Couple of comments from EJ Holland of 247 --
2. National success — Landing Cooper gives Texas a huge national recruiting win. The Longhorns have done a tremendous job of luring elite out-of-state talent, and Cooper is the latest national Top 100 recruit to side with Texas. Saint Louis is there for the taking, and the Longhorns have and will continue to do well in the area. Cooper told me that Texas appeals to Saint Louis kids because of the program’s history, the short flight and the city of Austin. Texas has also had a ton of success in the state of Arizona and hosted one of the best in 2020 in four-star defensive end Jason Harris. Texas should be a strong contender with him after this visit.
3. Trending up — Texas has hosted four-star 2020 defensive lineman Princely Umanmielen almost every weekend — literally — this offseason. The Longhorns are really winning him over and while he wouldn’t say it, I feel like they are gaining an edge over Oklahoma. Umanmielen still wants to take his time with his decision, but right now, it’s hard not to peg Texas the leader. Texas is also moving in the right direction with four-star safety Bryson Washington. I also feel like Texas leads for him — and by a good margin. This visit was pivotal with recent offer Xavion Alford. I believe Texas may have moved into the pole position.
10. Staffers — The two staffers that really impacted recruits today were Ra’Shaad Samples and Bryan Carrington. Samples spent a lot of time with the aforementioned Neville and Banks, and both prospects spoke highly of him. Carrington was involved with basically all major recruits. All raved about him as being an older brother figure. Carrington and Samples are both young, energetic and can relate to prospects. While they can’t get out on the road, they are invaluable weapons during on-campus visits.