Texas Football: Assessing 5 biggest spring game visitors for Longhorns

Not only is this weekend big for head coach Steve Sarkisian and Texas football because of the spring game, but it also will be crucial due to the impact it has on the recruiting trail. Texas is set to host more than a dozen visiting recruits from the 2024, 2025, and 2026 classes during the spring game festivities this weekend.

This is probably going to wind up being one of the two biggest weekends of the spring on the recruiting trail for Sark and the Longhorns staff. Between the spring game visit weekend and Junior Day (March 25), Texas got some key opportunities to build relationships and momentum on the recruiting trail before the primetime of recruiting season hits in the summer and fall.

The list of weekend visitors for the Longhorns during the Orange-White spring football game at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on April 15 is a good mix of commits and uncommitted priority targets in the next two recruiting classes. There are also multiple blue-chip priority targets on the recruiting trail that the Longhorns are hosting on campus this weekend.

5-Star RB Jerrick Gibson and the most important Texas football visitors for the spring game weekend

With all of this in mind, here’s a look at a breakdown of the five most important visitors for Texas during the spring game on April 15.

Tiger Riden, RB

The running back position will come into focus during this big recruiting weekend on the Forty Acres. Running backs coach Tashard Choice and the Longhorns are hosting two of the top running back targets on the recruiting trail in the next two classes.

Among the top running back targets that will be on campus for the spring game this weekend is the touted 2025 four-star DeSoto (TX) product Tiger Riden. The 5-foot-10 and 195-pound Riden has blown up on the recruiting trail early this offseason, receiving offers from the Michigan Wolverines, Mizzou Tigers, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oklahoma State Cowboys, and Texas since the turn of the calendar year.

This weekend will be the first unofficial trip Riden makes to the Forty Acres since Texas offered him a couple of months ago. And it sounds like there is a ton of anticipation building for this visit for both Riden and Choice.

A report from Justin Wells of Inside Texas on April 14 (paid content) states that this “upcoming Austin trip is what Riden has been waiting for”. This is a highly-anticipated visit for Riden despite making multiple trips to see the Texas A&M Aggies and SMU Mustangs since last spring. He’s also made trips to see the USC Trojans and the TCU Horned Frogs in the last two offseasons.

This is a big opportunity for Choice and the Longhorns to make a strong impression with one of the top budding running back priorities in the 2025 class.