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    CJ Vogel
    A couple of recruiting updates as we near the weekend.
    *** 
    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.
    ***
    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.
    ***
    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.
    Bobby Burton
    What I've learned from Thursday's practice...
    - 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.
    Gerry Hamilton
    Louisiana 2025 DL sets visit to Texas
    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. 
    Gerry Hamilton
    The No. 7 seed Texas Longhorns (21-12) beat Colorado State Thursday night to advance to the Round of 32 for a third consecutive season. That's a program first since 2009. 
    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. 
    Gerry Hamilton
    Survive and advance: Texas onto the Round of 32
    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. 
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