Peyton Powell taking last looks ahead of upcoming commitment

For months now, Odessa-Permian athlete Peyton Powell has been drawing plenty of attention as one of Texas’ top remaining uncommitted prospects. Much of that has had to do with his decision to push back his commitment several times since the end of summer.

The expectation has since been that he was eyeing up a commitment next week, but depending on what how things play out over this weekend, some further changes could be made.

Powell has already taken official visits to Ohio State and Virginia in the offseason, but could be looking to make one to Texas this weekend when the Longhorns host TCU. The following weekend, he said that he is considering taking an official visit to Oklahoma for the Sooners’ game against Baylor. Such visits are crucial at this point, as he said that he’s still looking to make a commitment by the end of this month, but said that things are still level between his finalists.

Powell was in Dallas last weekend to watch the Buckeyes win over the Horned Frogs. He puts TCU in the mix of teams he’s still considering, but the Frogs are seemingly hoping that the energy around the program will be enough to keep them involved. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes’ win was another convincing show of force with one of their top targets in the stands looking on.

“TCU came out a lot faster than I thought they were going to,” he said. “They were in it for a while until Ohio State started getting turnovers and big plays, I knew it was over with then.”

On Ohio State

“They feel like I’m one of the most elite players in the country,” he said. “They want elite players to play with the most elite players so they want me to come play with them.”

“I’m close with Marcus Washington and I’m real cool with [Jordan Battle],” he said. “Ohio State wants me at corner, and they produce the best cornerbacks in the league, so I trust their ability to do that. It wouldn’t be that I would be going there strictly to play corner, whatever I feel I’m best at or where me and the coaches talk about where would be the best fit for me, that’s where I’ll play at. If nothing else works, then corner for sure.”

On Oklahoma

“We stay in touch and that’s an elite program,” he said. “They’re holding a spot for me in case I want to commit and I know I have that … They’ve been using the example of my cousin [Sterling Shepard] being a real good receiver there and going to the league as a big part of me going there and basically saying that I have it in my blood to go there.”

On being personally recruited by Lincoln Riley

“That’s big-time,” he said. “Just like hearing from Urban Meyer, it’s the same thing.”

On TCU

“Me and the coaches get along very well there,” he said. “I went on an unofficial visit, got to meet them and hang out for a long time. I love it - my uncle, John Williams, he played running back and he went there. The same coach that coached him is still there now, so we have a great relationship.”

On the influence of his uncle

“We’re real close, we talk every week,” he said. “He would love to see me go there, but he understands that I can go wherever I want and be successful as long as I work hard.”

On Texas

“At first they wanted me at receiver, but as things have gone on, now they’re looking at me at quarterback,” he said. “I’m very interested in that. I have a few places that I could go and play quarterback, a few I could play wide receiver and a few I could play DB, so I just have some things I need to think about and decide.”

“I haven’t been to Austin since I was little,” he said. “Really, what’s important to me is just talking to the coaches - seeing where they stand with things.”