Texas Football: 5 key recruits impressed by spring Junior Day

A very busy weekend on the Forty Acres included a big stretch of days for Texas football on the recruiting trail. For the second time this offseason, Texas and head coach Steve Sarkisian hosted a few dozen visiting recruits in Austin for Junior Day.

Most of the Junior Day festivities for the Longhorns this weekend took place on March 25, in the midst of one of the spring practices this week for the team. The first Junior Day of the offseason took place on the weekend of Jan. 21 and saw more than 25 blue-chip recruits in the next few recruiting classes make it to Austin for the festivities.

The staple event for Junior Day this weekend was the Texas Cookout, where the recruits that visited Austin got to get some good food while witnessing a spring practice for the Longhorns on Saturday.

And from the early feedback we’ve heard coming out of the weekend, the Texas coaches and staffers did a fantastic job of putting this event together and connecting with the visiting recruits.

Key recruits Texas football impressed during the Junior Day spring cookout/practice

With all of this in mind, here’s a look at five key recruits that were impressed by Texas’ Junior Day this weekend.

https://twitter.com/MakaiSaina/status/1639748595736879106

Makai Saina, OL

Texas and offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Kyle Flood seemingly found their newest target in the trenches in the 2024 class this weekend at Junior Day.

Flood and the Longhorns handed an offer out to the fast-rising three-star Arlington Martin interior offensive lineman Makai Saina as he made his first unofficial trip to Austin this weekend. Texas reportedly made “real progress” (per Inside Texas) with Saina as he and his family could be looking to make a return visit to the Forty Acres for an official trip this summer.

It sounds like June could be the target month for the next trip for Saina to Austin officially.

Saina is a hot commodity on the recruiting trail in the state of Texas right now. Over the weekend alone, he picked up three offers, which also came from the Texas State Bobcats and Wisconsin Badgers.

The Texas A&M Aggies, TCU Horned Frogs, and Texas are three schools to watch in this recruitment that is still very much in its early stages. TCU was one of the first schools to offer Saina last spring and Texas A&M was the first school that he visited unofficially last summer.