The Texas Longhorns are chasing a couple of big fish in the 2026 recruiting pool as they look to recreate their elite tackle combination of Kelvin Banks and Cameron Williams in future years. Felix Ojo is trending toward being their huge five-star haul, and now, Malakai Lee could be sliding Texas higher on his list.

Going after Hawaii's second-best prospect, four-star tackle Lee, is a bit of a heat check for Sarkisian and the Longhorns. The 6-foot-7, 320-pounder came to Austin for the first time last weekend and shared a bevy of interesting tidbits about how he fits into the culture.

“It was great,” Lee said. “I got to hang out with the players. It was my first time in Austin, so just being able to go out into the community and see what life could be like for the next three to four years if I commit here — that was big for me. I also got to meet with all the coaches.”

Just outside the top 100 prospect list at No. 119 overall, Lee showed a ton of maturity and an understanding of what he needed to see from Texas to feel comfortable with such a large move.

“It was my first time ever meeting Coach Sark in person, and seeing Coach Flood outside of back home,” Lee said. “He has so many accolades and has developed a lot of guys for the next level. That’s really important to me.”

The 10th-ranked tackle in the class is also considering Michigan, Alabama, and Georgia. He was in Austin on June 6, following his trip to Alabama, and before his journey to Michigan.

“At the end of the day, I want to take all my trips before deciding,” he said. “I’ll probably make my commitment sometime after June.”

He's previously been quite complimentary of Michigan and Alabama, but hasn't made many statements about Georgia and Texas. Industry experts thought he was headed to USC, but the Trojans fell off his final list, so something changed in the race.

Since then, Michigan has picked up a crystal ball prediction, but Texas seemed to deliver a home run visit. It doesn't hurt that Texas was the first team to offer him a scholarship.

“They were the first program that believed in me,” he said. “That’s something I’ll never forget, so I knew I had to make it out here and experience it for myself…I’m keeping an open mind with every visit, but Texas definitely helped itself this weekend.”

Here is 247Sports' scouting report on Lee:

From a traits standpoint, offensive linemen don’t come much better looking than Lee. He’s all of 6-6, 325 pounds with verified 36” arms and an 85”+ wingspan. He’s a fluid mover as well and has the feet, balance and frame to project as a tackle and could line up on either side, right or left in college. He plays a little hoops as well and checks off the multi-sport box for us. He uses his length well and has the ability to slide and mirror opposing edge rushers. He has added some physicality in the run game over the last year. He’s putting guys on their backs more but playing with a more aggressive edge to him is an area we think Lee can still improve on. Saying that, he’s an easy high Power 4 prospect and if he hits his ceiling, he will be playing football for a very long time.