Texas has three wide receivers in the mix with Adonai Mitchell and Xavier Worthy taking part in the drills on the turf. Jordan Whittington will wait until the Pro Day to get back in front of scouts after tweaking a hamstring.

WR Adonai Mitchell

• Height: 6-2 2/8
• Weight: 205
• Wingspan: 77 5/8
• 40-yard Dash: 4.35
• Vertical Jump: 39.5
• Broad Jump: 11'4"

***

WR Xavier Worthy

• Height: 5-11 2/8
• Weight: 165
• Wingspan: 74.25
• 40-yard Dash: 4.25 ||  NFL Combine Record 4.21
• Vertical Jump: 41”
• Broad Jump: 10’11”

RB Keilan Robinson

• Height:  5-8 3/8
• Weight: 191
• Wingspan: 74 3/8
• 40-yard Dash: 4.42
• Vertical Jump: 33"
• Broad Jump: 10-5

***

DL T'Vondre Sweat

• Height: 6044 (6-foot-4 1/2 inches tall)
• Weight: 366 pounds
• Wingspan: 81 1/4 inches
• 40-yard Dash: 5.27
• 10-yard Split: 1.80
• Vertical Jump: 26 inches
• Broad Jump: 8'2"
• Bench: DNP

***

DL Byron Murphy

• Height: 6004 (6-feet, half-inch)
• Weight: 297 pounds
• Wingspan: 77 1/8 inches
• 40-yard Dash: 4.88 || 4.90
• 10-yard Split: 1.68 || 1.70
• Vertical Jump: 33 inches
• Broad Jump: 9'3"
• Bench: 28 reps

***

LB Jaylan Ford

• Height: 6023 (6-foot-2 3/8 inches)
• Weight: 240 pounds
• Wingspan: 74 3/8 inches
• 40-yard Dash: DNP
• 10-yard Split: DNP
• Vertical Jump: 33.5”
• Broad Jump: 10'3"

***
TE Ja’Tavion Sanders

• Height: 6-foot-3 7/8
• Weight: 245
• Wingspan: 78.25
• 40-yard Dash: 4.74 || 4.69

***

CB Ryan Watts

• Height: 6-foot-2 7/8
• Weight: 208
• Wingspan: 81 6/8
• 40-yard Dash: 4.53
• 10-yard Split: 1.55
• Vertical Jump: 40.5"
• Broad Jump: 10–5

McMillen’s group encompasses the top 130 football programs in the country, not all of the NCAA.

I got his thoughts on where college sports is actually headed.

The Texas Longhorns (18-10, 7-8) will take the court at 1 p.m. CST at The Moody Center against Oklahoma State firmly in the Big Dance after Tuesday night's win at Texas Tech.

There is one big question heading into today's game. Is this a must win game? Or need to win game? Answers could vary. 

OnTexasFootball believes this is a "must win" game for Texas, and the reasons are simple. 

Why is Oklahoma State a "must win" game? 

The main reason for me is the latest Bracketology by ESPN's Joe Lunardi. The win Tuesday night instantly gave Texas the ability to end up a 7 seed if they win two of the last three. Lunardi currently has Texas as a No. 8 seed in the UConn region. That is NOT where any 8/9 seed desires to be. 

Then there is not limping into postseason play. Winning three of the last four regular season games would be a trending up in the eyes of the committee headed into postseason play. Again, better chance to get off the 8/9 seed line. 

Another reason today is a must win is for the dreamers! That would give Texas the shot at actually ascending to a No. 6 seed if Texas won the last three games of the regular season. Sure Texas has won four Big 12 road games, but none of those teams have the overall talent and scoring ability of Baylor. With that said, a win today would set up an opportunity Monday night to ascend late in the season. That is without question. Texas hasn't won more than two Big 12 games in a row this season, so another opportunity to ascend should the Horns handle business today. 

Does Texas have to win to make the Big Dance? No. Does winning the home games remaining (Oklahoma to end regular season) place Texas on the No. 7 seed line headed into the Big 12 Tournament? Possibly. Or at least sets up a scenario where Texas could ascend to a No. 7 seed with one Big 12 Tournament victory.  

Winning two of the last three would also put Texas at 20-11, and 9-9 in Big 12 play. Both of those records would help come seeding time on Selection Sunday. 

