re: Taylor Hamm & Billy Liucci make SWEET LOVE in 2019 + Football Recruiting Thread

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Monday VIP Recruiting Notes 4.16 AGGIESCOOP·MONDAY, APRIL 16, 2018

Let’s start out on a positive note and discuss the big news that will drop in the next few days regarding one of the Nation’s top defensive prospects, Converse Judson DT DeMarvin Lean, who is set to make a big announcement mid-week.

By now it’s pretty obvious what’s going to take place. The Aggies are going to land one of the most coveted players in the Lone Star State which will send a major shockwave across the state, specifically in the Austin region.

Leal is extremely talented but even more versatile which has Elijah Robinson and Terry Price already feuding about where he’ll be utilized.

I spent a lot of time over the weekend catching up with sources and the confidence from this staff in terms of how this class will shape up is on a level I’ve never covered. To be honest, and I believe the people I spoke to, the toughest decisions this staff will have to make is who they actually want to take. Not who can they get.

Leal is a perfect example of a guy they have atop their big board, covet as a player, wanted to land and got it done. There’s been a trend of this type of success since this staff arrived in Aggieland. Same goes for guys like 5-star Brian Williams, Kam Brown, Demani Richardson, Braedon Mowry and even a player like RJ Orebo, who no one knew about because he only played four games last year, as examples of specific targeting and execution by Jimbo Fisher.

It won’t be long before more jump on board, and to be honest, guys like Marcus Stripling and Bobby Wolfe are just “enjoying the process” but are highly likely to join and re-join the class on their own time.

Stripling, who was hit or miss on Sunday at the Under Armour All-America Camp on Sunday, has made it clear behind the scenes to many players that he’s headed to A&M by the end of the summer. The only way things would change is for whatever reason A&M decided to go in another direction.

Five-star OL Kenyon Green went on record, yet again, with me on Sunday stating that Texas A&M is still his leader. He will also enjoy the process over the summer but is looking to make a decision before the start of the season. Again, the Aggies have made the Atascocita product a priority, and unless something drastically changes, will announce in favor of the maroon and white on the timeline he’s currently on at the moment.

Erick Young, as well as Bobby Wolfe, will drop a new “top schools” list this afternoon. Obviously, the Ags will be in the mix for both elite defensive backs. We’re hearing a lot of positive feedback on Young, and I spoke to him at length last night, about where the Aggies stand after his official visit. It’s still going to be back and forth between A&M and Oklahoma for his services but if it were today, and I trust this source, the Ags would be the destination.

At running back, there are top targets like King Doerue, who was in Aggieland on Saturday, and Isaiah Spiller at the top of the board, but Jay Graham is really looking a lot of targets. Before we get to that, Doerue is really taking his time but A&M is currently in his top group of schools. A new name that has emerged is Van Vleck RB De’Metri Monroe.

Remember, this weekend the Aggies will have at least two official visitors. Five-star LB Brandon Smith and four-star WR Kenyon Jackson.

Quick hitting 2019 notes from UAAA Camp:

Dickinson TE Jalen Wydermyer really stood out to me and Gerry Hamilton at the event yesterday. He’s so smooth and sure-handed. The Aggies are in a great spot and I’m predicting he will compliment Baylor Cupp in this 2019 class should they decide to press.

I don’t know why Manvel OC/OG Layden Robinson doesn’t have any offers. He was an absolute stud yesterday and I had multiple national guys rave about his performance.

Marcus Banks is taking the process slow but will have a decision by the start of the season. His official visit to A&M will be on the 27th. He did mention to me after our interview that A&M bumped back up.

Quick hitting 2020 notes from UAAA CAMP:

Ponchatoula (LA) QB TJ Finely certainly passes the eyeball test. The 6-6, 225-pounder was sporting an Aggie hoodie at the event and has plans to visit A&M this summer. He’s in consistent contact with the staff. Per my sources, Coach Dickey is excited to get him to camp to evaluate in-person.

Oak Grove (LA) DT Keenan Caldwell named A&M his leader at the UAAA Camp on Sunday. LSU hasn’t offered yet, and would likely be a gamechanger for him, but the Aggies have positioned themselves well for the 6-2, 300-pounder.

University Lab DT Jaquelin Roy had some good moments but also was made viral by Kardell Thomas during their epic one-on-one. The Ags have extended a scholarship, and currently lead, but his recruitment is still in it’s infant stages and the Tigers have yet to offer.

Houston Episcopal OL Donovan Jackson really stood out to me, as well as other analysts, as an underclassman at the UAAA Camp. The Aggies are currently his leader.

Clear Creek OL Chad Lindberg couldn’t make it to the spring game on Saturday but the Aggies are currently in a prime spot to land the four-star prospect.

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The secondary will have some TOUGH decisions if Carter, Wolfe, Young, and Banks all want in the boat. We can't take them all

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• Converse Judson defensive end DeMarvin Leal is on the verge of announcing a decision, and I don't think it's any secret where this thing is trending. And make no mistake, the Texas Longhorns - the same group of coaches and Burnt Orange media members who have had the San Antonio area standout and state top-10 talent signed, sealed and delivered to the 40 Acres for months now - have been in full-blown scramble mode since Leal arrived in College Station on Friday, with plenty of help from Tom Herman's spin doctors.

