National signing day for high school football players opened with the usual plethora of pick-a-cap news conferences and a few high-profile flip-flops.
It's the day high school athletes dream about.
Two of the biggest names in the country inked their letters of intent in North Texas Wednesday morning.
ESPN's No. 1 player in the country, Denton Ryan defensive end Mario Edwards, Jr., signed with his dad's alma mater Florida State. Edwards was bombarded with offers from dozens of top programs, but in the end chose the Seminoles, even giving a tomahawk chop before picking up the pen.
The No. 2 player in the country stuck with his early commitment and signed with the University of Texas. Aledo running back Johnathan Gray was Gatorade's National Player of the Year for the last two seasons. There were rumors that he was considering bailing on the Longhorns for the TCU Horned Frogs or Texas A&M Aggies.
Meanwhile, there were no big surprises for the national champion Crimson Tide. And that was a good thing because Nick Saban and his staff had already lined up a class that most of the analysts had ranked as either the best in the nation or very close to it.
"There was little intrigue or drama to this class," said Allen Wallace of SuperPrep Magazine.
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The latest news from around North Texas.
No, just talent.
The Tide swept through the South to reload and along the way picked up Allen quarterback, Alec Morris.
LONGHORN'S LATE PITCH
Signing day at Texas tends to be pretty boring. Mack Brown's classes are usually locked up airtight weeks, if not months, before letters of intent start setting off the fax machines.
This year, however, the Longhorns swooped in late to pick up linebacker Torshiro Davis, who is from Shreveport and had committed to LSU.
For the second straight year, Texas signed one of the most highly regarded running backs in the country, landing Johnathan Gray from Aledo to go with last year's freshman sensations Joe Bergeron and the other Mack Brown.
Alphabetical school-by-school list of North Texas football players who signed national letters of intent at Big 12 schools Wednesday and Texas' Football Bowl Subdivision schools (doesn't include West Virginia):
BAYLOR
Dominique Banks, dl, 6-2, 260 Ryan HS, Denton
Terrell Burt, db, 5-10, 165, Wylie HS, Wylie
Corey Coleman, wr, 5-11, 180, Pearce HS, Richardson
Aiavion Edwards, db, 6-0, 210, Stephenville HS, Stephenville
Kyle Fuller, ol, 6-4, 270, Wylie HS, Wylie
Kiante' Griffin, wr, 6-0, 200, Hebron HS, Carrollton
Patrick Levels, db, 5-10, 180, Roosevelt HS, Dallas
Brian Nance, lb, 6-2, 210, Trinity HS, Euless
Jamal Palmer, de, 6-2, 230, Boyd HS, McKinney
Seth Russell, qb, 6-3, 195, Garland HS, Garland
KANSAS
Courtney Arnick, lb, 6-2, 205, Carter HS, Dallas
Tyler Holmes, dl, 6-3, 280, Sachse HS, Garland
Ty McKinney, dl, 6-3, 310, Trinity Valley CC, Athens
KANSAS STATE
Will Davis, lb, 6-1, 213, Carroll HS, Southlake
Aderius Epps, ol, 6-2, 295, Cedar Hill HS, Cedar Hill
Demonte Hood, dt, 6-0, 295, Bowie HS, Arlington
Mike Moore, lb, 6-1, 213, Skyline HS, Dallas
Steven West, wr, 6-1, 190, Fossil Ridge HS, Keller
OKLAHOMA STATE
Ashton Lampkin, db, 5-11, 175, Dunbar HS, Arlington
Dominic Ramacher, ath, 6-3, 230, Guyer HS, Denton
x-Jeremiah Tshimanga, lb, 6-2, 230, Richland HS, North Richland Hills
Michael Wilson, ol, 6-6, 275, Aledo HS, Aledo
TEXAS
Adrian Colbert, db, 6-2, 191, Mineral Wells HS, Mineral Wells
Bryce Cottrell, de, 6-3, 235, West HS, Plano
Alex De La Torre, lb, 6-1, 230, Ryan HS, Denton
