Texas football passing OU in race to land 5-Star RB Camar Wheaton?

The 2021 Texas football recruiting class has no bigger target at this point in time than the elite 5-Star Lakeview Centennial running back Camar Wheaton.

For the second straight cycle, a Texas football recruiting class was involved in a very strenuous pursuit of an elite running back prospect that was difficult to follow along with. For the 2021 Texas recruiting class, that elite talent at running back is five-star in-state product Camar Wheaton. The Longhorns and rival Oklahoma Sooners seem to constantly go back and forth in the race to land a commitment from Wheaton, with a few other schools lurking in the background.

But this recruitment should largely come down to Texas and Oklahoma at this point. Wheaton does also hold offers from the likes of the LSU Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide, SMU Mustangs, Florida Gators, Georgia Bulldogs, Michigan Wolverines, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Ohio State Buckeyes, Tennessee Volunteers, Texas A&M Aggies, and USC Trojans.

And Wheaton ranks as the nation’s No. 18 2021 high school prospect, No. 2 running back, and No. 2 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite). That also lands him among the top 500 best 247Sports high school prospects of all-time (at least in the modern era of recruiting rankings).

However, Wheaton is reportedly (Horns247 paid content) still very torn between the two sides that take part in the Red River Rivalry game annually. But apparently Texas could be “quietly surging” in the race to land a commitment from Wheaton. If they would be able to get Wheaton in their 2021 class, Texas would be set ahead of the Early Signing Period.

Oklahoma got a big lift in the Big 12 recruiting rankings for the 2021 cycle after they landed the elite five-star dual-threat quarterback Caleb Williams back on July 4. That brought Oklahoma neck and neck with Texas at the top of the Big 12 rankings. But getting another five-star commit of their own would do more than establish the Longhorns at the top of the Big 12 rankings, it would vault them even further up the national class rankings.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2021 Texas recruiting class ranks at No. 12 in the nation and holds steady just ahead of Oklahoma for the top spot in the Big 12. Texas snagged a commitment from unheralded three-star Cherry Creek tight end Gunnar Helm on July 27, which helped them separate at least a bit from the Sooners in the national class rankings.

The lone running back commitment that the Longhorns hold in their 2021 class at this point is the underrated three-star Hallettsville product Jonathon Brooks. While Brooks could be a solid piece of the 2021 class, landing another top tier running back like Wheaton would be a huge difference maker.

In the 2020 recruiting class, the Longhorns signed the elite five-star Salpointe Catholic running back Bijan Robinson (who ranks at the top of his position group in the nation). If they got a commitment from Wheaton for this cycle, the running back talent on the Forty Acres next year would be nothing short of immense.