Texas Spotlight: Five biggest April visits

CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

Regionally, the emphasis put on the ability to take official visits during the spring and summer has varied. In Texas, many of the state’s top prospects have taken advantage of the opportunity to take those visits and some high-profile commitments have resulted because of them.

Of course, commitment season is far from over, and several upcoming announcements hinge on the visits taken this month. Here are five notable players whose upcoming commitments will be shaped by the officials they took in April.

MORE BIG APRIL VISITS: West | Southeast | Midwest | Mid-Atlantic

The Rivals250 linebacker/defensive end prospect took an official to Notre Dame on April 13 and will take an official visit to Texas next weekend before making his announcement on May 19. Osafo-Mensah had nothing but positive things to say coming out of his official visit to South Bend and has shown this spring that he has truly started growing into a consistently effective edge rusher off the line. The Irish had been considered most likely to lead for Osafo-Mensah heading into the spring but with his sights narrowed down to just two teams, getting the chance to make the first impression this close to his announcement was big.

All indications are that Wilson is set to make his commitment in the very near future, after announcing his plans to do so in short order following official visits to Ohio State and Texas in recent weeks. The story around his recruitment has been a unique one in that he is originally from the Columbus, Ohio, area but has played his high school football and spent the more social years of his life to this point in Austin. After being away from Columbus for so long, his unofficial visit to Ohio State preceding his official on April 13 was a critical one-two punch to make an impression after playing in the Longhorns’ backyard.

Young is clearly a target for Oklahoma, and the Rivals100 defensive back has been seriously considering the Sooners as well. While OU struck gold on its spring game weekend, landing multiple high-profile commitments, Young was in College Station for Texas A&M’s spring game. He watched as Rivals250 defensive end DeMarvin Leal made a commitment to the Aggies along with high three-star tight end Baylor Cupp. Young did not pull the trigger, but the thought is that Texas A&M is out in front in his recruitment.

The prevailing wisdom is that Johnson favors Texas, but he had pretty much been considering Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M for some time. Johnson has a visit to UT scheduled for next week, so getting him on campus was a major priority for the Sooners. Details aren’t always so easy to come by with Johnson, but for Oklahoma to keep a good seat at the table, having him in attendance to see so many other top prospects commit had to help.

Brooks, one of the more mercurial recruits in the state, appears ready to make an announcement in June and is down to Alabama and LSU. He will take an official to Baton Rouge this weekend, but does not yet have a visit scheduled to Tuscaloosa. Brooks has been wishy-washy to say the least as to what his preferences have been throughout his process, but LSU is still very much in the market for collecting playmaking edge-rushers in every class and the four-star prospect has all the potential to be just that for Ed Orgeron.