Bryson Echols, db, 5-10, 165, DeSoto HS, DeSoto
Johnathan Gray, rb, 5-11, 202, Aledo HS, Aledo
Peter Jinkens, lb, 6-1, 200, Skyline HS, Dallas
Nick Jordan, pk, 6-1, 175, Coppell HS, Coppell
Hassan Ridgeway, de, 6-4, 255, Mansfield HS, Mansfield
Curtis Riser, ol, 6-4, 285, DeSoto HS, DeSoto
Kendall Sanders, wr, 6-0, 175, Athens HS, Athens
Dalton Santos, lb, 6-3, 250, Van HS, Van
TCU
Austin Aune, qb, 6-2, 185, Argyle HS, Argyle
Gerren Ballard, te, 6-6, 250, Whitewright HS, Whitewright
Josh Carraway, de, 6-3, 225, Marcus HS, Flower Mound
Devonte Fields, dl, 6-4, 240, Martin HS, Arlington
Kolby Listenbee, ath, 6-0, 170, Bowie HS, Arlington
Jaden Oberkrom, pk, 6-3, 170, Martin HS, Arlington
Halapoulivaati Vaitai, ol, 6-6, 265, Haltom HS, Haltom City
TEXAS TECH
Micah Awe, db, 6-0, 192, Summit HS, Mansfield
Trey Keenan, ol, 6-5, 270, Argyle HS, Argyle
La'Darius Newbold, db, 6-0, 180, Lancaster HS, Lancaster
Kris Williams, lb, 6-3, 210, Bryan Adams HS, Dallas
TEXAS A&M
De'Vante Harris, db, 5-10, 160, Horn HS, Mesquite
Sabian Holmes, wr, 5-11, 175, Southlake Carroll HS, Southlake
Thomas Johnson, wr, 5-11, 180, Skyline HS, Dallas
Polo Manukainiu, de, 6-5, 255, Trinity HS, Euless
Michael Richardson, de, 6-2, 230, DeSoto HS, DeSoto
Jordan Richmond, lb, 6-3, 225, Ryan HS, Denton
Kimo Tipoti, ol, 6-3, 330, Bell HS, Hurst
Derel Walker, wr, 6-2, 185, Hillsboro HS, Hillsboro Trinity Valley Junior College
SMU
Elie Nabushosi, de, 6-4, 240, Heritage HS, Frisco
Damien Neroes, lb, 6-1, 215, Garland HS, Garland
Sam Rice, ol, 6-4, 270, Coppell HS, Coppell
Lincoln Richard, lb, 6-3, 215, Everman HS, Everman
Horace Richardson, cb, 6-0, 175, Everman HS, Everman
Chase Walling, ol, 6-5, 280, Lake Highlands HS, Dallas
RICE
Andre Anderson, wr, 5-11, 190, Cedar Hill HS, Cedar Hill
Brandon Dawkins, ol, 6-6, 305, Prestonwood Christian HS, Plano
Cameron Decell, pk, 6-5, 205, Boyd HS, McKinney
Cody Henessee, dt, 6-3, 255, Guyer HS, Denton
Alex Lyons, lb, 6-0, 220, DeSoto HS, DeSoto
Tabari McGaskey, lb, 6-0, 210, Lincoln HS, Dallas
Nate Richards, ol, 6-4, 305, Trinity Valley CC, Athens
Spencer Stanley, ol, 6-4, 260, Trinity Valley CC, Athens
TEXAS STATE
Darius Hood, dt, 6-0, 280, East HS, Plano
Hayden Lambert, ol, 6-5, 265, Aledo HS, Aledo
Robert Lowe, rb, 5-10, 200, Waxahachie HS, Waxahachie
NORTH TEXAS
David Busby, db, 5-11, 180, Coppell HS, Coppell
Malik Dilonga, de, 6-4, 250, Trinity Christian HS, Cedar Hill
Mustafa Haboul, dt, 6-0, 247, Martin HS, Arlington
Carlos Harris, wr, 5-8, 175, Frisco HS, Frisco
Brad Horton, de, 6-6, 230, Liberty Christian HS, Argyle
Roderick Lancaster, wr, 6-2, 200, Life School of Oak Cliff
Ryan Rentfro, ol, 6-4, 280, Marcus HS, Flower Mound
Connor Trussell, ol, 6-5, 285, Martin HS, Arlington
HOUSTON
Steven Aikens, lb, 6-2, 200, Seguin HS, Arlington
Thaddeus LaGrone, lb, 6-2, 206, Allen HS, Allen
Andrew Rodriguez, wr, 5-10, 181, Allen HS, Allen
Steven Taylor, lb, 6-1, 205, Cedar Hill HS, Cedar Hill
UTEP
Corey Callicutt, wr, 6-3, 200, South Oak Cliff HS, Dallas
Jerome Daniels, ol, 6-3, 280, Little Elm HS, Little Elm
Chester Egbim, lb, 6-1, 200, Rowlett HS, Rowell
Silas Firstely, de, 6-0, 240, Poteet HS, Mesquite
Paul Franklin, rb, 6-0, 207, South Oak Cliff HS, Dallas
Jacob Larson, qb, 6-4, 205, Coppell HS, Coppell
Devante Richardson, dl, 6-3, 280, Seguin HS, Arlington
Garrett Simpson, qb, 6-6, 240, The Colony HS, The Colony
UTSA
Tucker Carter, qb, 6-3, 215, Trinity Valley CC, Athens
Jordan Gray, te, 6-4, 250, Trimble Tech HS, Fort Worth
Trey Mohair, db, 5-11, 185, Ryan HS, Denton
Brian Vaughn, rb, 5-9, 180, All Saints HS, Fort Worth
