5-Star A&M DL commit David Hicks says Texas football ‘has a shot’

A position of focus in the 2023 Texas football recruiting class a little more than one month ahead of signing day is the defensive line. Texas and defensive line coach Bo Davis are trying to juice up the 2023 class with numbers and talent before the Early Signing Period arrives.

And there’s no bigger target for the Longhorns 2023 class this fall at the position, at least in terms of national ranking and pure talent, than the elite five-star Katy Paetow defensive lineman David Hicks. The recent Texas A&M Aggies commit appears to be keeping some of his options open this fall.

Despite his commitment to Texas A&M in late September, it looks like Hicks remains in contact with multiple schools including the Oklahoma Sooners, Oregon Ducks, and Texas.

Granted, this doesn’t really come as a shock as Davis and the Longhorns were always going to recruit Hicks through the whistle. You just don’t let a top-10-ranked high school prospect nationally that plays football close to Austin go without a fight.

Thus, Texas is going to continue to push to flip the commitment of Hicks until pen is put to paper on signing day.

And it looks like Texas has a slight chance to make some headway in the recruitment of Hicks in the next couple of weeks.

According to a report from Gerry Hamilton of Inside Texas on Nov. 4 (paid content), Texas “remains in contact” with Hicks. Texas also reportedly “has a shot” to get Hicks to campus for a visit in the next month or so. Hicks mentioned Texas and Oregon visits as a “maybe” in this report.

Texas football trying to make a move with 5-Star Texas A&M DL commit David Hicks this fall

It is worth mentioning that the Texas staff is trying to get Hicks to town for a visit on the weekend of Nov. 12 when the Longhorns host the TCU Horned Frogs in Austin.

But Hicks hasn’t locked in any visit dates yet with Texas.

It sounds like the lone visit that Hicks is likely down for at the moment is a Nov. 19 trip to Norman to see Oklahoma face the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Bedlam.

Nonetheless, if Texas can get a visit on the books with Hicks, that is the next step that this staff must take in order to make a move in this recruitment ahead of signing day.

I will say that Texas is fighting the odds in this recruitment at this point. But it’s worth recruiting someone like Hicks until the very end no matter what. Something can still change in this recruitment. And if he’s considering a Texas visit, that does mean the Longhorns are still alive among the competing schools to flip Hicks’ pledge from the Aggies.

Hicks is one of the top defensive line targets for the Longhorns 2023 class this fall. Some other names to watch on the big board along the defensive line for Davis and the Longhorns in the 2023 class are the highly touted four-star Garland Naaman Forest product Markis Deal and three-star West Virginia commit Justin Benton.