Paul is commit No. 4 for A&M in 2017
The Texas A&M coaches added commitment No. 4 for the 2017 recruiting class over the weekend when Bremond (Texas) athlete Roshauud Paul decided to join the Aggies.
"Texas A&M has always been a top school for me, even earlier in the process when I was adding offers and only had interest from the coaching staff," Paul said. "I had originally committed to TCU early on and realized that I had made my decision too soon. But even back then, I always wanted to hear more from the A&M coaches.
"Coach (Jeff) Banks is my main contact at A&M. It turned out they were going through some changes on the coaching staff late in the season, and he was always very honest and up front with me. He watched my film, told me they were interested, and kept in touch the whole time. Once they hired Coach (Noel) Mazzone, the entire coaching staff was able to watch my film as a group and decided to make the offer."
Paul visited College Station in early February for the A&M junior day, but even that visit didn't immediately yield an offer from the Aggies' coaching staff.
"I visited for the junior day earlier in February and had a great time," Paul said. "I knew the coaches were interested then, but as I mentioned, Coach Banks wanted to have the whole coaching staff watch my film and decide on the offer. For me, I understood where he was coming from and wanted to wait things out.
"I didn't really tell anyone, but A&M has been a favorite for me a while now. I grew up mostly watching Texas, but then Johnny Manziel happened and the program really started gaining momentum. The move to the SEC, the new stadium, and all of the new facilities - everything is on the come up there at A&M and I knew it was something that I wanted to be a part of."
A few weeks ago, the A&M coaches did meet and Coach Banks reached out to Paul with the offer.
"I was waiting on that call," Paul said. "Coach Banks sent me a direct message and told me that he would be getting in touch with me within the next two days. He ended up calling me the next day and told me the coaches were offering me a scholarship. I spoke with Coach Banks and Coach (Clarence) McKinney about the offer.
"I haven't had a conversation with Coach Mazzone yet, but I'm going to be visiting College Station for one of the spring practices next week and plan on spending some one on one time with him. I'm looking forward to seeing the new offense and what they are working on at the practice, but mostly getting to know Coach Mazzone more."
Paul plays quarterback for Bremond, but is listed as an athlete and the A&M coaches see him fitting into the slot receiver role within their offense.
"Coach Banks and Coach McKinney told me they are going to use me in the slot receiver role," Paul said. "They see me as that speedy and shifty inside guy that can help move the chains and stretch the field. A lot of the coaches recruiting me were wanting me to play receiver, so it's something that I have already been thinking about and I'm ready to switch positions at the next level."
Since the Aggies offered a few weeks ago, Paul added another handful of offers and currently holds 11 total offers. He actually released a Top 4 of Nebraska, Oklahoma, Baylor, and Texas A&M last Tuesday.
"Well, like I mentioned, I knew that A&M was my favorite and my idea was to release my top schools and take a few more visits to make sure that I was comfortable with my decision," Paul said. "My plan was to visit Oklahoma over the weekend and then visit Baylor before making my decision. I went to Norman this weekend and kept thinking that there is no place like College Station.
"I left the visit and decided that I was ready to make my decision. I didn't want to wait and knew that my mind was made up. I sent Coach Banks a text message and told him that I was ready to be a part of GigEmGang17. He was surprised and told me that I needed to get on the phone with Coach (Kevin) Sumlin as soon as possible."
Paul went on to share more about his conversation with Coach Sumlin when making his commitment.
"Coach Banks told me that Coach Sumlin and Coach McKinney were at the Texas A&M baseball game on Saturday evening," Paul said. "He got a hold of him and he stepped out of the game to take the call. I spoke with Coach Sumlin and Coach McKinney, and they were both surprised as well. They were also very excited and welcomed me to the A&M family, then told me to get back out for a visit sometime soon."
The 5-foot-11, 160-pound prospect considers his recruitment process completed and is solid in his commitment to A&M.
"I learned a lot from making my previous commitment too early," Paul said. "I have actually gone through and talked with a lot of the coaches who were recruiting me from other schools. I thanked them for the interest and for recruiting me, but that my decision was final and I'm going to be signing with A&M. I actually started un-following other coaches on social media as well.
"I'm very happy with my decision and cannot wait to see who else we can get to join this 2017 recruiting class. I have been in touch with Tate (Martell), Devin (Morris), and Mannie (Netherly) for a while now. We have a big group chat with several recruits we are trying to land in this class and I'm ready to start doing the recruiting now."
Since the interview last night, Paul announced that he will be enrolling early at Texas A&M in the spring after graduating high school this December.
Rated a 5.7 three-star prospect, Paul is the No. 41 athlete in the nation and the No. 56 prospect on the Rivals.com Texas Postseason Top 10o for the 2017 class.
He finished with 2,412 yards and 29 touchdowns passing with another 2,193 yards and 40 touchdowns rushing this past season - earning the District 13-2A All-District Football MVP award, APSE Class 2A All-State honorable mention, and TWSA Class 2A All-State Second Team Offense honors.
Paul chose the Aggies over offers from Oklahoma, Baylor, Nebraska, Arizona State, Houston, Oregon State, SMU, Oklahoma State, and TCU.