Rivals.com updated its 2026 recruiting rankings on Monday, with defensive end Jahkeem Stewart maintaining his spot as the top-ranked prospect in the country. With such a lofty status, Stewart could probably pick up the phone at any point and commit to any school in the country. Instead, he’s taking things pretty slowly and trying to do as much homework as possible before coming to a decision. Stewart did recently drop a top 15 to cut down on some of the outside noise, and the Texas Longhorns are one of the schools that are still standing.

“Texas is a good school. Texas plays in the big games. I love what they have going on,” Stewart said. “They have a great coach. (Steve Sarkisian) has come by my school two times and he’s always telling me they want me up there. I’m going to go up there, get a bigger relationship, a bigger bond with him. He does a great job and I love what he has going on.”

Stewart has already taken two unofficial visits to Texas and he’s expected to return to the Forty Acres either this coming weekend of the following weekend. He’s kept a close eye on the trajectory of the UT program under Sarkisian and said last year’s success elevated the Longhorns’ standing with him.

“It catches my eye. Some people doubted Texas but Texas plays in the big games. I’m a person who wants to play in the big games. I want to let my talent speak for itself against the big-name schools and I think Texas does a great job with that,” Stewart said. “With them going to the SEC, I think that’s going to lead me more to Texas, focus my eyes on them because they’re a school that plays in the big games a lot.”

Texas recently went through a coaching change along its defensive line with Kenny Baker taking over for Bo Davis, who departed for LSU. Stewart has yet to meet Baker but said he’s looking forward to changing that in the very near future.

“I’m looking forward to meeting him and building a relationship whenever I go on campus,” Stewart said. “Coach Bo is a great defensive line coach. He builds great character. I feel the new defensive line coach is going to do the same because coach Sark wouldn’t hire anybody that’s going to go down from coach Bo. So I feel the new defensive line coach is going to do a great job with the defensive line they have right now. With them losing two big defensive tackles, I feel the new defensive line coach is going to build bigger and better players.”

The next step for Stewart is to trim his list even further. His goal is to cut his list to 10, possibly in July.

“(Texas is) in my top 15 and they’ll probably be in my top 10 depending on how they recruit me,” Stewart said of the Longhorns.

The 6-6, 266-pound Stewart, out of New Orleans St. Augustine, is ranked as a five-star prospect by Rivals.com.