Texas is making an early push in the 2027 class, and one of the biggest names on its board has a familiar football surname.
The Longhorns have scheduled an official visit with five-star guard NaVorro Bowman Jr. this fall, according to college basketball reporter Sam Kayser. Texas is among several programs lining up a look at the son of three-time Pro Bowler and former San Francisco 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman.
Bowman Jr. sits at No. 1 in California and No. 11 overall in the 2027 class, per 247Sports. The Notre Dame High School product in Sherman Oaks, California, is also close to SoFi Stadium, where his father now serves as linebackers coach for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Bowman’s NFL résumé is a long one: eight seasons, 99 games played, 84 starts, and a Super Bowl XLVI start for San Francisco against the Baltimore Ravens to finish the 2013 season.
At 6-3 and 180 pounds, Bowman Jr. already stands taller than his father and could be on a path to the NBA after only one college season.
Texas is not alone in the chase. Bowman Jr. has also locked in official visits with UConn, Arizona and Illinois. His offer list is packed with heavyweight programs, including Kansas, Arkansas, Baylor, North Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Villanova, Miami and Indiana, among many others.
The Longhorns had briefly picked up their first 2027 commitment earlier this summer when No. 1 prospect Marcus Spears Jr. pledged to Texas, but he reclassified to 2026 shortly after, leaving Sean Miller’s program still without a verbal commitment in the 2027 cycle.
Still, Texas is staying busy on the recruiting trail as Miller prepares for his second season in Austin after major roster turnover. Bowman Jr. is just one of several high-end visitors expected on the Forty Acres this fall.
Other scheduled visits for Texas basketball later this year include Beckham Black on Sept. 9, Justin Wise on Sept. 5 and Darius Wabbington on Nov.
- Wise is a Georgia commit.
More names are expected to be added before the season gets rolling.
In Other News...
Former Texas Starter Heads To Texas A&M After Painful Twist
Jordan Popes next stop in the SEC will bring an immediate layer of intrigue for Texas fans. The former Longhorns guard has transferred to Texas A&M after a legal fight with the NCAA opened the door to a fifth season of eligibility, giving him one more college run and a fresh chance to make an impact in a familiar conference.
Pope said he would have preferred to return to Texas, but roster constraints made that path unavailable, pushing him to College Station instead. The schedule adds its own twist, with Pope set to face his former team in games in February and March, a pair of dates that will be circled well before tipoff. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Speed Debate Just Showed How Explosive This Offense Could Be
Texas has plenty to sort out on offense this fall, but the speed conversation around the roster is a reminder of why this group draws so much attention. Ryan Niblett, already a dangerous return specialist with a knack for changing games on punt returns, weighed in on the Longhorns' fastest-player debate and pointed to Kohen Brown, Ryan Wingo and Warren Roberson as names to watch. It is the kind of discussion that makes sense around a team built on playmakers, especially when Niblett himself has shown up in games at 20.8 mph.
The bigger takeaway is not just who wins a stopwatch race, but how that track-speed translates once the pads are on. Brown has reportedly hit 23.1 mph in conditioning, Wingo arrives with a high school 100-meter mark of 10.55 seconds, and Niblett's own game speed has already shown up in live action. Texas can measure burst in a lot of ways, and the argument here only underscores how many different kinds of explosiveness this offense can put on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Has A Safety Battle Fans Need To Watch Closely
Texas is deep into fall camp with one of its most notable September questions sitting in the secondary, where Kobe Black and Derek Williams are battling for a starting safety job. Black, moving over from cornerback, has drawn strong reviews from the staff after standing out in camp and during the Longhorns first scrimmage, while Steve Sarkisian has already pointed to his work in live action as a reason the coaches are paying close attention.
Williams still enters camp as the projected starter, but he is working his way back from injury and now faces a real push heading into the next scrimmage. For Texas, the competition is about more than just filling a spot on the depth chart, because the eventual winner will need to help anchor a defense that expects reliability on the back end as the 2026 season approaches. [Read more 🡒]