Jamarkus MacFarland, considered by many to be the top defensive tackle prospect in the State of Texas, and one of the top defensive linemen in the nation, has committed to Oklahoma.

While MacFarland did not consider A&M as one of his finalists, so the Aggies were out of the running early, that isn't what concerns me. What concerns me is this section from the NY Times article:

She also emphasized that the recent recruiting efforts by texas had happened through Lufkin High Coach John Outlaw. She believed Outlaw wanted her son to attend texas.

There used to be a time where A&M had a recruiting pipeline going from Lufkin to College Station. Jorvorskie Lane and Reggie McNeal are both Lufkin alumni. If John Outlaw is helping texas in recruiting, it makes me wonder if Sherman's decision to de-emphasize Lane's role in the offense this past season has hurt us in Lufkin.

It could be that Outlaw is just trying to keep his players in-state, and decided if texas was the only in-state option among MacFarland's finalists, that is where he would push him, but I'm not sure. I hope I'm wrong.

I normally am not someone who religiously follows recruiting, though, so I could be completely out of line with my speculation.

As a team that struggled on both the offensive and defensive line last season, I am disappointed we were not able to pull in one of the top DL prospects in the nation to improve our defensive interior. I'm happy with our recruitins class so far, though.