Anwar’s Texas Longhorns Football Section
* We are only a few days away from a new era in college sports — and Texas general manager Brandon Harris will navigate the Longhorn football program through this new era.
* U.S. Judge Claudia Wilken recently approved the House settlement, ending a five-year legal battle that lifted restrictions on revenue sharing for NCAA athletes. The agreement allows schools to distribute up to $20.5 million annually in NIL payments to athletes, and Yahoo.com projects an increase to $32.9 million per school by the 2034–35 academic year.
* It is important to note that schools can allocate up to $2.5 million of their NIL compensation pool toward scholarships and additional athlete support, monitored by a digital clearinghouse to ensure fair market value for third-party deals. NIL payments can still be paid by outside supportive organizations, but if the payment is over $600, it must be justified through submission to a digital clearinghouse managed by Deloitte, known as NIL Go, in order to establish that third-party deals reflect what the clearinghouse deems “fair” market value.
* I was told Harris is in charge of deciding how much revenue is distributed to members of the football team. Clearly, Steve Sarkisian is in the loop regarding Harris’ calculations, and those estimates must be approved by the head coach. However, Harris is doing the heavy lifting when it comes to determining how the money is distributed among the players. So far, I have not been told how the money will be disbursed.
* I was told Jordan Mitchell, Texas’ Recruiting and Retention Strategy Coordinator, is aiding in the compensation process. One person told me, “Jordan is young, but Sarkisian thinks he’s sharp and has a lot of confidence in him.”
* In addition, Chris Ogden, the GM of men’s basketball, will decide how much revenue is distributed to his team. Football and men’s basketball are the only programs at Texas with a designated GM.
* When it comes to the other sports, I was told those coaches, or assigned staff members, will designate how much each player will earn. That compensation has already been determined.
* The backpay to back pay to former college athletes who competed from 2016-2024 will be distributed from the $2.8 billion House v. NCAA settlement, finalized in June.
* After the inital struggles of Felix Ojo during the Rivals 5-Star elite event this week, I checked in with my sources. I asked how much the event impacts recruiting evaluations from coaches nationwide. One source told me the event does not impact them because coaches will always trust their own player evaluations.
* One person told me, “It’s good for the guys to compete in the offseason. Will we stop recruiting a guy because he’s ranked eighth after an event? Nah. We still look at the film and trust what our staff thinks. I’m sure it’s fun for the kids, but that’s more of an event for the scouting services and reporters.”
* I was told the players will receive a few days off from summer workouts for the July 4th holiday next week before returning to work. Sarkisian is giving his coaching staff three weeks off before they return to work.
* According to my sources, quarterback Arch Manning, left tackle Trevor Goosby, linebacker Anthony Hill, and safety Michael Taaffe have established themselves as leaders of the 2025 Longhorns. In addition, I was told Collin Simmons will eventually emerge as a leader of this team. However, the veterans on this team are the vocal leaders.
Suchomel’s Texas Longhorns Football Recruiting Section
* Sometimes you hear of prospects getting their feelings hurt and basically eliminating a school when a program doesn’t offer early enough. Texas was pretty late to offer current wide receiver commitment Kohen Brown, but Brown wasn’t about to get into the petty games and eliminate UT out of spite.
“Them coming in late, that played no factor. I wasn’t going to cry about it. I was just blessed,” Brown said. “It was all on God’s timing. When they offered, the picked up big in my recruitment, it was like (a snap of the finger). When I went to visit, they kept apologizing for being late. I didn’t need an apology. It came, and I was thankful of that.”
What a refreshingly different take than we’ve heard from numerous other recruits.
* The Texas coaches compared Brown to Matthew Golden in their conversations with him due his frame, his speed and his ability to line up both inside and outside. A one-time USC commitment, Brown is locked in with the Longhorns. “It’s shut down. Texas is my home. Hook’em.”
* Defensive end Jake Kreul put on a nice show at the Rivals Five-Star. The IMG Academy product flashed quickness off the edge and even held his own when lining up at right tackle in a pinch (when one of the right tackles got hurt after Texas commit Richie Wesley planted him on his ass). Kreul told OB he’s down to Texas, Ole Miss, Florida and Oklahoma, but we’re hearing Florida isn’t really a factor. That was surprising since his dad is a Gator. Texas compared Kreul to Colin Simmons with his explosiveness off the ball and ability to rush the passer. That comparison does carry some weight, but we hear Oklahoma is the team to beat.
* Defensive tackle James Johnson is scheduled to make his announcement on Saturday. The Miami Northwestern product recently took an OV to Texas and had high praise for Kenny Baker coming out of that visit. “What really stood out is coach Baker,” Johnson told OB. He’s a real genuine guy. Really wants to recruit me, wants to coach me.” Will it be enough? Johnson is considering Texas, Florida, Georgia and Miami. We’ll get the answer on Saturday but most of the buzz is centered on Georgia.
