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Texas Longhorns Recruiting: Smart Makes In-home Visits

By Chris Okrainetz

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Texas Longhorns head coach Shaka Smart and assistant coach Mike Morrell made a number of in-home visits to prospects this past week.

Shaka Smart’s rebuild of the Texas Longhorns basketball program headed back on the road this past week, as Smart and the Texas staff made in-home visits to 2016 prospects Amir Coffey, Clevon Brown, Braxton Blackwell, and 2018 prospect Jaedon LeDee.

The most important prospect of these in-home visits was Oak Hill (VA) Academy small forward Braxton Blackwell. The No. 13 small forward in the country, according to 247Sports composite rankings, recently named Texas in his top-six, but is yet to schedule a visit to UT. So far Blackwell has only visited Kansas, but he remains interested in Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Kansas.

Smart and assistant coach Mike Morrell also visited with Hopkins (MN) shooting guard Amir Coffey this week. Coffey is a top target for the Longhorns 2016 class and is scheduled to visit Texas this weekend. Minnesota and Texas are considered the favourites for Coffey, who is currently the nation’s No. 8 ranked shooting guard, according to 247Sports composite rankings.

The Texas staff also made a pair of visits to talented in-state players Clevon Brown and Jaedon LeDee.

A three-star power forward prospect from San Antonio Churchill, Brown is expected to visit the 40 acres on September 26. Brown holds offers from 15 different schools, but is apparently high on Texas and Vanderbilt, according to 247Sports EJ Holland.

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As for LeDee, the Texas staff is trying to build a relationship with him as early as possible. The 2018 five-star small forward is expected to be a hot commodity in his class, and has already received offers from the likes of Kentucky, Kansas and UCLA. A native of Houston, TX, LeDee will be a top priority for the Longhorns staff, as the Houston Kinkaid small forward is the kind of talent that could really elevate Smart’s program.

Duke has made life interesting for the Longhorns, as the Blue Devils extended an offer to St. Anne’s-Belfield (VA) power forward Javin DeLaurier this week.

DeLaurier will also host Arizona for an in-home visit on Wednesday, according to Corey Evans of HoopSeen.com.

DeLaurier visited UT this past weekend and was impressed with the Longhorns, according to William Wilkerson of Scout.com. DeLaurier commented on the overall staff involvement of the Longhorns, which is something he enjoyed, and was very happy with the atmosphere at Texas. Of course, playing pick-up ball with Kevin Durant didn’t hurt either, as the former Texas standout was on campus this past weekend and played a couple of games with DeLaurier.

Although he is still considered to be a Texas lean, the Duke offer will loom large in his recruitment. Next up for DeLaurier will be visits to Stanford on October 10 and then an official visit to Duke on October 24.

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