We've been saying for weeks now that Jimbo Fisher, Tim Brewster, Terry Price and the Aggies were right in the middle of a high-profile in-state battle that was much more competitive than was being reported elsewhere. Heading into the weekend, while many wondered whether or not the Ags could pull even, insiders said that A&M was much further along in this recruitment than the folks in Austin believed and that a commitment wasn't at all out of the question. Long story short, the Aggies have simply out-recruited Texas in the race for the state's top-ranked defensive lineman up until this point and, as a result, appear on the verge of adding a big-time front seven commitment. Stay tuned.

• If the Aggies are able to add Leal to the 2019 d-line mix already featuring recent commit Braedon Mowry and A&M Consolidated DT Josh Ellison, what Fisher and his staff will have done in remarkably short order along the defensive front four would qualify as stunningly impressive. The three commits plus current heavy A&M leans Marcus Stripling of Mayde Creek and David Ugwoebu (not to mention the fact that the Ags are very much in the mix for highly-regarded DLs out of New York, Arizona and Florida) would mean that the Ags were able to stack back-to-back hauls at the position as loaded as any two-class stretch in recent memory. If the Ags earn DeMarvin's commit this week, he'll continue to pretty furious run by Coach Fisher, Mike Elko and d-line coaches Price and Elijah Robinson at turning the Aggie front four into one of the most formidable young units in the Southeastern Conference.

• Tim Brewster is in the midst of doing a lot of the same at tight end, where the longtime recruiting ace has turned over the position in no time flat. The first order of business for Brew was adding instant-impact help, which he did in the form of JUCO standout Jace Sternberger (8 catches for 146 yards and 2 TDs in the spring game and the Ags' Spring MVP) and 6-6, 255-pound Arizona grad transfer Trevor Wood. The Aggies also went out and signed coveted Louisiana target Glenn Beal in February. Nationally-recruited stud Baylor Cupp added his name to the list on Saturday, and despite interest and offers from Georgia, LSU and Texas, among many others, the Ags still look like the odds-on favorites to eventually land Dickinson's Jalen Wydermeyer. Absolutely unreal recruiting at the position.

• Whether it's the d-line, tight end or tailback (where the Ags signed four last year upon arriving and seeing an alarmingly bare cupboard), we've already seen multiple examples of Jimbo Fisher and his staff aggressively attacking areas of need in attempt to shore certain positions up virtually overnight. The next spot we're going to see that happen is the secondary, where the Ags only signed two last February.

Bobby Wolfe and Erick Young are going to take additional visits, but each released a "top 6" today, with A&M and OU being the only common teams between the two. That falls in line with what we've been saying for a while now...the Aggies and Sooners will be the last two standing in what will shape up as a very important pair of battles for the Ags. A&M still sits in pretty excellent shape for both, and the Maroon & White also sits solidly in the top spot for Aledo's Jeffery Carter.

The Ags also made the cut for recent visitor Marcus Banks of Spring Dekaney, who listed A&M, LSU, Auburn, Texas and Alabama as his final five. Young went with A&M and OU plus Bama, USC, Ohio State and TCU, while Wolfe's final list includes the Aggies and Sooners along with Georgia, Florida, Colorado and LSU. If Mike Elko and Maurice Linguist are able to add three of these corners (and we're talking about a very realistic scenario), they'll team with safeties Demani Richardson of Waxahachie and Bishop Dunne's Brian Williams to form a secondary haul that would rank second to none nationally in 2019.

• Notre Dame grad transfer Jay Hayes chose Oklahoma this weekend, which leads me to believe his decision was essentially made prior to transferring, much like Kyler Murray's was two years ago as then-OU OC Lincoln Riley had already been in the freshman Aggie quarterback's ear earlier in the fall of 2015. Hayes was an intriguing guy to me because the Ags could really use quality, veteran depth at defensive end, not to mention a candidate to start (that was possible but not a guarantee with Micheal Clemons' steady spring development). Add in the Mike Elko/ND connection, and it looked from a distance like a possible fit. I think the issue here was as simple as the Aggies not having room as far as the 85 scholarship limit goes (at this time), which would have forced them to push a Hayes visit back to a little later date. Based on the hasty nature of his commit, the former Irish starter had his mind made up and wasn't planning on dragging anything out.

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Speaking of Oklahoma, the Sooners enjoyed a monster weekend on the recruiting front, and a big part of that had to do with a pair of five-star Texas receivers re-committing to Riley and OU - Allen's Theo Wease and Arjei Henderson of Ford Bend Travis. Though the two receivers held offers from the Aggies, the fact of the matter is that neither receiver was necessarily getting the full-court press from an A&M staff desperately looking to add game-changing speed at the position. While it may sound crazy given the fact that the both wideouts were five-stars who, at one point, were leaning A&M's way, I think this is a good example of a coach and his staff knowing exactly what they need and not letting the recruiting rankings cloud their judgement.

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