Bellaire Episcopal offensive tackle Walker Little has been linked to the University of Texas for some time now. The Longhorns were the first school to offer the five star tackle during his junior year and since then schools far and wide have come calling for Little trying to land his signature.
With the Longhorns getting into the mix for Little’s commitment so early, it is no surprise that they have consistently been mentioned in Little’s top schools along with the likes of Stanford and Ole Miss. It was a very busy recruiting cycle Walker, as he managed to squeeze in several unofficial visits to several schools while absolutely dominating the camp circuit in the spring and showing why he is arguably the top offensive tackle prospect in the entire country by earning several MVP honors and a trip to Oregon for The Opening.
With the dead period set to come into effect on Sunday night, we are about to enter the home stretch of the recruiting cycle and recruits are going to have to tell several schools no and one lucky school yes. After hosting several coaching staffs for in-home visits and doing his due diligence, Little has scheduled his much anticipated commitment and will make one head coach and coaching staff very happy come next Friday.
As they have been since the beginning of his recruitment, the Texas Longhorns are a prominent player for the future franchise offensive tackle, and the common belief is that it will be Stanford or Texas when it is all said and done, with the Longhorns holding the home field advantage because of proximity. So why would Little side with the Longhorns over the Cardinal in Palo Alto come December 16th? Well, just like Stanford, Texas offers a prestigious football tradition, great academics, and even more important it offers a chance for Little to get on the field early on once he gets on campus. While Texas has Connor Williams (a future NFL draft pick) locked at left tackle, they struggled to get steady production from Brandon Hodges and Tristen Nickelson on the right side. While I am usually an advocate for offensive linemen to redshirt when they get to campus, Little has the frame and ability to be able to contribute early on the right side and then eventually slide over to the blind side once Williams graduates or declares for the NFL Draft.
As I mentioned before, Texas’ proximity could potentially be a factor that swings this one in the favor of the Longhorns. Austin being only a two hour trip up the road has allowed Little and his family to visit Texas more than any other school throughout the recruiting process. The more times you are able to get a recruit on campus for games and visits with the staff, the more they are able to become comfortable with choosing that campus to call home for four years. Recruiting is all about relationship building and that is going to be something to be mindful of with Tom Herman and his staff having to come in quickly and hit the ground running in this recruitment. Little and his family have now met three different offensive line coaches since Texas started recruiting him awhile back, but they have still maintained their position at the top of his list of desired schools. That will be something to keep in mind as we get closer to his decision date, as it is no doubt something Texas has had to combat with him while recruiting him against the likes of Stanford.
This recruitment has been a tight battle for several months now and it is going to come down to two great programs and universities that can both offer Little and any athlete great opportunities both on and off the field. When battles like this on the trail are too close to call, I always default to the home field (or state) school, so I’m giving Texas the edge ever so slightly with less than a week to go from decision day.
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