Texas gets a visit from OU transfer WR Mario Williams

A target out of the NCAA Transfer Portal for head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas football program that I noted to watch at the beginning of the month was on campus in Austin this week. The former Oklahoma Sooners freshman stud wideout and elite five-star recruit Mario Williams reportedly took an official visit to Texas. And he arrived on campus on Jan. 11.

The report came courtesy of 247Sports on Jan. 11 that Williams was taking a visit to Austin with Sark and the Longhorns staff. This is obviously notable news for Texas, which is looking to add some skill position weapons out of the transfer portal early this offseason.

Williams looked to be trending to former Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans in the PAC-12 in the first few days following the time when he originally put his name in the transfer portal earlier this month. And that could still be the case.

Texas football gets an official visit from OU transfer WR Mario Williams this week

But the very fact that the Longhorns are getting a visit from Williams is big. Texas would obviously do well to get Williams alongside the likes of freshman breakout star wide receiver Xavier Worthy and redshirt sophomore Jordan Whittington ahead of the start of next season.

Williams is coming off a solid freshman campaign where he registered 35 catches for 380 receiving yards and four touchdowns. He’s an agile and elusive 5-foot-10 and 185-pound wideout that can make a lot of things happen when he gets into space. Sark would love to have that type of skill set added to his offense.

Texas is going to have an uphill battle ahead if they want to beat out the Trojans in the race to land a commitment from Williams out of the transfer portal this offseason. USC has the head coach and wide receivers coach (among others on that newly formed Trojans staff) that recruited Williams to Oklahoma. Those ties will be difficult to sever for Texas.

So far this offseason, Sark and the Longhorns have already landed two commitments out of the transfer portal. Both of those came last month in the form of former Ohio State Buckeyes teammates with freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers and redshirt freshman cornerback Ryan Watts.