While top recruits can come from anywhere in the country spanning from New York to Hawaii, there are a handful of high school programs that constantly produce top players every year.
These programs are breeding grounds for the best high school recruits, and if you are able to build a connection with one of them you will get major boosts for years to come. In an article by On3‘s Justin Wells, he shined a light on the fact that Texas has been and will continue to build a pipeline with three of the most talent rich programs in the country in Mater Dei (CA), Duncanville (TX), and IMG Academy (FL).
These are schools that have produced names such as Bryce Young (Mater Dei) and Nolan Smith (IMG) among many more standouts. However, up until recently these have been schools that the Longhorns haven’t had a ton of success recruiting. Something Wells broke down, and how their misfortune has changed.
Starting with Southern California powerhouse Mater Dei, the Longhorns have landed just a couple recruits from there in Spencer Shannon in 2023 and Bru McCoy in 2019 who spent about five minutes on campus before leaving. Wells cited Steve Sarkisian’s ties and the fact that new wide receivers coach Chris Jackson also played there has helped tremendously.
Before then, Texas and Mater Dei rarely crossed paths. But these days with Sarkisian’s ties, Monarch alum Chris Jackson on staff, and other assistants with California connections like Jeff Banks and Pete Kwiatkowski, the Longhorns are pursuing some of the best from the program.
In the 2024 class alone, Texas is after five-star offensive lineman Brandon Baker and four-star offensive lineman DeAndre Carter.
When it comes to in-state Duncanville, it wasn’t until Ra’Shaad Samples was on staff that Texas actually found success there. The most recent player from the Texas powerhouse is offensive tackle Cam Williams in 2022. They’ve already landed Alex January in the class of 2024, and are viewed as one of the favorites for five-star Colin Simmons which could be the biggest win in the 2024 class for Texas.
IMG is the pinnacle of high school sports as players move from all over the country to play there and train, but historically the Longhorns haven’t fared well. That has appeared to change now, as they’ve already landed three players from the Florida powerhouse. Something that running backs coach Tashard Choice can be credited for.
If there’s one program where the Horns have seen very little success over the years, it’s the Florida-based private school that produces a large amount of college prospects. Texas recruited Adeoye out of his high school in Missouri before the linebacker transferred to IMG. He’s essentially the only IMG graduate who made the trek from Bradenton to Austin. In 2024, Texas dove into IMG waters and landed two of the top prospects in the country in Johnson-Rubell and Gibson. Plus, the Horns find themselves in a good position for Lindsey, but are fighting Auburn for his services.
If the Longhorns can continue to grab recruits out of these three schools it will only help them as they begin to transition to the SEC ahead of 2024.