Texas Longhorns

FRISCO, Texas -- Soso Jamabo (Plano, Texas/Plano West) would have liked to be a part of this weekend’s Nike EYBL series playing with the Texas Titans. With a sling on his right shoulder, however, the 2015 two-sport star was reduced to watching the Titans on the bench, offering instruction to teammates and being the team’s biggest supporter.

For the rest of the spring and most of the summer, Jamabo’s focus will be on rehabbing after undergoing shoulder surgery on April 30. Jamabo broke some bones and damaged some ligaments in his shoulder during a Texas Class 5A Division-I state quarterfinal playoff. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound athlete is expected to miss 6-10 weeks but is projected to return a couple of weeks before Plano West’s first scrimmage in August.

“It’s early in the process, but it’s going well,” Jamabo said of the rehab process. “I’m just trying to get the shoulder back to usual, if not better. Right now, I’m just doing basic stuff and keep everything as minimal as possible.”

Exactly what kind of football player will Plano West look to see back on the field? Jamabo’s first rush as a varsity player was against Flower Mound (Texas) Marcus on Aug. 31. It went for 12 yards. His second rush: A 75-yard touchdown run.

Since then, Soso has been ... well ... anything but.

Only the shoulder injury managed to slow the electrifying 2015 running back down. He rushed for a team-leading 1,697 yards and 24 touchdowns and also caught 20 passes for 453 yards -- an average of almost 23 yards per catch -- and four touchdowns. On the basketball court, Jamabo averaged 13.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 11 games.

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ESPN 150 defensive end Solomon Thomas (Coppell, Texas/Coppell) is about as unassuming a high-profile recruit as one will come across.

He doesn’t get tangled up in the vastness of recruiting. He's not one to openly speak of his achievements. He’s also not one to rush a decision as important as his commitment to the college program of his choice.

Go ahead and ask him where he’s going or who he’s favoring and you’ll get an answer you’d swear was stuck on loop.

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Want to know where Solomon Thomas (Coppell, Texas/Coppell) will end up? Good luck with that.

Truth is, the ESPN Watch List defensive end is wide open with his recruiting process -- and by “wide open,” that doesn’t mean, in this case, that he has a favorite but is keeping it under wraps.

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ESPN Watch List safety John Bonney hasn't had a break since football two-a-days started last August, and he likely isn't getting one in the near future.

First, Bonney went through football season and helped his Houston Lamar teammates on a magical 16-week run to the Texas Class 5A Division I state championship game. Then he quickly shifted to the hardwood, where he played basketball for the Redskins. And now, Bonney is busy on the track, sprinting with his teammates -- several of whom also played football with him.

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Quarterback David Cornwell (Jones, Okla./Jones) came out of nowhere to have an exceptional junior season and is now unquestionably one of the top in-state prospects for the Class of 2014.

Problem is, though, neither Oklahoma nor in-state power Oklahoma State have shown much interest. Cornwell camped at OU and had good contact with former OSU quarterbacks coach Todd Monken.

With Monken’s departure to become the Southern Mississippi head coach combined with little interest from OU quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel thus far, right now it looks like one of the state’s best prospects will have to look elsewhere.

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- ESPN Watch List offensive tackle Braden Smith (Olathe, Kan./Olathe) has taken the last few weeks to sit back and relax.

With the dead period in full effect, he was given some time to himself. But now that the contact period is about to get going again and teams are finishing up their bowl schedules, it will pick up again.

"Pretty much it has been going slow," he said. "But I think it is going to pick back up in January after all the bowls and stuff. I will try to take some visits to Texas and Notre Dame, places like that."

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HOUSTON -- The decision to decommit from Texas wasn't an easy one for Belton (Texas) High School tight end Durham Smythe. But for him, it was the right decision.

Now, as the weeks pass and national signing day approaches, Smythe is weighing all the options in front of him. He has plenty, but he's still in the process of trying to decide where he'll take his remaining official visits. After checking in for the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl -- set for Sunday at Reliant Stadium -- on Wednesday, he discussed all that has been going on since he made his decision.

"The week that I decommitted it was pretty crazy because the dead period was about to start at that point, so toward the end of that week, a lot of coaches and a lot of schools tried to get in contact with me to schedule home visits and stuff like that," Smythe said. "Over the dead period I've been in contact with coaches once a week on Facebook and stuff like that. It's been busy and right now I'm just in a period where I'm evaluating things and I'm trying to pick a couple favorites so I can take official visits there and have a base to compare."

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Junior defensive back Jordan Thomas (Klein, Texas/Collins) has lived in Texas his entire life, and he’s looking to experience something new when he goes to college.

“And I hate the weather here,” Thomas said. “I can’t stand it.”

Put two and two together and the Longhorns would have their hands full if they decide to pursue the 6-foot-1, 175 pounder, who doubles as a wide receiver.

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After casting a wide net and considering more than 15 schools across the country, three-star receiver Devon Allen (Phoenix/Brophy Prep) came to a realization. The more he took visits elsewhere, the more he wanted to play closer to home.

It’s no surprise, then, that Allen is down to three schools and all three are in the Pac-12. The two-sport star said he’s now considering UCLA, Stanford and Arizona State.

Allen has canceled his official visit to Texas for next week’s game against West Virginia. While he said the Longhorns aren’t completely out of contention for his pledge, Allen decided his time was better spent taking visits to his top three schools.

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AUSTIN, Texas -- Class of 2014 defensive end Solomon Thomas (Coppell, Texas/Coppell) got exactly what he wanted out of his unofficial visit to Texas for its game against New Mexico on Saturday.

“I went down here to try to have a good time, watch the game and try to get a better connection with the team,” Thomas said. “It worked out that way. I had a heck of a time.”

Thomas, who is one of three junior defensive ends that Texas offered on Aug. 2, was amazed at how comfortable he felt in the midst of all of the game-day activities the Longhorns had to offer, and even more so with the relationships he beileves he’s built with Texas’ coaching staff.

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Add offensive tackle Braden Smith (Olathe, Kan./Olathe South) to the list of 2014 recruits with official offers from Texas.

Olathe South head coach Jeff Gourley told HornsNation on Thursday that his talented prospect, who is already a known commodity throughout the nation, was offered by Longhorns offensive line coach Stacy Searels.

“Talented is a good way to describe him,” Gourley chuckled. “You can’t say enough about him. We heard the stories and then all of a sudden we saw him as a freshman and he was just what we hoped. He’s legit.”

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Since reopening his recruitment last month, four-star offensive guard Caleb Benenoch (Katy, Texas/Seven Lakes) has been enjoying the process on all angles. Part of his fun has been hearing from the already-committed players on a regular basis.

“I hear from Jake Raulerson a lot,” Benenoch said of the Celina, Texas, offensive lineman who has committed to Texas. “We’re pretty good friends and very good competitors. It’d be fun to be teammates with him. I’m probably going to let him know which school I’ll commit to before I announce it.

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