Texas Football: Predicting Longhorns first portal commitment this month

Andrew Mukuba, S

Texas’s top defensive back priority in the portal early in the December window is the former Clemson Tigers junior safety and All-ACC Honorable Mention Andrew Mukuba. The No. 1 rated safety in the portal in the 247Sports Composite is visiting Texas among four other schools this week.

Mukuba is also set to visit the Ole Miss Rebels, Oregon Ducks, Oklahoma Sooners, and USC Trojans before he sees Texas. It sounds like Mukuba’s visit to Austin will likely be this coming weekend.

Texas was considered the early favorite to get Mukuba’s commitment out of the portal once he first entered last week. He’s got longstanding relationships with multiple people on Texas’s staff, namely the Longhorns’ director of high school relations, Jahmal Fenner. Fenner was Mukuba’s head coach at Austin (TX) LBJ High School a few years ago.

Special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Jeff Banks was also Mukuba’s primary recruiter when he was on staff with the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The two schools that are reportedly expected to be the biggest contenders to get Mukuba’s commitment out of the portal are Texas and Oregon. Texas makes the most sense from the perspective of relationships, proximity to home, and immediate playing time at a position of need.

But Oregon has plenty of momentum on the trail right now with high school and portal recruiting. Oregon just hosted No. 1 ranked player in the transfer portal in the 247Sports Composite, former Texas A&M Aggies sophomore defensive lineman Walter Nolen, for a visit to Eugene late last week.