Texas Football: Ex-Virginia Tech commit has Longhorns in his sights?

Could the 2021 Texas football recruiting class soon get a big boost from a former Virginia Tech wide receiver commit Latrell Neville?

Potential help at a position of need for the 2021 Texas football recruiting class might soon arrive in the form of a decommitment from another Power Five program. On June 6, four-star Hightower 6-foot-3 and 195 pound wide receiver Latrell Neville rescinded his pledge to head coach Justin Fuente and the Virginia Tech Hokies to re-open his recruitment.

It was not more than roughly two months that Neville stayed committed to Virginia Tech. But this is a weird time for college football recruiting, in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Figuring out how to manage the recruiting trail is something that likely every Power Five coaching staff is trying to configure at the moment.

However, the re-opening of Neville’s recruitment is big news for the Longhorns. Head coach Tom Herman and recently promoted wide receivers coach Andre Coleman really should have their sights set on winning over Neville from this point forward.

The jury still looks to be out on where Neville is leaning next. He might be slowing down to take his time thoroughly on where he’ll ultimately take his talents to in college. That could be a good move since there’s not much that’s tangibly happening right now to make this big decision.

The Rivals FutureCast does still technically have Virginia Tech with the edge to land Neville’s commitment. There’s portions of the Rivals analysts and publishers picking him to land with the Oklahoma Sooners, Nebraska Cornhuskers, LSU Tigers, and Texas.

Moreover, the 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions does have Nebraska and Oklahoma trending, but the jury is still out on where he’ll commit to at this point in time. But according to a 247Sports report (paid content), Neville is down to five schools including the Florida Gators, Mizzou Tigers, West Virginia Mountaineers, Nebraska, and Texas.

It is good to hear that Texas is still in the running to land Neville. They could use some help in the receiving corps in the 2021 class. Texas can’t hold onto a tight end commit of late, and wide receiver is still pretty thin (despite the commitment of three-star Warren Easton wideout Casey Cain).

Neville ranks as the nation’s No. 353 2021 high school prospect, No. 59 wide receiver, and No. 51 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite). The Missouri City, TX, native holds offers from more than 40 different schools also including the Alabama Crimson Tide, Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Bulldogs, Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State Buckeyes, Oregon Ducks, USC Trojans, Texas A&M Aggies, and LSU.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the Longhorns 2021 class ranks at No. 17 in the nation and remains in the top spot in the Big 12. They have 11 commits total in the 2021 class, with only one coming at wide receiver.