Bears, Cardinal and Irish all trying to work over 4-Star Elijah Higgins

HOUSTON, Tex. -- Few prospects have been as popular as four-star wide receiver Elijah Higgins this spring. So when he photo edit for a hypothetical commitment to Texas made the rounds on social media, quite the stir was created.

Higgins quoted the picture with a disclaimer that he wasn’t actually committed to the Longhorns, but in this case, the picture was worth a thousand words. Perhaps the image inspired the Texas staff to step up their already significant recruitment of him as well.

“The Arizona coaches were texting me, coaches from everywhere were texting me thinking I was committed,” he said. “On a scale of 1-10, I would say that the interest that they have in my compared to other schools is like an 8. They talk to me a lot, it’s real easy for me to stay in contact with them and commute to the school.”

In the meantime, Higgins continues to draw major interest from Notre Dame and Stanford, two programs that he has had some strong mutual interest in to this point. While he said that he still plans on visiting both, it sounds as though the Cardinal has emerged as the more assertive team out of the two.

“I just talked to Coach (Notre Dame wide receivers coach Del) Alexander, I plan on flying out there sometime soon,” he said. “I think that they’re a lot more interested in me than some other schools are, so they stick out to me. Also them being such highly-academic schools - especially Stanford - so those are some of the reasons I’m drawn to them.”

Outside of the Longhorns, Higgins said that Baylor has continued its pursuit of him as much as any other team, and he’s enjoyed the attention the Bears have given him. He said that a visit their earlier this month reiterated just how important he is to their recruiting plans in 2019.

On Baylor

“It’s just like family there - I have a better relationship with them than I really do with any other staff,” he said. “The people there - all the coaches - are just amazing people. They’re an amazing staff that all was at Temple together and that’s just a really good coaching staff to me.”

“They were on me last summer,” he said. “They were my fourth offer, I believe, and they’ve kept up with me ever since. That’s something you don’t see so often is schools keeping up with you for so long. The relationship I have with them is different than with any other staff and it’s a great feeling when I get onto campus.”

More on Stanford

“Stanford is in the picture for me for sure,” he said. “I talk to Stanford a lot, I can’t wait to get out there and check it out. That’s really what I’m just waiting to see - checking out the area, checking out the campus, the facilities and things like that.”

More on Texas

“Jordan Whittington just committed. Me, Jordan, Garrett (Wilson) and Roschon (Johnson) have been talking about it lately, so it’s up there for us. They’re pulling for me as well - they’re one one of the schools that really pull for me.”

Higgins was one of the best receivers at last weekend’s Rivals Three Stripe Camp presented by adidas in Houston, so it’s not hard to see why so many top programs are interested in him. He has been on campus several times at Texas already, and has plans to return again before the end of the month, but that’s also to be expected considering the Longhorns are the hometown option for him. Higgins seems genuinely interested in other programs, but wrestling him away from Texas could be a tall order going forward.