Texas Longhorns News: AD Mitchell to enroll today, football gets new hire

A busy time on the Forty Acres continued over the weekend for multiple Texas Longhorns athletic programs, namely football and hoops. Texas hosted a few dozen football recruits over the weekend for the Junior Day festivities.

The early returns from Texas’ Junior Day are really impressive given the quantity and quality of the visiting recruits that the Longhorns hosted on Jan. 21.

Speaking of recruiting and additions to the football program, it’s important to note that the former Georgia Bulldogs sophomore transfer wide receiver AD Mitchell is expected to officially begin his enrollment at Texas on Jan. 23, per a report from Bobby Burton of Inside Texas.

Mitchell is the portal addition for the Longhorns that grabbed the most headlines recently. He was an impressive get for head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns staff given that he was a very prominent part of the Georgia receiving corps that helped the Dawgs win back-to-back National Championships.

Texas now has four portal commits in the 2023 class after adding Mitchell last weekend. I also don’t know how many more portal pickups the Longhorns will be seeking out since Mitchell fills another positional need ahead of spring ball.

Moreover, Texas also had a big development in the football staff coming out of the weekend. Former LBJ head football coach Jahmal Fenner was reportedly hired to replace Chris Gilbert as Texas’ next director of high school relations. Fenner is an Austin-area coach that has a lot of connections around the state capital and in central and south Texas in general.

The director of high school relations position originally opened up when Gilbert was hired away by the North Texas Mean Green as its associate head coach/tight ends coach a few weeks ago.

Fenner is a significant hire for Texas, and it fills one of the most notable vacancies that Sark had on his staff early this offseason.

Other Texas Longhorns news on Jan. 23

• Texas women’s and men’s hoops were both in action over the weekend, producing some positive results.

https://twitter.com/TexasMBB/status/1616969388443275270

• The men’s hoops team got a big road win on Jan. 21 in Morgantown over the West Virginia Mountaineers by the final score of 69-61. Next up for this squad is a matchup at home at the friendly confines of the Moody Center on Jan. 24 against the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

https://twitter.com/TexasWBB/status/1617312807934128128

• The women’s hoops team got back to its winning ways with a solid 68-55 triumph on the road in Waco over No. 24 Baylor on Jan. 22. Texas has now won three of its last four as two important home games loom large on this week’s slate against the Oklahoma schools.

• There are still two former Longhorns alive in the NFL playoffs that contributed to their respective teams’ wins last weekend. Charles Omenihu had one QB pressure in the San Francisco 49ers’ 19-12 win over the Dallas Cowboys. And Joseph Ossai was sensational for the Cincinnati Bengals in their win over the Buffalo Bills with a couple of QB pressures and one pass deflection.

https://twitter.com/TexasLonghorns/status/1617321568417480704

• Men’s and women’s tennis were both in action over the weekend. No. 1 ranked women’s tennis swept Tulane and No. 7 men’s tennis beat No. 12 Georgia four sets to three.

News around the Big 12

• The Big 12 is in the spotlight right now in the NFL playoffs. Three of the four remaining quarterbacks (Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, San Francisco’s Brock Purdy, and Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts) played for Big 12 schools.

• Texas moves down a few spots in this week’s AP Poll to No. 10. The biggest breakthrough among the Big 12 teams is the No. 4 Kansas State Wildcats after a big week on the hardwood, including a win over the No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks.

• There is some real smoke surrounding the TCU Horned Frogs and the former Florida Gators five-star quarterback commit Jaden Rashada. He was reportedly released from his letter of intent at Florida after a NIL debacle that took place throughout the last few weeks.

What we’re interested in around FanSided

• Even with an injured Mahomes, what can the Chiefs do to succeed in the postseason?

• Dak Prescott is under the microscope again after another Cowboys’ loss in the playoffs with him under center.