Texas Football: Predicting Longhorns’ first 2024 commit of the spring
Jerrick Gibson, RB
One of the priority skill position recruits for the Longhorns in the 2024 class that this staff has the most momentum with on the trail this spring is the elite five-star IMG Academy running back Jerrick Gibson. The nation’s No. 1 ranked running back recruit in the 2024 class has a fantastic relationship with second-year Texas running backs coach Tashard Choice.
Choice and the Longhorns really knocked it out of the park when they hosted Gibson for the first Junior Day of the offseason back on the weekend of Jan. 21. Texas made a great impression on Gibson and his camp during that unofficial trip to Austin a couple of months ago.
Gibson really buys into the pitch that Sark, Choice, and the Longhorns are giving him as the future star in this backfield after the likes of Bijan Robinson, Cedric Baxter Jr., etc.
The job that Choice has done in his time at Texas recruiting and developing talent at the running back position definitely speaks for itself. He’s helped to develop the likes of Bijan and senior Texas running back Roschon Johnson, who both will likely be top three or four-round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. Bijan should definitely be a first-rounder.
Choice also reeled in the nation’s top running back recruit in the 2023 class in the Orlando Edgewater product Baxter. He’s proven he can recruit the state of Florida, which just happens to be where Gibson is from.
Texas will try to continue to build the momentum on the recruiting trail with Gibson ahead of his June 24 official visit to Austin. And given that it sounds like Gibson is likely going to make an unofficial trip to Austin during spring camp, Texas will have more than enough opportunities to continue to make the right impression on the elite Florida running back.
In terms of the timeline that is expected for Gibson’s decision, it could be the fall before we know his collegiate destination. A report from BamaInsider on March 3 (paid content) notes that Gibson isn’t likely to make a decision until during or after the 2023 season.