Predicting Texas's next commitment after RB Rickey Stewart

Elijah Barnes, LB

The highly touted Dallas (TX) Skyline four-star Elijah "Bo" Barnes and McKinney high-four-star Riley Pettijohn are the clear-cut top two priorities among in-state 2025 linebackers for Texas.

The former of those two in-state linebacker priorities for the Longhorns in the 2025 class, Barnes, is currently on campus for an unofficial visit this weekend. Barnes has a great relationship with Texas co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Pete Kwiatkowski. And he's quickly connected with new Texas co-DC/LB coach Johnny Nansen during his first two unofficial visits to Texas this offseason.

Barnes watched spring practice for the Longhorns during his unofficial visit to campus on April 6.

The blue-chip linebacker recruit from South Dallas included Texas among his top 10 schools that he dropped on social media roughly one month ago. He also included the LSU Tigers, Ohio State Buckeyes, Florida State Seminoles, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Texas A&M Aggies, USC Trojans, SMU, Oregon, and Alabama, among his top 10.

In the next couple of weeks, Barnes will take unoffiical visits to see Texas A&M (April 13) and Oregon (April 20). He's also got an official visit scheduled for April 26-28 to see Nebraska.

Texas remains in a fantastic spot in this recruitment among Barnes' top schools entering the rest of his spring visits. As he continues to build his relationships with PK and Nansen, the Longhorns have made Barnes one of the key in-state recruits for the bigger picture of this 2025 defensive class.