Texas suffers recruiting blow as five-star prospect shockingly leaves SEC country
The Texas Longhorns thought they were in a race with LSU to land one particular southern prospect, but the recruiting world was dealt a stunning jolt this week. Texas was seemingly chasing the Tigers for Baton Rouge five-star safety Blaine Bradford, but his upcoming June visit was promising. Instead, Bradford has committed to Ohio State […]
The Texas Longhorns thought they were in a race with LSU to land one particular southern prospect, but the recruiting world was dealt a stunning jolt this week. Texas was seemingly chasing the Tigers for Baton Rouge five-star safety Blaine Bradford, but his upcoming June visit was promising.
Instead, Bradford has committed to Ohio State over Texas, LSU, and Oregon. It's a shocking moment for the Buckeyes to go into Louisiana and steal a special talent. If anyone was thought capable, it was Steve Sarkisian since Austin would've kept Bradford within a reasonable drive's distance to home.
Bradford was originally going to go from Austin to Ohio State to LSU on concurrent weekends in June, but his visit schedule is now uncertain. The top-ranked safety in the class and No. 2 prospect in Louisiana going outside of the SEC is a huge deal, and Texas' recent move to the conference seemed like an advantage.
Texas only has three commits in the 2026 class thus far, so this is an especially slow start.
The 6-foot-1, 207-pound safety is a talented player that the Longhorns had as a primary target in the class of 2026. Bradford has 30 offers to his resume and essentially every premier program was chasing him.
“Stoutly assembled safety prospect who could potentially move around the defensive back seven. Verified 6-1, 200 with frame space to keep adding mass if off-ball linebacker is a desired long-term home. Flies downhill quick-trigger pursuer vs. the run. Quick in diagnosis. Breaks down and drives through targets as a tackler. Speed-to-power ability and play strength enable playing through a block en route to the ball.” — Gabe Brooks, 247 Sports
