Texas 4-star defensive line commit Brandon Brown (Melbourne, Fla./Eau Gallie) made his first ever visit to Texas on Friday. 

OnTexasFootball caught up with someone very close to Brown on Saturday morning to get the latest after the visit. 

Nuggets from visit

*Brown was on campus for about 5.5 hours Friday. The visit was originally scheduled to be four hours. 

*Brown's mom, older sister (senior in high school) and best friend made the visit as well. Brown arrived on campus a little before his family did. Brown flew into Austin (California Power 7v7), while his family flew into Houston and drove to Austin. 

*The source said Brandon thought Texas "was better than he thought" it would be. And he went into the visit with high expectations. 

*The source was watching for Brandon's reaction to various things on the visit. The reactions were excitement. Nothing negative. Brandon was said to be comfortable with Texas after the visit. 

*Brown and family spent a lot of time with Kenny Baker, and met with Steve Sarkisian for an extended period of time.

*Kenny Baker had a lengthy presentation for Brown. One of the key point of the presentation was a video cut up of Brown. What impressed Brown and the source was Baker had the "good and bad" of Brown on video. Brandon liked that because it showed Kenny Baker was all about Brandon Brown's development. Coach Baker had a list of technical things he wants Brandon to work on this spring and next season. 

*On Steve Sarkisian, "He's down to earth and family oriented. And I like that.". Coach Sarkisian talked about continuing to build the rapport with Brandon and family. 

*A prevailing thought was everyone on the coaching staff and support staff meshes well together It was a smooth and organized visit. 

*Brandon Brown doesn't turn 17 until May 29. 

Brown and the California Power team will make an unofficial visit to Texas A&M this afternoon/evening. Brown's family will make that visit as well. 

Texas four-star defensive tackle commit Brandon Brown has arrived in Austin from Melbourne, Fla. Brown, 6-1.5 and 285 pounds, will not begin his visit to Texas until after 1 p.m. central. His family few into Houston earlier this morning, and is on the drive to Austin. 

Brown is making the visit to Texas along with several California Power 7v7/organization team of note. 

California Power 7v7 players offered by Texas

OnTexasFootball 4-star linebacker Matai Tagoa'i (San Clemente, Calif./High) will be on campus today. Texas is considered the slight favorite over Utah, Washington and USC headed into spring visits. 

OnTexasFootball 4-star offensive tackle Josh Petty (Roswell, Ga./Fellowship Christian School) will be on campus from 2-6 p.m. today as well. This is a key visit to determine if Petty will set up a June official visit. The Petty family has multiple family ties to San Angelo and Big Lake. 

OnTexasFootball 4-star Linkon Cure (Goodland, Ks./High) is also scheduled to be on campus today with California Power. This will be the first trip to Texas for Cure. 

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Texas will be hosting the California Power 7v7 football team this afternoon for an unofficial with the roster before they head to Houston for their tournament this weekend. One name to make note of is 2026 Mission Viejo WR Vance Spafford who will be joining the crew on the trip. Spafford holds three offers – Cal, San Diego State and Washington.

The 5-foot-11 wide receiver from the west coast could be one to watch. Spafford hauled in 1576 yards and 22 touchdowns as a sophomore last fall.

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Kyle Flood and Pete Kwiatkowski extended an offer to 2026 Princeton (NJ) EDGE Luke Wafle Monday afternoon. Despite just 14 offers at the moment, the early composite rankings have Wafle inside the top 100 nationally for the next class. 

I chatted briefly with Wafle who mentioned wanting to get down to Austin for an unofficial visit this spring/summer. No plans have been locked in, but there is interest in the Texas program and it certainly helps with the ties Kyle Flood has to the region.

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Another note on a talented 2026 prospect, Destrehan (LA) wide receiver Jabari Mack is finalizing his visit schedule for the spring with plans to getting out to Texas for an afternoon as well. Mack is a top 5 player in the state of Louisiana and is currently rated as the state's top wide receiver as well. Texas General Manager Brandon Harris stopped by in late January when he was asked to fill an assistant coaching role while Texas was in the process of hiring Kenny Baker.

- It's very early, but Billy Walton has looked very active, very smart and could be one of the guys from the class of 2023 ready to take the next step, according to sources. Not the name many of you probably expected to hear first, but he's closer to playing significantly than some may expect.

- Jaray Bledsoe was described as perhaps the most athletic player in the entire program, despite being a defensive tackle. The team has yet to start hitting, but Bledsoe has quietly been taking the right steps behind the scenes for a while now. As someone told me, Bledsoe "has a level of maturity we're starting to see more of". This year could be a real coming out party for him.

- Texas worked extensively on special teams yesterday, much more than their normal period or two in practice. Johntay Cook and Isaiah Bond continue to be 1-2 in the punt return game. Matt Golden and Jaydon Blue are primaries at kick return. Ryan Wingo and Aaron Butler are also taking reps there.

- Gunners are a mix, both Manny Muhammad and Gavin Holmes are working at the position, as well as Tre Wisner.

