Texas A&M has spent the summer building what looked like an untouchable recruiting class, stacking five-star talent and leaving the rest of the country chasing. Texas made a push to close the gap, but the Longhorns may have just run into the one stretch they couldn’t afford.
The biggest swing came when Texas lost out on Monshun Sales, the nation’s top receiver target for the class. Sales committed to Indiana instead, giving Curt Cignetti what was described as his biggest recruiting win yet. The 6’5 210 WR picked the Hoosiers over Alabama, Texas, LSU, and Ohio State, and became the highest-ranked recruit to commit to Indiana in program history.
Texas had hoped Sales would pair with current top receiver commit Easton Royal, who has been in the Longhorn class for quite some time. That was the vision for the Longhorns, and it had plenty of people around College Station thinking about future Lone Star Showdowns with a pair of five-star receivers lined up against Texas A&M’s defensive backfield.
Now that picture looks a lot less likely. Sales is gone, and Royal may not be far behind. A major pick from Steve Wiltfong came in for LSU to flip Royal from Texas, and that possibility has apparently been building for some time.
For Aggie fans, it’s a brutal turn for the rival down the road and a welcome one for Mike Elko’s side. Two five-star losses in a row would be the kind of hit Texas can’t really shrug off, especially with Texas A&M already sitting in the driver’s seat for the top-ranked class.
It also helps lock the Aggies in above the Longhorns regardless of what happens with Landen Williams-Callis. Elko still has to back it up on the field, starting this season at Kyle Field, but on the recruiting trail, Texas A&M keeps looking like the program with the stronger hand.
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