Texas must cling to Easton Royal with even more ferocity after Monshun Sales chooses Indiana

Well, despite all of the hype around the Texas Longhorns entering the conversation around Monshun Sales' recruitment, the five-star wide receiver committed to the Indiana Hoosiers, his home-state team.

Sales chose the Hoosiers over the Longhorns, the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Alabama Crimson Tide, and a slew of other powerhouse programs that had sent an offer his way. As the No. 18 prospect in the class, he became the highest-ranked player to ever commit to Indiana out of high school.

"Coach Cignetti has built a winning program, and I can’t wait to be a part of it," Sales said, undoubtedly referencing Indiana's National Championship victory last season.

However, it isn't back to square one for Texas and head coach Steve Sarkisian. The Longhorns already laid claim to five-star wideout Easton Royal, the only receiver ranked ahead of Sales in the national recruiting rankings.

Yet, with Sales no longer a viable option as a WR2 for Texas's depth chart, the Horns have to guarantee that Royal isn't about to head out the door to commit to another team as well.

Steve Sarkisian can't afford to lose to Lane Kiffin

Over the last few months, the rumor mill has churned out one story after another about Royal's various official visits to teams other than the Longhorns, including two extremely publicized trips to see what the Florida Gators and the LSU Tigers had to offer.

Of course, recruiting heavyweight Lane Kiffin took over the LSU football program earlier this year, leaving the Ole Miss Rebels for the Tigers.

Sarkisian has gone toe-to-toe with him over the years, but the job of outrecruiting Kiffin became significantly more difficult when he took over at LSU because of just how much the Tigers' NIL and recruiting warchest has to offer a head coach.

Obviously, Texas has the advantage of already holding Royal's commitment, but with increasing frequency in this day and age of college football, commitments mean less and less.

Were Royal to flip his commitment to LSU, the Horns would be down a five-star prospect, but would also be without a true offensive star in their recruiting class of 2027. Right now, Royal is Texas's second-highest-rated prospect in the class, only trailing five-star cornerback John Meredith III.

Also read: Another hurdle emerges for Texas as Landen Williams-Callis sets commitment date

Royal is the highest-rated offensive player in the group, ranked ahead of five-star interior offensive lineman Ismael Camara.

He is also just one of three wide receivers currently committed to the Horns, alongside four-star wideout Briceson Thrower and three-star receiver Kyron Brown. Texas does have two tight ends in the class: four-star Brock Williams and three-star JT Geraci, but they would come far from making up for Royal's absence if he left for the Tigers.

Simply put, after missing out on Sales, Sarkisian and the Longhorns have to hold onto Royal with everything they've got, or suddenly, their top-five recruiting class could take a massive hit in more than just the national rankings.

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