Five-star wide receiver Garrett Wilson committed to Ohio State over the weekend, choosing the Buckeyes over Texas even though he's lived in Austin since he was 12. As for why he chose Ohio State, there are all the obvious reasons, but there's another one that Longhorns fans might agree with, but certainly won't like hearing come from the mouth of a recruit.
"They were close," Wilson told Rivals of his interest in Texas. "I'm not going to lie, the official visit made me think about them a little more. In the end, I've watched a lot of people go to Texas with a ton of ability and maybe not achieve what I thought they could. I didn't want to be one of those guys."
That's about as blunt as a recruit can be without being disrespectful. And it's certainly hard to blame Wilson for feeling the way he does. If you look at Texas over the last decade, it's a program that has consistently underachieved. I don't think anybody associated with the program would disagree with that, and those who do are steeped in denial.
The Longhorns went 13-1 in 2009 and lost the BCS title game. Since then, Texas hasn't won more than nine games in any season, and it only accomplished that once (9-4 in 2012). The Horns have finished with losing record four times in that same span.
Now, if there's good news here, it's that Tom Herman is off to a good start when it comes to acquiring talent. Texas' 7-6 mark in 2017 wasn't anything to be excited about, but its 2018 recruiting class finished No. 3 in the country (just behind Ohio State), so things could be moving in the right direction. It's just that it might take a few more years for some of the top players in the country -- and in Texas -- to blindly trust that they'll be able to accomplish everything they want to in Austin.
