Four-star CB Malik Muhammad down to Alabama, Texas, Texas A&M

Dallas (Texas) South Oak Cliff four-star cornerback Malik Muhammad dropped his final three on Thursday evening as Alabama, Texas and Texas A&M make the final cut for one of the nation's top defensive backs.

Muhammad is fresh off of an official visit to Texas on June 17-19 where he was able to grow closer with Arch Manning as well as the rest of the coaching staff.

“I feel like Texas is going to be a really good team," Muhammad told Rivals before his official visit. "Especially if they land me, Johntay (Cook), Arch (Manning) and Rueben (Owens) and players like that."

Since then, Texas has landed two of those three recruits and sources have said that Texas made a big impression on the official visit and that the Longhorns were riding the high well after his departure from Austin, especially after Texas' run of commits this last week.

However, Texas A&M remains as a legitimate threat as Muhammad will return to College Station in July for his official visit during the Aggies' annual pool party event.

“I’m really comfortable around the A&M coaches especially coach (T.J.) Rushing, coach Tony (Jerod-Eddie) and coach (Jimbo) Fisher," Muhammad said to Rivals.

Alabama sits as the darkhorse in the recruitment as Tuscaloosa is a place that Muhammad has seen multiple times and it's a place the DFW-based defensive back has grown comfortable with during his recruitment.

The best commitment timeline that can be pinned down is that his pledge will come at some point in August following his official visit to Texas A&M. Texas or Alabama could have the chance at getting him back on campus in late July as well, but it would be tough to fit it in with his official to College Station.

As a result, the Aggies are well-positioned to make the final impression in his recruitment on that official visit despite fighting off a ton of Texas buzz this past week that some thought could have led to a commitment.

I recently changed my Rivals FutureCast Prediction from Texas A&M to Texas, but I don't feel incredibly confident about either program at this point.

The Aggies had been making a lot of noise in this recruitment in the late spring, prompting my initial pick as it looked as though Muhammad was closing in on a decision, but once his recruitment slowed down and the Texas buzz picked back up, things became murky.

Following his official visit to Texas, buzz had continued to grow around Texas similar to Texas A&M's momentum in the late spring. However, as previously mentioned, I don't feel great about sticking to one of these programs at the moment.

In what is a toss-up between the two in-state powers, the next month will tell the story of how this recruitment will end.