With the commitment of former Houston Cougars sophomore wide receiver Matthew Golden on December 16, Texas football began their NCAA Transfer Portal class this past weekend. One of Texas’ two visitors among the transfer targets on campus last weekend, Golden, gave the Longhorns a portal commitment.
The former Clemson Tigers junior safety Andrew Mukuba and the redshirt sophomore edge rusher Trey Moore of the UTSA Roadrunners are two additional portal targets that head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns have welcomed for visits over the past two weekends. Last weekend, Mukuba made an official visit to Texas.
And on the weekend of December 9, Moore traveled the short distance from San Antonio to Austin for his visitation to Texas.
Texas is ranked among the top universities by Mukuba and Moore in their separate portal recruitments. In fact, there’s a compelling argument to be made that Texas is the best choice available in the portal for Moore and Mukuba.
Prior to the visit last weekend, Texas was regarded as the front-runner in the competition for Mukuba’s commitment in the portal. Based on the information we’ve gathered over the past several days, Texas is still in an excellent position to sign Mukuba this week.
Prior to his visit to Texas a few weekends ago, Moore’s portal recruiting process saw the Longhorns as an early favorite as well. Moore still had visits with the Ohio State Buckeyes and Alabama Crimson Tide slated for the upcoming week, which has given Texas some competition in this gateway recruiting recently.
However, preliminary findings from Moore’s trip to Alabama last week suggest Texas is still in a strong position to win his pledge.
A little more than a week after Moore’s visit to Austin ended, Orangebloods reported on December 18 (subscription content) that Texas is “confident” in its stance with Moore.
In the EDGE position on the portal, Moore is Texas’s top priority. Pete Kwiatkowski, the co-DC/LB coach, believes he might have an immediate effect in this position, and the Longhorns plan to upgrade through the transfer portal in 2024.
With Moore’s productivity and track record of success, there won’t be many better edge rushers in this portal cycle. Moore is a tremendous disruptor at outside linebacker/EDGE and a top-tier pass rusher.
This season, Moore received the AAC Defensive Player of the Year award and led the American Athletic Conference in sacks (14) as well.
Texas’s main rival to remove Moore from the gateway before the offseason is upon us is still Alabama. However, the most recent data suggests that Texas continues to lead in this portal recruitment.
