Is Texas football closing on a commitment from 4-Star WR Jalen Hale?

The momentum on the recruiting trail for head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas football program in the 2023 class has kept on rolling through early July. Texas experienced a massive wave of momentum on the recruiting trail for the 2023 class since landing that seismic commitment from the elite five-star Isidore Newman quarterback Arch Manning back on June 23.

Sark and the Longhorns have more than tripled the size of the 2023 class since June 13. And most of the commitments in the 2023 class have arrived since Arch gave his pledge on June 23.

Another important target that Texas is pushing for in the 2023 class in the wake of the Arch commitment that is worth noting heading into the fall is the highly touted four-star Longview wide receiver Jalen Hale. Texas has pushed harder for Hale this summer, albeit he was already a prioritized target for this coaching staff prior to the last few months.

The fruits of Texas’ labor in pursuit of a commitment from Hale could be paying off soon. Texas just made it through the latest round of finalist cuts from Hale, which he announced on the night of July 7. The other two finalist schools for Hale are the Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs.

Texas football the favorite for 4-Star WR Jalen Hale ahead of a likely fall commitment?

It was pretty surprising to see Hale cut the Texas A&M Aggies from his top group of schools this week. Texas A&M was figured to be one of the frontrunners in the race to land a commitment from Hale earlier this summer.

Hale’s connection with his former teammate and Texas A&M quarterback Haynes King was figured to keep the Aggies alive in this competition heading into the fall.

But Texas will now have to duke it out with some goliaths on the recruiting trail in Alabama and Georgia for the rest of the summer. And with an early fall decision set to come from Hale, Texas will need to stave off any push that comes from Alabama and Georgia in the next couple of months.

On paper, it looks as if Texas would be considered the favorite at the moment to land Hale. Texas hosted the most recent official visit for Hale last month, and it was a success by all accounts in the last few weeks. Georgia did host Hale for an official visit back on the weekend of June 3.

Alabama has yet to even get Hale to campus for an official visit up to this point. That could change, though.

Plenty of events have transpired on the recruiting trail that helped to swing the pendulum in Texas’ favor over Georgia since June 3. Texas landing Arch clearly moved the needle for a number of top wide receiver recruits, including Hale.

Given the likelihood that Texas misses out on the local four-star wide receiver Jaden Greathouse to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, there also looks to be one more spot in the 2023 class for an outside receiver. Texas also missed on four-star Langham Creek wide receiver Jaquaize Pettaway to the Oklahoma Sooners earlier this week, meaning that Hale has become a higher priority for this staff.

There are plenty of reasons to believe that Texas is the favorite for Hale heading into a likely fall decision that could come as soon as early September. But Hale has remained a wildcard for much of his recruitment to date. And to rule out Alabama and Georgia in this recruitment would be a massive mistake for the Longhorns.

Texas is now up to 18 commits in the 2023 class, three of which are wide receivers. The three wide receivers committed in the Longhorns 2023 class at the moment are five-star Johntay Cook, four-star Ryan Niblett, and four-star Jonah Wilson.