Starting with a few related to the new release of the 2024 Rivals 250:
1. Aggie commit Dealyn Evans is now properly ranked. The defensive linemen came to the Dallas Rivals camp ready to work and dominated from the first snap. Though he was already a 4-star, now he's in the top 100 and that more accurately reflects his talent level. A&M will have to keep close tabs on him, because Florida and Alabama really want him.
2. Cam Coleman is where he should be. Coleman is now ranked 23rd nationally, a far cry from the former 3-star ranking he had. Coleman has been one of the hottest commodities in the nation this spring and he will visit A&M this weekend. I'll just say that things I have heard should make the Aggies feel good about their situation here.
3. Terry Bussey gets the love as well. The Timpson athlete, who has been to A&M a ton of times, jumped a jaw-dropping 147 spots in the latest re-ranking. He's an elite athlete that A&M likes as a corner, and I believe they are well ahead for him.
4. The Aggies could have a nasty receiver class if things work out. We've already discussed Coleman, and the Aggies have 4-star Debron Gatling already committed. But A&M is also fighting for the commitment of Drelon Miller, who is "just" 55th nationally. That would be quite a trio to go with Evan Stewart, Noah Thomas, Micah Tease, Raymond Cottrell, Jordan Anthony, Jahdae Walker and maybe even Moose Muhammad in 2024.
5. The number of members of the 250 scheduled to at least visit A&M is absolutely bonkers. Not mentioning the players already talked about, A&M should get or has gotten visits from DE Colin Simmons (5th), WR Micah Hudson (6th), DT David Stone (10th), WR Ryan Wingo (18th), CB Kobe Black (34th), RB Caden Durham (63rd, up 96 spots), LB/DE Jamonta Waller (66th, up 118 spots), LB Deebo Atkins (83rd), DT Aydin Breland (102nd), LB/S Tylen Singleton (113th), OL commit Ashton Funk (118th), DT Dominick McKinley (121st), DL TJ Lindsey (entering the list at 144), OL Isendre Ahfua (147th), OL Daniel Cruz (entering the list at 169), LB Jordan Lockhard (171st), LB TyAnthony Smith (180th), DE Zina Umeozulu (186th), S and commit Jordan Pride (192nd), WR Braylon Burnside (193rd), OL Waltclaire Flynn (209th), OL Bennett Warren (new entry at 228), and OL Blake Ivy (229th). I probably missed a couple too.
6. A&M's issues aren't about talent identification or gaining interest. It's closing the deal. Not to throw cold water on the impressive list just above, but the Aggies had an awesome group come in last summer and watched the vast majority of them sign somewhere else. When you see players your school has been after shoot up the rankings on Rivals or other sites, it's usually an indication they're after the right people. But getting them to sign with you is another animal, and that's where your front office staff earns their keep.
And now other stuff
7. Congratulations to DeAndre Jordan for winning his first NBA title. He's been at it a long, long time. Jordan has been in the NBA for so long that he never played a game in the SEC -- in fact, A&M wasn't even considering making a move when he left. But now he's made a tidy sum of money and has the ultimate team prize in basketball.
8. ESPN has A&M's defense ranked ninth in the country going into this season. If they play up to their potential, that's not an overstatement. But they have to get a whole lot better against the run, the talented youngsters up front have to mature and, frankly, D.J. Durkin needs to be less creative and run four really good linemen out there for a set of downs and let them go to work.
9. Legacy School of Sports Sciences WR Michael Brown is racking up a lot of early offers for a 2026 prospect, including one from A&M last week. The Aggies probably feel pretty confident about landing him, because he's the son of Aggie legend LB Reggie Brown. It's exciting to see a young man succeed, but the fact that Reggie now has kids going through the recruiting process (and one already playing at Tulane) makes me feel old.
10. Have you been paying attention to this Baby Gronk stuff? It's pretty disgusting. A 10-year-old kid is being, for lack of a better term, groomed by his father to be a football player and pimped out to anyone on the internet who will give him airtime or space. It reminds me of Todd Marinovich, the "RoboQB" who was brought up in a similar way by a similar scumbag dad, Marv Marinovich. What happened to Todd? He was a short-time NFL player because, while he never had a Big Mac, he developed a fondness for black tar heroin. I don't blame him, I blame his dad for not letting his kid be a regular child and pushing his dreams onto Todd. There's a special place in hell for parents like that, and the fact that Todd Marinovich's name isn't coming up a lot is a scary reminder that we're a generation removed from that disgusting situation. I just hope, in this case, the kid gets away from his (insert profane term here) dad and is able to live a normal life.
