Texas A&M lands commitment from high 3-Star LB DaShaun White

DaShaun White needed all the time that he could give himself before announcing his commitment on Sunday afternoon. When he was finally ready, Texas A&M got the call that it landed yet another quality in-state prospect to its 2018 class.

After he tweeted in July that it was his commitment month, he laid low until an August 1 update came that he had made his decision. It wasn’t until five days later that White publicly announced that he chose the Aggies over Oklahoma. After he weighed the collective attitude and friendships he’s built with the players already committed, he wanted to be a part of the group A&M has assembled

“It really came down to the relationships that I had built out there,” he said. “I’m really comfortable with everyone in their class right now, and a lot of those guys have the same mindset as me - I get around some classes’ commits and they’ll like to party and stuff, but in the A&M class you have a lot of guys that are humble and understand what it takes to get where they want to be.

“That will be good to come to a school with, especially a team like A&M that’s looking for something right now. Me and Anthony Hines are really cool right now and it would be great to play with him. (Camron) Buckley is up there and my relationship with the coaches is just as good.”

Beyond the players that Texas A&M has added in recent classes, he said that his relationship with the Aggies staff was critical in his decision. Even though head coach Kevin Sumlin, who is known for taking a personal role in recruiting players had been a fixture, he hasn’t been as crucial to White’s considerations as defensive coordinator John Chavis and defensive line coach Terry Price.

“Coach Sumlin is no stranger, don’t get me wrong, he’ll reach out to me and check up on me,” he said. “Coach Chavis has treated me like family and I really like when I get out there, I don’t get babied around. A lot of schools will chauffeur you around, but I like when I get up there I can dap everyone up and Coach Chavis and I have been building up our relationship.

“Most of the time we’re talking about cars, cooking, we talk about so many different things and that’s been a big part of the relationship with me.”

Something interesting to watch going forward will be the position battle that could be ahead between White and recent linebacker commit Brian Johnson. Both are pegged to play the same role in the Aggies defense next season and will likely also contend with 2017 signee Buddy Johnson, who could have a stake in the same role as well.

Of course, that isn’t stopping White from betting on himself when it comes to deciding who will come out on top of that contest.

“The plan for me would be to go there and play the sam-nickel spot,” he said. “That’s a spot that I feel I could really show out at. A lot of the guys that they’ve taken recently are similar sort of players to me, but anyone would take themselves over someone else. I see the opportunity at A&M - especially since they are about to lose the senior at that spot now - and I don’t think they have much depth at that spot.

“For me to come in and be a three-down backer; someone that doesn’t have to come out when it’s third-and-12, I think that’s something that could set me apart as well.”

White announced his commitment on Sunday afternoon with a video reveal on twitter and said he showed Aggies coaches the final edit beforehand to let them know his decision to commit. Now that he’s made up his mind, he said that he has no intentions taking official visits elsewhere, including Oklahoma, as he wants to close the book on his recruitment.

“Now that I’ve committed, I would really just like it to be done,” he said. “I don’t want to make my mind any more confused than it is right now. Once I get it done, that’s going to be the end of it.”