* No surprise, but you can pretty much close the book on Texas and running back Derrek Cooper, unless things heat up down the road. The five-star runner will commit on July 12 and he told OB that Texas is behind a group of other schools, including Ohio State, Miami and Georgia. Cooper didn’t rule out the possibility of a fall visit to Texas. “They’d have to show me how they’re to use me, show me I’m a three-down back and get me to the next level in the NFL,” Cooper said of what Texas would have to show him to have a chance.
* We’re still waiting on Felix Ojo to announce a commitment date. There was some behind-the-scenes talk that Ojo could add his name to the group of guys that’s announcing on July 4, but that date is still u in the air. As we reported earlier in the week, we feel this one comes down to Texas and Ohio State and we favor the Longhorns.
* We’re about to hit a run of big commitment decisions, including a handful that are scheduled for this weekend. Things are moving quickly and can turn on a dime, but let’s take a look at where things stand as of right now.
FRIDAY
OL Malakai Lee – Officially, he’s down to Texas, Michigan, Georgia and Alabama but we’ve been told Bama isn’t in play on this one. Georgia, we believe, is on the outside despite Lee taking an unofficial visit to Athens a few weeks ago (that trip couldn’t have been cheap, but in the day of NIL and some schools … cough … paying for visits … families are able to make those trips work out. If Bama and Georgia are trailing, that leaves Texas and Michigan. In talking to Lee following his UT visit, Texas definitely checked a lot of boxes but we feel this one is likely to fall Michigan’s way. If you’re trying to put the puzzle together, make note that Hayes Fawcett this week tweeted that the Wolverines have four silent commitments and only two have gone public. It would make sense that Lee would be one of the others, but we’ll continue to monitor just in case.
S Chace Calicut – This will be an interesting backstory to tell after Calicut announces his decision. Texas, Michigan and Georgia are all in play. As I’ve said all week, I feel pretty strongly that Georgia has surged into the top spot, but Calicut has been playing some games this week to throw people off so we’ll be watching this one for a possible wild finish. Confidence in Austin early this week wasn’t high, and we’re in agreement.
DT Damari Simeon – This one has always felt like it would be a Big 10 choice (Texas is the outlier in his final four along with Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan. The buzz this week has Ohio State as the likely landing spot.
SATURDAY
DL James Johnson – With him announcing a sudden (and fairly early) commitment date, there was some thought, at least for a minute, that it could bode well for Texas since the Horns’ DT numbers are filling up quickly. However, as we mentioned above, most of the chatter heading into the weekend has Johnson leaning towards Georgia.
SUNDAY
LB Xavier Griffin – This one’s tricky. Texas, Bama, Ohio State and Florida State are the finalists but OSU and FSU aren’t expected to be factors. We heard a few weeks ago, even before Griffin took his Texas OV, that this one was all but done in favor of the Longhorns. That being said, Bama keeps hanging around and with Griffin’s ties to that state/program (he was born in Alabama and his mom is a Bama grad), we’re not discounting the Crimson Tide. Griffin is a one-time USC commitment, which is worth noting since the Trojans are throwing around NIL money to early commitments with hopes of getting them to shut things down and not take other visits (they’re not the only ones). Griffin was committed to USC for 10 months, so a good NIL package will be a necessity in this one. On top of all of that, we’ve heard that Texas could go all-in on fellow LB Tyler Atkinson. If that’s the case, could it impact the Longhorns’ recruitment of Griffin? We’re cautiously favoring Texas as things stand right now.
Jalen’s Texas Longhorns Basketball Section
(Jalen)
* Caught up with the Goosby family following 2026 four-star wing Austin Goosby’s unofficial visit to Texas last week, I’m told the visit overall went well for both parties and strengthened their relationship even more.
*. In terms of what the pitch has been from the Longhorn staff to Goosby, it has been centered around development alongside implementing their philosophy and emphasizing how the Melissa native can fit in their system and vision.
*. Goosby locked in multiple official visits with multiple schools such as SMU, UCLA, Miami, Baylor, BYU, Duke and Arizona State. I’m told that every school has brought their best pitch including Texas, and a tight race could be in the cards for the 2026 6-foot-5 guard.
*. Goosby and his family plan to take every visit on their schedule and once they have taken a trip to each campus they’ll like to come together and weigh their decisions carefully and take in each school’s pitch and philosophy then come to a decision that best fits Goosby and his future.
* 2026 four-star small forward Billy White III has locked in multiple official visits including SMU, TCU, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, LSU and Maryland. Conversations between Texas and White have been on and off as the two parties are still looking to lock down an official date for a visit for the Corpus Christi native. White plans on taking all official visits in the fall and after weighing each school’s pitch and philosophies, the 6-foot-8 forward then plans to make a commitment come late October.