- Speaking of Muhammad, more than one person has singled out the sophomore from South Oak Cliff as a player particularly poised to take his game to the next level. Muhammad may not be the fastest or the biggest corner, but he is the one who spends the most time in the film room. And he has the ability to take what he sees on film and let it translate to his work on the field.

- DJ Campbell lists at 332. But he may have lost more weight than that. Or at least the weight loss is affecting his quickness. Apparently, he is already looking quicker than a year ago in practice.

- Many thought Cook, Golden, Bond, Silas Bolden and maybe Ryan Wingo would be the top five receivers on the team this year. While that may still be a decent bet, do not sleep on DeAndre Moore and Aaron Butler. The two Californians continued to make their presence known in practice No. 2.

- Amari Niblack moved up in the TE rotation at times on Thursday. Niblack started off Tuesday as the no. 5 TE, behind Gunnar Helm, Juan Davis, Spencer Shannon and Will Randle. I was not told how far up he moved, just "up some" in that rotation.

The Texas Longhorns are set for a huge visit weekend April 6 around a spring practice. That weekend will include many top targets and over 20 combined 4-star and 5-star prospects. But there will also be a few prospects on the radar yet to be offered.

One of those is defensive lineman Joshua Lewis (Geismar, La./Dutchtown) out of the Pelican State. 

Lewis, 6-4.5 and 246 pounds, told OnTexasFootball Thursday night he will be in Austin April 6 after being invited by the Texas staff. 

The Dutchtown High standout is one of the fastest rising prospects in Louisiana in the 2025 cycle. He's gone from three offers prior to the 2023 season to 16 headed into the spring. Offers since the end of the 2023 season include Missouri, Houston, California, Illinois and Oregon State.  

Lewis has an official visit scheduled to Missouri May 31-June 2. 

Rodney Terry and Longhorns will face a very familiar coach in the Round of 32, Rick Barnes. 

No. 2 seed Tennessee (25-8) beat up on a bad Saint Peter's offensive team Thursday night to the tune of 83-49. 

No. 7 Texas and No. 2 Tennessee will tip off at 7 p.m. central Saturday night in front of a national television audience on CBS. 

The Texas Longhorns beat the Colorado State Rams 56-44 Thursday night to advance to the Round of 32. 

Before getting to the good and bad of tonight's game, this win has real meaning for the Texas program.

With the win tonight, Texas has won a Round of 64 NCAA Tournament game for the third straight season. The last time that happened was the a stretch from the 2006-07 season to the 2008-09 season under Rick Barnes. Texas won a first round game four straight years from 2005-06 through the 2008-09 season, including a pair of Elite Eight appearances. 

That alone makes the win tonight a big one for the Texas program. 

The good

Texas team defensive effort. The athleticism of Tyrese Hunter and Chendall Weaver overwhelmed Colorado State. And the Texas forwards did a very good job of speeding up the Colorado State bigs the entire night. Texas guarded the ball, defended in ball screen action, defended physically off the ball in offensive action played physical and defended the rim well considering Dylan Disu was in foul trouble the majority of the night. 

Brock Cunningham made two hustle plays in the first half to gain an extra possession that were key in continuing the Texas run. Chendall Weaver brough great energy off the bench. 

Ithiel Horton grabbed seven big rebounds from the off guard position. 

Tyrese Hunter gave tremendous on ball defensive effort with active hands in the passing lanes. 

Texas played both an athletic and smart defensive team against an opponent they could overwhelm with quickness and speed. The 44 points scored were the least for Colorado State in three seasons. 

More on the good of Chendall Weaver at the end. 

The bad

Texas got some very good and clean looks in the first ten minutes of the game. They just flat out missed a lot of clean looks, and looks that Dylan Disu and Max Abmas have knocked down for the majority of the season. Texas two man game with Abmas and Disu created the looks Texas desired, and allowed others to play off of that in favorable situations.

This was a game in which one play kind of told the story offensively for Texas. Texas ran Abmas on a curl action off the ball, and Abmas made the correct play getting one foot in the paint off the dribble to draw defensive help/rotation and kicked to Ithiel Horton - who correctly took three or four steps to the corner to create optimal space. Horton hit the corner three, but stepped on the sideline on the catch. That pretty much summed up Texas offensively Thursday night. 

Dylan Disu forced some shots after getting off to a rough start. Was too much of a ball stopper on 2-3 possessions (he did make a mid-range on one of them). The early good look misses couple with foul trouble sped him up on offense. 

When Disu is in foul trouble, Texas ball screen/two man game takes a major step back. Any possession with Dillon Mitchell as the main screener is not a good offensive possession unless the opponent plays the possession poorly. Texas is very easy to defend when Dillon Mitchell is the main ball screener. When Mitchell and Tyrese Hunter are the two man ball screen action - that's not a high percentage winning possession. 

Max Abmas, a career 88.7% free throw shooter, with a pair of not normal misses in the last 1:30 minutes of the game. It didn't matter, but that isn't normal. 

