AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Longhorns added 23 players to the 2024 roster on the first day of the early signing period for Division I football programs Wednesday.
Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian said his staff, “did a heck of a job,” when putting everything together.
“They recognized the needs we have on the team, some immediate and some long-term predicated on depth issues,” he said, “and also players who fit who we are from their style of play and character. They fit our culture.”
The 2024 class includes four 5-star recruits according to 247Sports including Duncanville linebacker/edge rusher Colin Simmons and wide receiver Ryan Wingo out of St. Louis, Missouri. Other 5-star recruits are offensive tackle Brandon Baker from powerhouse high school program Mater Dei in Santa, Ana, California and late flip Xavier Filsaime from McKinney. Filsaime, a safety, had verbally committed to Florida before announcing his shift over the weekend.
247Sports ranks the 2024 class for Texas so far as No. 5 in the country.
The early signing period runs through Friday, and then the traditional signing period starts back up Feb. 7. The benefit of the early signing period is that kids who pledge can enroll early and participate in spring practices. Of the 23 who signed Wednesday, 19 will enroll at Texas early. Sarkisian said that’s a huge deal when it comes to assessing position depth for the following year, and he may end up with even more guys coming in early before the signing period is over.
“That’s probably the biggest change of this whole thing,” Sarkisian said. “The players are immediately immersed into our winter conditioning program and culture and they get an entire spring practice session with us. I almost have a full roster for spring ball and we can have two fields at our disposal where guys can get a lot of reps.”
The spring semester at Texas starts Jan. 16.
Sarkisian said a specific position of need was wide receiver, and combined with the transfer addition of Matthew Golden from Houston, Texas signed Wingo and two others who will step in and contribute to the depth of the position. One of them is a local product in Smithson Valley’s Freddie Dubose who helped the Rangers get to the 5A Division I state championship game. The other is Parker Livingstone from Lucas Lovejoy in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Here are the 21 freshmen that Texas has signed so far in the 2024 recruiting class, followed by the two transfers:
Freshman signees on first day of early signing period
Brandon Baker, OL, 6-4 288, Ontario, California (Mater Dei)
Kobe Black, DB, 6-2 200, Waco, Texas (Connally)
Christian Clark, RB, 6-0 195, Phoenix, Arizona (Mountain Pointe)
Daniel Cruz, OL, 6-3 310, North Richland Hills, Texas (Richland)
Freddie Dubose, WR, 6-1 188, New Braunfels, Texas (Smithson Valley)
Xavier Filsaime, DB, 6-1 190, McKinney, Texas (McKinney)
Jerrick Gibson, RB, 5-10 215, Gainesville, Florida (IMG Academy)
Melvin Hills III, DL, 6-3 280, New Iberia, Louisiana (Lafayette Christian Academy)
Alex January, DL, 6-5 320, Duncanville, Texas (Duncanville)
Jordan Johnson-Rubell, DB, 5-10 190, Fort Worth, Texas (IMG Academy)
Michael Kern, P/K, 6-3 175, Fort Lauderdale, Florida (St. Thomas Aquinas)
Nate Kibble, OL, 6-3 315, Humble, Texas (Atascocita)
Parker Livingstone, WR, 6-4 187, Lucas, Texas (Lovejoy)
Wardell Mack, DB, 6-0 185, Westminister, Louisiana (John Ehret)
Trey Owens, QB, 6-5 220, Houston, Texas (Cy-Fair)
D’antre Robinson, DL, 6-2 310, Orlando, Florida (Jones)
Colin Simmons, LB/EDGE, 6-3 235, Dallas, Texas (Duncanville)
Zina Umeozulu, EDGE, 6-5 235, Allen, Texas (Allen)
Jordan Washington, TE, 6-4 225, Houston, Texas (Langham Creek)
Santan Wilson, DB, 6-0 180, Scottsdale, Arizona (Desert Mountain)
Ryan Wingo, WR, 6-2 205, St. Louis, Missouri (St. Louis University)
Transfer signees on first day of early signing period
Matthew Golden, WR, 6-0 190, Houston, Texas (Houston)
Andrew Mukuba, DB, 6-0 195, Austin, Texas (Clemson)
Sarkisian said one thing the recruiting staff came up with this year to celebrate this year’s class was to put billboards up near their hometowns after they signed their letters. Owens posted a picture of his billboard on social media in the Houston area.
“How cool was that? Those were awesome,” he said. “We put those up to recognize them in their hometowns. The whole community raised them, and we wanted to celebrate the kids and the community they were part of. It was a nice touch.”
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