Princely Umanmielen details what set Texas apart from the pack
It was an unexpectedly exciting Monday for Texas Longhorn fans, with defensive end Princely Umanmielen announcing on Twitter that he has given Texas a verbal commitment.
The pledge from Umanmielen continues an amazing recruiting run for the Longhorns that has seen Texas pick up commitment after commitment over the last six weeks. Umanmielen gives Texas 15 commitments overall, with 10 of those coming in the months of June, July and the early part of August.
In landing Umanmielen, Texas wins what was a hotly-contested recruiting battle over Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Early in the process, it was the Longhorns who were creating the most buzz. Texas A&M surged into the lead earlier this spring, only to have the three-team race even out this summer and then see the Longhorns surge towards the finish line. Umanmielen said he made the decision to commit to Texas on Sunday and made the call to the UT coaches on Monday.
“Texas always been a school since they offered, I’ve been there so many times. I’ve kind of always felt I was meant to go there,” Umanmielen said. “I’ll go to A&M and I’ll love the defense, love the players. But when I’m there, it doesn’t feel like that’s where I’m supposed to be. Coach (Oscar) Giles and I have a great relationship. And I talked to Peter (Mpagi), and he told me if do everything well and be perfect, I can have all-American stats at Texas and first-round draft pick stats.”
Umanmielen said Texas really began to solidify its standing as the top school in his mind a few weeks ago. It wasn’t necessarily anything Texas A&M did wrong, he said. It was more the level of comfort he felt at Texas.
“Everything was good at A&M. I guess Texas was just the school that was in my heart,” Umanmielen said.
The 6-4, 234-pound Umanmielen, out of Manor, broke the news to the UT staff on Monday afternoon, causing a wave of celebrations in the Texas football offices.
“I had FaceTimed coach (Tom) Herman. Coach Herman was just pumped up. They didn’t know it was coming,” Umanmielen said. “He was happy, he was yelling, but then he got quiet because they were having position meetings.
“It started hitting me probably just a few weeks ago in my head. I was going through it. I was really considering A&M because I love their defense, have a good relationship with the players. I liked Texas and A&M m evenly, but would rather go to a place where I feel at home. I feel more at home at Texas.”
A four-star prospect, Umanmielen becomes the Longhorns’ third defensive line commitment, joining Vernon Broughton and Van Fillinger. He’s Texas’ second commitment of the week, joining Lufkin safety Jerrin Thompson.