2018 OL Nickelson breaks down recent unofficial visit to Texas

While the majority of the Texas Longhorn coaching staff's recruiting efforts are focused on the 2017 class, the UT coaches are also keeping a close eye on the state's top juniors, as evidenced by the showing of 2018 prospects who were invited into last weekend's game against West Virginia on unofficial visits.

Included on the list of visitors was offensive lineman Garrett Nickelson, a 6-5, 256-pounder out of League City Clear Springs. If the name sounds familiar, it should ... Nickelson is the younger brother of current Texas offensive tackle Tristan Nickelson.

The younger Nickelson is still in the early stages of the recruiting process, but has been in contact with the UT coaches previously and got some more time with offensive line coach Matt Mattox during Saturday's visit.

"I've gone to a few camps over the summer, talked to (Mattox) a couple times. He just wanted to learn more about me, talk to me," Nickelson said. "I talked to him during the pregame lunch thing. We just talked about grades, what they're trying to build there, how Tristan was doing. He talked to me a little about me as a center. If not center, guard. I'd be fine with wherever I can get on the field."

A three-star prospect, Nickelson has had contact with the likes of Houston, Louisiana Tech, TCU, SMU and Cincinnati, among others. He'll be at Houston's game against Louisville on Thursday night and plans to return to Austin next week when the Longhorns host TCU. As for Texas, the Longhorns coaches are usually pretty deliberate with their evaluations, and Gilbert told Mattox he'd continue to watch him moving forward.

"They want to keep evaluating, want me to come up to their camps this summer, and then we'll go from there," Nickelson said.

Though it's still early and he's keeping all options open, Nickelson does admit that there are a couple schools that sit high on his wish list.

"Right now, my top two would probably be Texas and TCU. Either one of those schools would be a dream school," he said. "With Texas, I really just grew up loving them, and just the atmosphere they bring, it's a winning program, how they carry themselves. TCU, when I got to go to their facilities, I really liked them. I went to a game and liked the atmosphere and coaching staff was really nice."