Things are moving in a very positive direction between Texas and receiver Ra'Shaad Samples (Dallas/Skyline).
The 5-foot-11, 170-pound receiver was one of two receivers to attend Texas’ first junior day. And like Jake Oliver (Dallas/Jesuit), he headed back to the Metroplex with a scholarship offer.
“I liked it a lot. Everything was nice,” Samples said. “I like the way Coach [Darrell] Wyatt told me they were going to use me and plan on opening things up a little bit. It was probably one of my favorite [visits] so far.”
Samples said that while Wyatt hears chatter about Samples’ potential limitations in college, Wyatt sees it differently.
“[Wyatt] told me that he sees some guys say I would be an inside receiver,” Samples said. “But he said I could be an inside guy, an outside guy, I could help in the return game.”
Samples drove to Austin with his sister and brother-in-law, and said he wanted to talk things over with his parents first before making any kind of decision. His father, Reginald Samples, is his high school coach.
“The coaches actually told me they wanted me to talk it over with my parents first and that they weren’t in a rush,” Samples said. “They know that Texas is one of my favorites and that I am going to talk with my parents. I’ll give them a call this week and let them know something.”
The Sampleses will surely talk about the positives and negatives of the 20-plus schools that have offered him after his monstrous junior campaign. He led a very talented Skyline team, one that featured Texas A&M commitment Thomas Johnson, in receptions (65), yards (1,396) and touchdowns (19).
That production made has programs from around the country holding Samples in high regard. Entering the weekend, Samples already had offers from Cal, UCLA, Colorado State, Colorado, Tulsa, Texas A&M, Houston, Mississippi State, Kansas, Kansas State, Purdue, SMU, Texas Tech, Arizona, Ole Miss and Notre Dame.
Samples attended a TCU junior day on Saturday and picked up an offer from the Horned Frogs as well.
He was also finalizing plans to attend Alabama’s junior day on Feb. 18 and was planning on attending Texas Tech’s junior day on Feb. 25. But those trips are in doubt now after his visit to Texas.
“I don’t know if I am going to attend those or not,” he said. “I really liked [Texas’] campus, the coaches, the athletic facilities, the tutors, the academics. I liked everything. Everything was just a knockout.”