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Texas Football: 3 2019 OL Horns transfer targets

By Andrew Miller

KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 10: Drew Richmond #51 of the Tennessee Volunteers gets yelled at by head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half of the game between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 10: Drew Richmond #51 of the Tennessee Volunteers gets yelled at by head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half of the game between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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LINCOLN, NE – NOVEMBER 10: Head coach Lovie Smith of the Illinois Fighting Illini walks on the field before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
LINCOLN, NE – NOVEMBER 10: Head coach Lovie Smith of the Illinois Fighting Illini walks on the field before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /

The amount of offensive linemen set to depart the Illinois Fighting Illini football program after this past season is a growing list. Slightly under half of the uncommitted transfer candidates in the portal right now are former linemen under head coach Lovie Smith and the Illini. Four of the uncommitted transfer prospect linemen in the portal as of Jan. 24 are from Illinois.

Potentially the most talented of the bunch coming out of the Illinois football program is a former four-star recruit from the 2018 recruiting cycle out of IMG Academy Reuben Unije. The Bradenton, FL, 6-foot-5 and 305 pound offensive tackle has a high ceiling and a lot of suitors on the transfer market after he left Illinois in the middle of the 2018 regular season.

Numerous players departed Illinois in October 2018, including Unije. For Unije, it was cited as personal reasons for why he left the program. It does appear as if he’s ready to go for the 2019 or 2020 season wherever he goes next. If he is eligible to immediately play during the 2019 campaign, that makes his attractiveness as a transfer prospect much greater.

If Texas football is looking for some help at offensive tackle that would be nearly as good as bringing in a highly touted 2019 recruit, Unije is the direction to go. He had some interest during his recruitment from Big 12 schools including the Oklahoma Sooners, Iowa State Cyclones, and the TCU Horned Frogs. Texas football wouldn’t be completely new territory for Unije.

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