Longhorns Loading Up; Agiye Hall and Jahleel Billingsley Transfer to Texas

(Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images)

As wide open as the college landscape is for recruiting, with the new transfer portal, the movement is more erratic than ever. In a calendar year, we've seen college freshmen at two different schools and we've seen coaches recruit players for another school while still at a school. Now that everyone has seen the good and the bad of the transfer portal, teams are not beginning to take full advantage of it and Texas has benefited greatly. 

In 2021, Steve Sarkisian began his first season as Head Coach of the Longhorns where he led them to an unimpressive 5-7 record. With the perpetual turmoil that the Texas program has faced over the last 10 years, fans expected the offensive mastermind to bring a taste of Bama with him and win immediately. However, building a program like Texas would prove to have more challenges than expected, specifically in recruiting. Because of the concentration of schools in Texas and its proximity to many major SEC powerhouses, Texas has struggled to bring in the best talent and to even compete for its conference. Since 2009, Texas has only had one season of 10 wins or more.

With the shortage of consistent talent and no recruiting grasp on their state, schools like Texas A&M have surpassed them for the most recent success. Now, Coach Sarkisian is looking to change that. Spending some time at Alabama, Sarkisian was around for the recruitment of Tight End Jahleel Billingsley and Agiye Hall, who are both now a part of the Texas Longhorn program. 

Both Billingsley and Hall both entered the portal this calendar year and we're both a part of the 2021 season, where they faced struggles within the program. Saban spoke about both guys at different points in the season regarding their commitment to the program. Billingsley was one of the top playmakers at the tight end position in 2021, but he could not rise to the occasion in the National Championship where he had multiple drops and ultimately failed the team.

In a similar case with Hall, he was known to have several run-ins with Nick Saban, where he was not being an asset to the team and disregarding team policies like tweeting about the program negatively. Billingsley entered the portal in January and Hall entered in April.

Despite leaving the Alabama program, both guys will be expected to be big contributors to the Texas program. They will be two of the best prospects on the team and will surely have a chance to start day 1. Bama will more than likely lead recruiting rankings again and with Texas bringing in former 4 and 5-star guys, they are looking to ease their way into the conversation for the top program in the nation. Unironically, Texas and Alabama will face off in the second game of the season and Texas is expected to move into the SEC prior to the 2025 season.

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-By: LeMarkus Bailey