Watching Max Abmas sit at the scorers table for three straight bad offensive possessions (one bail out bucket) and Rodney Terry not call timeout was that of a hair pulling out event. 

I'll stop here because it's survive and advance, and Texas advanced to the Round of 32 for a third straight year. 

Game MVP

Chendall Weaver, hands down. His energy, toughness, aggressiveness and all out winners mentality was the difference tonight. That was especially true in the second half. He made key buckets in the last ten minutes of the game on individual ultra athletic plays. His ability to keep rising while maintaining body control through contact is very high-end. 

When Weaver makes plays on both ends of the floor, he becomes a difference maker on off shooting nights. 

Good morning, and let's get the day started!

Basketball portal target 

The Texas Longhorns finished in the top three for Oklahoma State transfer big man Brandon Garrison out of high school. OnTexasFootball expects the Longhorns to make a run at the 6-11, 245 pound rim protector and physical inside defensive presence once again. There is a built in relationship with a number of members of the Texas staff, including Rodney Terry. Terry was point man on the recruitment coming out of high school. 

Josiah Sharma and Texas

Folsom (Calif.) High 4-star defensive tackle Josiah Sharma is expected on campus in Austin in the next two or three weeks. Sharma, 6-5 and 300 pounds, was offered by Texas in late January when Co-DC Johnny Nansen made a stop by the school. Sharma has been in constant communication with Nansen and Kenny Baker in recent weeks. An official visit to Texas is also likely. 

Alabama, Washington and Utah are key players in the recruitment, along with the Longhorns. Oregon is also trying to make a push. 

Kade Phillips and Texas

OnTexasFootball continues to feel positive in where Texas sits in the recruitment of the 4-star defensive back out of Hightower (Texas) High. Phillips had a FaceTime call Tuesday night with Blake Gideon and Steve Sarkisian. Phillips will officially visit Texas June 21-23. LSU and Texas A&M is the competition for the Horns. Baylor will also receive an April official visit. 

Michael Terry visiting Texas

OnTexasFootball spoke with a source close to the recruitment of 4-star athlete Michael Terry (San Antonio, Texas/Alamo Heights) Wednesday night. Terry, 6-2 and 218 with 10.8 100 meter speed, is scheduled to be on campus April 6 for the big unofficial visit weekend. Texas continues to recruit Terry as an athlete. Texas A&M, TCU, Texas Tech, Nebraska and Oregon are the schools seriously in contention. 

Matai Tagoa'i on campus Friday

OnTexasFootball 4-star linebacker Matai Tagoa'i (San Clemente, Calif./High) is expected on campus Friday with the California Power team. OTF considers Texas the favorite over Utah, Washington and USC headed into spring visits. Tagoa'i, 6-3 and 195 pounds, will officially visit Washington, Utah and Texas in that order in June. 

The Texas Longhorns are up to nine offensive line official visitors in June. That number has increased by one with the news today that Lamont Rogers (Mesquite, Texas/Horn) has locked in an official visit. 

Rogers, 6-7 and 300 pounds, is scheduled to make an official visit to Texas June 14-16 OnTexasFootball learned Wednesday. 

Texas will be the third official visit for the OnTexasFootball 4-star. He will make his first official visit May 31-June 2 to Missouri, and will be at Texas A&M the following weekend (June 7-9). Alabama, LSU and Oklahoma are also under serious consideration. 

Kyle Flood stopped by Horn High in January, and Rogers attended Junior Day January 20. Rogers has been on campus a few times since Texas began the recruitment. 

June 14-16

Lamont Rogers, OT, Mesquite (Texas) Horn
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star
Official visit schedule: Missouri May 31-June 2, Texas A&M June 7-9, Texas June 14-16

Juan Gaston, OT, Atlanta (Ga.) Westlake
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star
Official visit schedule: Georgia May 31-June 2, South Carolina June 7-9, Texas June 14-16 and Oregon June 21-23

John Mills, IOL, San Francisco (Calif.) St. Ignatius 
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star
Official visit schedule: Washington May 31-June 2, Texas June 14-16

Jonte Newman, OT, Cypress (Texas) Bridgeland
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star

June 21-23

Michael Fasusi, OT, Lewisville (Texas) High
OnTexasFootball ranking: 5-star
Official visit schedule: Texas A&M June 14-16, Texas June 21-23

Jackson Christian, IOL, Port Neches (Texas) Port Neches-Groves
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star
Official visit schedule: Texas A&M June 14-16, Texas June 21-23

Tyler Thomas, IOL, Dickinson (Texas) High
Official visit schedule: Texas A&M June 14-16, Texas June 21-23
Spring unofficial visits: LSU March 9, Texas A&M March 30, Texas April 6

Jordan Coleman, OT, Cedar Hill (Texas) High
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star
Official visit schedule: SMU May 17-19, Baylor June 14-16, Texas June 21-23

Devin Coleman, IOL, Cedar Hill (Texas) High
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star
Official visit schedule: SMU May 17-19, Baylor June 14-16, Texas June 21-23