Texas’ Remaining Regular Season Schedule
3/2 Oklahoma State 
3/4 @ No. 15 Baylor 
3/9 Oklahoma 

NCAA Men’s Basketball NET Rankings (March 1)
Texas is No. 33 in NCAA NET headed into weekend games. The Horns moved up seven spots from No. 40 with the win over Texas Tech.

The Longhorns are 5-7 in Quad 1 games, 2-2 vs. Quad 2, 3-1 vs. Quad 3 and 8-0 vs. Quad 4. 

Quad 1 games remaining for the Longhorns:
No. 14 @ Baylor 

Quad 2 game remaining:
No. 41 Oklahoma 

Quad 3 games remaining:
No. 112 Oklahoma State 

T-Rank 
Texas is No. 24 in Bart Torvik’s rankings headed into Saturday games.

2024 Ken Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings
Texas checks in at No. 26 headed into weekend games. That is up from No. 28 after the Texas Tech victory. 

Cure is considered to be one of the top tight ends in the country and is a four-star prospect by all recruiting services. He holds offers from many schools, including Michigan, Oregon, Notre Dame, USC, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and more. 

This past season, he caught 42 passes for 946 yards and 14 touchdowns.

A multi-sport athlete, Cure also plays basketball and runs track. He ran a 22.45 in the 200, 14.85 in the 110m hurdles, 39.32 in the 300m hurdles (state champion) and 6-2 in the high jump. 

To take you into the weekend, OnTexasFootball provides some Friday afternoon recruiting nuggets. 

Keelon Russell to attend the Texas Spring Game

OnTexasFootball 4-star quarterback and SMU commit Keelon Russell (Duncanville High) tells OnTexasFootball that he plans to attend the Texas Spring Game April 20 after an invite by the staff. Texas area recruiter Jeff Banks has been in contact recently with the 6-3, 180 pound pocket passer with plus mobility and speed. 

Russell committed to SMU in September of 2023. He has 20 offers currently, including Florida, UCLA, Houston, Duke and California since December.

Russell led Duncanville High to a second straight 6A Division I State Championship in 2023. He completed 189 of 262 passes for 3,483 yards with 38 touchdowns and just three interceptions.

John Mills visit plans 
San Francisco (Calif.) St. Ignatius 2025 IOL John Mills has put a number of spring unofficial visits on the calendar. 

Mills, 6-6 and 325 pounds, will make official visits to Washington May 31-June 2 and Texas June 14-16. Prior to that, he has a full spring of unofficial visits.

Nebraska - March 23
California - March 30
Texas - April 6
Michigan - April 7
Washington - April 13

Texas, Washington and Michigan remain the top 3 in the recruitment of the OnTexasFootball 4-star lineman. 

Josiah Sharma and Texas
Spoke with a source close to the recruitment of the 6-5, 300 pound defensive tackle. The Utah Utes have an official visit locked in June 14-16.

Sharma, now at Folsom High in Northern California, remains in contact with Texas area recruiter Johnny Nansen and defensive line coach Kenny Baker. A spring visit remains a possibility with dates being looked at. 

Alabama is a major player in the recruitment. Sharma was a Washington commit prior to Kalen DeBoer taking the job in Tuscaloosa. He made a visit to Alabama at the end of January. 

Oregon is also considered a serious player in the recruitment. 

Now, it is time for Ja’Tavion Sanders and Ryan Watts to make their money in Indianapolis!
 

DL T'Vondre Sweat

• Height: 6044 (6-foot-4 1/2 inches tall)
• Weight: 366 pounds
• Wingspan: 81 1/4 inches
• 40-yard Dash: 5.27
• 10-yard Split: 1.80
• Vertical Jump: 26 inches
• Broad Jump: 8'2"
• Bench: DNP

***

DL Byron Murphy

• Height: 6004 (6-feet, half-inch)
• Weight: 297 pounds
• Wingspan: 77 1/8 inches
• 40-yard Dash: 4.88 || 4.90
• 10-yard Split: 1.68 || 1.70
• Vertical Jump: 33 inches
• Broad Jump: 9'3"
• Bench: 28 reps

