Texas football has reached out to UGA transfer DL Bear Alexander

The best player available right now in the NCAA Transfer Portal that entered during the spring window (which opened on April 15) is someone that the Texas football program has apparently made contact with already. Former Georgia Bulldogs standout freshman defensive lineman and Texas native Bear Alexander is a transfer that just about every school in the country would love to have on its roster heading into the 2023 season.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian, defensive line coach Bo Davis, and the Longhorns would obviously love to have the talent and depth added to the trenches if Alexander were fully sold on coming to Texas.

But there are other question marks concerning his status in the portal in terms of why he entered in the first place and if the USC Trojans will be his preferred destination this spring. I will say that it doesn’t look like Georgia head coach Kirby Smart and his staff are welcoming Alexander back to Athens if he hypothetically wanted to withdraw his name from the portal later this offseason.

So, that at least tells us that he more than likely won’t be returning to Georgia ahead of the 2023 season.

To answer the second question, it looks like USC could still be the top school in this portal recruitment for Alexander at the moment. The only school that has scheduled a visit as of the writing of this article on the afternoon of April 20 is USC.

Texas football has reached out to Georgia transfer DL Bear Alexander

Alexander is “expected to visit USC this weekend”.

Where does this leave Texas in the whole conversation of the schools that Alexander is considering as he makes his transfer decision this spring?

It sounds like Texas has at least made initial contact with Alexander. A report from On3’s Matt Zenitz on April 20 confirms that Texas is one of the 16 schools (at the very least) that have at least reached out to Alexander since he entered the portal last weekend.

Some of the other schools included in this list among those that have reached out to Alexander are the Oklahoma Sooners, Oregon Ducks, Texas Tech Red Raiders, Colorado Buffaloes, Florida Gators, Nebraska Cornhuskers, and Miami Hurricanes.

Head coach Lincoln Riley and the Trojans have also obviously made contact with Alexander in the last few days.

All in all, I’m not very surprised that Texas at least made contact with Alexander. He’s got connections with multiple players and coaches in this program. Sark, Davis, and the Longhorns heavily recruited Alexander as a recruit out of high school in the 2022 class.

https://twitter.com/thegoatanthony1/status/1647331378327871490

And Alexander played with key Texas players such as true freshman linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. during his brief stint a few years ago at Denton-Ryan High School. Hill’s quote tweet in response to the news that Alexander entered the portal on April 15 was liked by the former Georgia DL.

At the moment, I would still consider USC the heavy favorite in this portal recruitment. USC was considered the favorite to land Alexander’s commitment out of the portal almost from the moment his name originally surfaced on the transfer market last weekend.

I still believe that Alexander could entertain the idea of visiting Austin before making a decision out of the portal this spring. But that would probably amount to a situation in the portal similar to what Texas had last offseason in star wide receiver Jordan Addison, who eventually wound up at USC, where he was presumed to land all along after transferring from Pitt.