Texas Longhorns

Two weeks after Demetrius Knox decommitted from Texas, his friend and teammate has followed suit.

Four-star running back Daniel Gresham (Fort Worth, Texas/All Saints) has decommitted from Texas. He’d been committed to the Longhorns since August. Gresham confirmed his decision in a text message.

"It just wasn't the right fit for me," Gresham said. "I have many reasons [for decommitting], but I don't want to get into it."

Gresham, who’d long been considered a package deal with Knox, didn’t decommit simply because the All Saints four-star offensive lineman did. He was unhappy that Texas is working to land a third running back for its top-ranked 2014 recruiting class.

The Longhorns recently offered scholarship to ESPN 150 running back Joe Mixon (Oakley, Calif./Freedom), four-star back Adam Choice (Thomasville, Ga./Thomas County) and Plano (Texas) West standout Auston Anderson.

Texas already has a longtime verbal pledge from Donald Catalon, the Houston Eisenhower back who was one of the first members of the class.

Gresham, the nation’s No. 2 fullback prospect, told HornsNation as recently as last week that he was still solid with Texas.

When he committed to Texas on Aug. 7, Gresham held only one offer. Since then, he’s landed offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida State, Louisville, Miami, Ole Miss, Ohio State and several others.

Ole Miss and Louisville appear to be the early favorites to land him, and Gresham said Florida State, Alabama, Tennessee and Miami are all on his short list now.

The 5-foot-10, 236-pound prospect was recruited to play a variety of roles in the Texas offense -- not just fullback. He’s seeking a school that will give him a chance to be a featured running back.

The loss of Gresham leaves Texas with 13 commits for its 2014 class.

Texas’s No. 1 ranked recruiting class suffered a blow on Monday when Demetrius Knox decided to decommit from the Longhorns.

The Fort Worth (Texas) All Saints offensive guard had been committed to Texas since November but took unofficial visits to Oklahoma and Ohio State this spring. All Saints teammate and Texas commit Daniel Gresham confirmed Knox’s decision.

The news of Knox’s decommitment is hardly a surprise considering how his recruitment has played out since that Nov. 26 pledge. Though Knox considered himself one of the leaders of the Longhorns’ 2014 class, the Columbus, Ohio, native had expressed interest in taking visits to out-of-state schools on multiple occasions this spring.

The biggest reason for Knox’s decision to pick Texas was the fact Gresham was also committed to the Longhorns. The two plan to play together in college, and at the time of his commitment last August, Texas was the only school to offer Gresham.

Knox, a 6-foot-4, 296-pound lineman, said in an interview a month ago that he was still solid with UT and had developed a great relationship with the coaching staff. Still, he knew the fan base was beginning to expect that he could back out of his pledge.

“Everybody feels threatened that they're going to have another big-name decommit,” Knox said at the time. “That's understandable. But if I was going to do it, I would've done it by now."

Before committing, Knox also considered Ohio State, TCU and Alabama. He's also shown some interest in visiting UCLA and other schools on the West and East Coast.

Despite Knox’s decision and the fact they’re a package deal, Gresham said he has not decommitted from Texas.

“With all due respect, I’m my own person,” he said. “Demetrius felt like it was the best choice for him.”

AUSTIN, Texas -- In the wake of five deommitments in the class of 2013, with one coming so close to signing day, Texas coach Mack Brown sent a with-us-or-against-us message to recruits.

He will also send the same message to the parents at Sunday's junior day.

"We're going to explain the rules to the families very carefully," Brown said. "I know that we're going to ask the families not to commit to us if there's any chance that they might want to go somewhere else and visit because we think it's not best for them, it's not best for us."

Those Texas recruiting rules, which were suspended for a few years, have also been explained to the coaching staff.

"What I've talked to our coaches about is you have to do a better job of making sure you trust the parents and that you don't talk one into coming," Brown said. "If he decides to come now, if you get a commitment, it better be because he's wanting to come, not because you recruited him and talked him into it."

That doesn’t mean there will not be exceptions.

"For me to sit here and say in every case it's going to happen while I'm coaching in the future, you lock me into it, you say, 'He lied,' I'm not going to do that," Brown said.

But, by and large, in the future, if a player is committed to Texas, the Longhorns staff will advise that player if he starts looking elsewhere, Texas will do the same.

"If you start looking, to me you're looking for something different than you've got," Brown said. "I'm going to look for something different than I've got."

Texas already has seven commitments for its junior class. Two of those, teammates Demetrius Knox and Daniel Gresham (Fort Worth, Texas/All Saints), attended other schools' junior days last weekend (Knox went to OU while Gresham went to Ole Miss). Both remain committed to Texas.

To further avoid situations, Brown has made more of an effort to be a part of the recruiting scene. He has already visited most of the high school programs where Texas has a 2014 prospect.

"I like to go to the school, see the coach." Brown said. "The other thing is that if you get a commitment, you'd like for the high school coach to help you keep it. We're going to make sure the high school coach buys into the commitment as well. I need to see those guys, shake their hand, tell them we're not backing out on kids."

That is as long as the recruit does not step out on Texas.