***

LB Jaylan Ford

• Height: 6023 (6-foot-2 3/8 inches)
• Weight: 240 pounds
• Wingspan: 74 3/8 inches
• 40-yard Dash: DNP
• 10-yard Split: DNP
• Vertical Jump: 33.5”
• Broad Jump: 10'3"

***
TE Ja’Tavion Sanders

• Height: 6-foot-3 7/8
• Weight: 245
• Wingspan: 78.25
• 40-yard Dash: 4.74 || 4.69

***

CB Ryan Watts

• Height: 6-foot-2 7/8
• Weight: 208
• Wingspan: 81 6/8
• 40-yard Dash: 4.53
• 10-yard Split: 1.55
• Vertical Jump: 40.5"
• Broad Jump: 10–5

***

Ukponu has been a familiar face around the 40 Acres after visiting once again back in January for the Junior Day. Since then, Ukponu's recruitment has really skyrocketed.

Now holding 32 offers, there was a revolving door of coaches in the hallways of Denton Guyer in late January to meet with the 6-foot-3 defensive lineman.

The spring months will be rather busy for Ukponu as well. He has plans to visit LSU, Missouri, Oregon, Cal, USC, Tennessee, Kansas, Texas A&M along with the trip to Austin to see Texas again.

There are three official visits locked in right now: Oklahoma State on April 12, Florida on May 31-June 2, and Texas A&M on June 21-23.

Ukponu tells me and new defensive line coach Kenny Baker speak almost every day and the details for a summer official visit will be discussed when he returns to campus April 6.

Whittington spoke with reporters Friday morning ahead of the wide receivers day Saturday.

The reason for the former Cuero star to not participate during the Reese's Senior Bowl was due to a hamstring injury he suffered in training. That issue has since lingered to the NFL Combine.

Whittington will only participate in the bench press this weekend in Indianapolis, before using the Texas Pro Day as one final on-field audition for NFL scouts.

On Texas Football has learned that the Longhorns will start LeBarron Johnson Jr. on the mound, while LSU will trot out Luke Holman.  This might just be the best pitching matchup we will see, regardless of team, in the month of March.

For Saturday's matchup against Texas State (3:00 PM), the Horns will start Charlie Hurley.

And on Sunday, when the Longhorns face off against No. 9 Vanderbilt (11:00 AM), Texas will start Cody Howard.

TV Info:

All of the tournament games will be televised by Space City Home Network and available on the channel in the entirety of the Astros five-state viewing area. Seven of the nine games will be on the primary channel, with Saturday’s afternoon and night games being aired live on the Space City Home Network alternate channel.

Additionally, all games will also be streamed live without a paywall on Astros.com and on the Astros X, Facebook and YouTube channels.

Four-star tight end Nick Towsend (Houston/Dekaney) has locked in a second official visit, and it's Texas.

Townsend, 6-3 and 220 pounds, will make an official visit to Texas June 21-23. There will be a visit to Austin prior to the official visit as well. Townsend is expected to visit April 6. A first visit of 2024 was the January 20 Junior Day.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian and tight ends coach Jeff Banks stopped by Dekaney High in January.

The Houston area prospect that is a Power 5 level player on both sides of the ball is scheduled to begin his official visit process April 19-21 with a trips to Arizona State. He will make that visit with Dekaney WR/ATH Tanook Hines. 

Townsend sports more than 30 offers to date. The offer list includes SEC programs Texas, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, LSU, Florida, Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas and South Carolina. Townsend's recruitment blew up when college coaches began making school visits in December. He added offers from Texas, Ole Miss, LSU, USC, Notre Dame, Florida State, Maryland, Miami, Florida, Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas and South Carolina since December 1st.

June 21-23

Marcus Harris, WR, Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star
Note: Will also attend the Texas spring game April 20.

Emaree Winston, TE, Calhoun (Ga.) High #AllGasNoBrakes
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star
Note: Will also attend the Texas spring game April 20.

Nick Townsend, TE, Houston (Texas) Dekaney 
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star
Note: Will also visit Texas April 6.

Jackson Christian, IOL, Port Niches (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

Damien Shanklin, EDGE, Indianapolis (In.) Warren Central
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star
Official visit schedule: Notre Dame June 7-9, Tennessee June 14-16, Texas June 21-23

Kade Phillips, DB, Missouri City (Texas) Hightower
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star