing, Chace Sims‍ at Richmond Randle.
   
• Jason highlighted guys playing with A&M offers. Luke Babin‍ is a 2027 quarterback at Woodville who has had a great year. He doesn't have an A&M offer, but he has a ton of attention. Ty Knutson‍ is another young quarterback. Gavin Koester‍ is a kid from Austin Vandegrift who I was really impressed with.
   
• We are talking about so much portal stuff that we are glossing over the 2026 class. Junior Day is on the other side of the New Year.