On the early signing day for high school football athletes, head coach Steve Sarkisian signed 23 newcomers to the 2024 recruiting class. The class includes 21 high school athletes and two transfers.
The signing class is ranked No. 5 in the nation by 247Sports and features four five-star players. Early signing day takes place in December and allows athletes to sign their national letters of intent and enroll at their respective universities starting in the spring semester.
Sarkisian said that he had certain positions that he wanted to address, including wide receiver and defensive back. Texas added four wide receivers and six defensive backs.
“I thought our staff did a heck of a job of few things here with this class,” Sarkisian said. “For one, recognizing the needs that we had on the team – some immediate needs and some long term needs predicated on where our depth issues might have been.”
To address some of the immediate needs, Sarkisian and his staff utilized the transfer portal, something that he has strayed away from using to recruit new players. Sarkisian signed Andrew Mukuba, a junior defensive back from Clemson, and Matthew Golden, a sophomore wide receiver from Houston.
Mukuba is originally from Austin and his former high school coach, Jahmal Fenner, now works as the Director of High School Relations for Texas football. In his three years at Clemson, Mukuba recorded 142 tackles. Golden caught six touchdown passes this year at Houston, including two against Texas.
While Mukuba and Golden are set to be impact players from the transfer portal, Sarkisian said that he tries to primarily recruit out of high school so the older players on the team can help immerse new players in the team’s culture from day one.
“I think that we have created a culture here of one that we have a lot of pride in,” Sarkisian said. “I know the veteran leaders on our team have a lot of pride in (it) and now with that influx of young players, they can help educate them on what it means to be a Longhorn. When you start bringing in a lot of transfers at that top level positions, now you’re really trying to recreate that culture.”
To start buliding on the team’s culture as soon as possible, 19 of the 23 players will enroll at the University of Texas early starting in January. When the spring semester starts on Jan. 16, those players will start practicing with the team.
Sarkisian spoke about the benefits of the early signees being able to enroll early and how it helps the team improve in the spring.
“They’re immediately immersed into our locker room and into our culture,” Sarkisian said. “Getting them acclimated to college life is a big job on us, one that we’re going to have to take on, but I think it’s great for us.”
Sarkisian knows how big of a deal it is for his recruits to sign to play at the University of Texas, and to celebrate their communities, the recruiting staff put up billboards in each player’s hometown.
“We put those billboards up to celebrate them in their hometowns,” Sarkisian said. “All of these kids, when they grown up, the whole community raises them. To celebrate them and their communities is a heck of an honor, that not just that young man is getting, but everyone in that community that put in a lot of work and time and effort.”
The signees that will enroll in the spring are offensive lineman Brandon Baker, defensive back Kobe Black, running back Christian Clark, offensive lineman Daniel Cruz, wide receiver Freddie Dubose, defensive back Xavier Filsaime, running back Jerrick Gibson, wide receiver Matthew Golden, defensive lineman Alex January, defensive back Jordon Johnson-Rubell, wide receiver Parker Livingstone, defensive back Wardell Mack, defensive back Andrew Mukuba, quarterback Trey Owens, defensive lineman D’antre Robinson, edge Colin Simmons, edge Zina Umeozulu, tight end Jordan Washington and wide receiver Ryan Wingo.
The four players who will join Texas following the spring semester are defensive lineman Melvin Hills III, punter and kicker Michael Kern, offensive lineman Nate Kibble and defensive back Santana Wilson.
