The 3-2-1 - Will Texas land D'Antre Robinson and Corian Gipson? more
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. This week’s recruiting decisions still hold some mystery
It’s still early in the week and we’re still in the information gathering process, but both of this week’s scheduled commitment announcements (defensive tackle D’antre Robinson on July 20 and defensive back Corian Gipson on July 22) are still a bit murky.
With Robinson, the big Rivals250 member officially has 10 schools on his radar, but most signs point to this one coming down to either Texas or Florida. Robinson isn’t saying much publicly and I don’t believe he’s told any of the coaching staffs of his decision. It could be that he’s still sorting things out, but that’s unlikely. Usually when a kid sets a firm commitment date, he knows where he’s going.
Interestingly, two weeks ago, I had a Florida source indicate that he didn’t think UF would be the pick. That same person has now changed his tune and indicated there’s confidence inside the Florida program that the Gators will be the pick. For what it’s worth, a coaching source at one of the schools on Robinson’s top 10 believes Texas will be the pick, but he too is trying to read the tea leaves and hasn’t heard anything directly.
Gipson, the Rivals100 DB out of Lancaster, is equally puzzling. Early in the spring, shortly after Clemson offered, all signs pointed towards an early commitment to the Tigers. That obviously didn’t happen and Gipson continues to play things very close to the vest leading up to his Saturday announcement. Clemson was the proverbial “dream school,” which shot Dabo Swinney and company out in front early but there are enough signs pointing UT’s direction that this one’s tough to decipher.
Texas landing Gipson’s close friend, Jordon Johnson-Rubell, has me leaning UT in this one but it’s a fairly low-confidence pick (there was grapevine talk at one point in June of Gipson and Johnson-Rubell announcing together). Multiple recruits in the Texas class are expecting UT to be the pick, but prospects can be somewhat unreliable for recruiting intel … they’re usually completely dialed in, or the last to know, with very little middle ground.
In communicating with a Clemson media source this week, it sounds like the Tigers are as confused as the rest of us. Gipson is described as a “wildcard” by people tied to the Clemson program and while he and his family have given continued indication of how much they like Clemson, he hasn’t ever given them firm indication that the Tigers will be the choice.
We’ll continue to check on these two recruitments throughout the week, but buckle for what could be a couple exciting announcements.
2. Michael Riles will be a top UT target in the 2025 class
Port Arthur Memorial defensive lineman Michael Riles is one of the country’s top prospects in the 2025 cycle, checking in at No. 53 on the Rivals100. The 6-5, 235-pound standout took spring visits to places like LSU, Houston and Texas. The stop at UT made a good impression and Texas has an ally ...
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