5-Star S Derek Williams locked in with Texas football, despite LSU rumors

The fortunes for head coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff building out the 2023 Texas football recruiting class seem to be continually rising this summer. Texas is having a dream summer run on the recruiting trail for the 2023 class, especially after landing a commitment from the elite five-star Isidore Newman quarterback Arch Manning.

But Arch is not the only five-star commit in the mix for the Longhorns 2023 class worth discussing this summer. Texas has also landed commitments from another trio of five-star commits in the 2023 class including Westgate (LA) safety Derek Williams, South Oak Cliff cornerback Malik Muhammad, and DeSoto wide receiver Johntay Cook.

And more could be on the way in terms of five-star commits joining the Longhorns 2023 class in the next couple of months.

There was one recent Texas commit, though, among these five-star recruits that had some buzz come about this week concerning another big-time program pushing for him. The Louisiana native defensive back Williams was trending on social media earlier this week thanks to the hashtag “BringDerekBackHome” on Twitter.

This was in reference to a few LSU Tigers commits and players trying to recruit Williams back to his home state of Louisiana, despite his commitment to the Longhorns that was announced last month.

5-Star S Derek Williams remains solid with Texas football despite some smoke from LSU players/commits

Some of the recruits/players pushing for Williams to flip his commitment to LSU on social media in the last few days were four-star 2024 Shadow Creek safety Maurice Williams, sophomore wide receiver Chris Hilton Jr., and redshirt senior defensive end Ali Gaye.

And this wasn’t the only Louisiana blue-chip recruit that LSU commits and players were pushing for among 2023 prospects on social media in the last week or so. Five-star offensive tackle Zalance Heard and five-star wide receiver Shelton Sampson Jr. also generated similar buzz on social media this week.

The LSU faithful also obviously got involved in this social media movement too.

So, what is the status of Williams’ commitment to Texas after all this social media buzz in the last few days?

A report from Sam Spiegelman of On3 on July 27 (paid content) states that a source close to Williams “quickly dispelled” any potential rumors connecting him and LSU. This report also notes that Williams remains “locked in” with the Longhorns heading into the fall.

It appears that Williams’ commitment to Texas will remain solid heading into the fall, which is one less thing to worry about for the Longhorns staff. Even though I wouldn’t necessarily say that there was a ton of concern regarding this social media buzz for Williams to flip his commitment to LSU on the Texas side, getting this rumor shot down in a timely matter is a good sign.

Texas currently holds commitments from 20 recruits in the 2023 class following the addition of four-star Dr. Phillips (FL) offensive tackle Payton Kirkland last weekend. Williams is part of a trio of defensive back commits in the Longhorns 2023 class at the moment which also includes Muhammad and four-star Arlington-Seguin safety Jamel Johnson.