Texas and USC in a 50/50 battle for LB Braylan Shelby

Rivals100 linebacker Braylan Shelby knows he’ll have a tough decision ahead.

The Friendswood standout took June official visits to both Texas and Southern Cal, and those two continue to set the pace in his recruitment. With a decision likely later this summer, Shelby says the race is truly too close to call right now.

“To be honest, it’s really like 50/50. It’s going to be one of the harder decisions I’ll make in my life,” Shelby said.

USC received Shelby’s first visit on June 17. Then it was Texas’s turn the following weekend. According to Shelby, the stay in Austin was eye-catching and he got a sense of what Steve Sarkisian and staff are building at Texas.

“It was amazing, actually. The amount of bonds I created with the players there was amazing,” Shelby said. “You can really see the team becoming a family, the way they move, you can really see coach Sark piecing the parts together to be a top contender.”

Shelby mentioned players like Derek Brown, D’Marvion Overshown, Byron Murphy and Barryn Sorrell as guys he really clicked with on his Texas visit.

Up next, Shelby hopes to make a final decision, possibly in mid-July or August at the latest. His task is to decide which program can help him grow, both on and off the field.

“It will be where I really feel I can not only be able to be developed as a football player and get me to the places I want to go to in life, but also develop as a man,” Shelby said.

The 6-5, 235-pound Shelby wants to study business in college, and said both Texas and USC impressed him with their business schools, so that element doesn’t really separate one school from the other.

“I really can’t go wrong with either. Both kind of set up perfectly for me,” he said.

Though he hasn’t completely closed the door on the other programs that have continued to recruit him – Shelby mentioned programs like Georgia and Texas A&M – this is shaping up to be a two-team race down the stretch. Texas’ recent recruiting momentum is something Shelby has taken notice of, and he’s even been in touch with the Longhorns’ most high-profile commitment.

“They’re really putting the pieces together. Arch (Manning) called me the other day,” Shelby said. “He’s doing some recruiting. He just tells me that I’m the final piece, that we need everyone that was on that OV, that we need to have an outstanding defense to go with an outstanding offense.”

Shelby ranks No. 83 on the Rivals100. He’s the No. 15-ranked player in the state of Texas and the nation’s No. 5-ranked outside linebacker prospect.