Texas recruiting notebook: Many Longhorns were once recruited by Alabama, too

After Texas opened its season with a 52-10 win over Louisiana-Monroe, the attention quickly turned to this weekend's showdown with No. 1 Alabama.

Senior linebacker DeMarvion Overshown was asked after the ULM game what he would tell his younger teammates about the Crimson Tide in advance of a game of this magnitude. He said the Longhorns need to believe that the Crimson Tide are their peers.

"I mean, Bama recruited most of the guys that came here as well," Overshown said. "Like, look at it is like this is your opportunity to go against that recruiting class that you came in with. They recruit just as hard as we do. They get those five-star, four-star players just like we do."

Overshown would know. It wasn't too long ago that he was a four-star prospect in the 2018 recruiting cycle. He was offered a scholarship by both Texas and Alabama.

Meet the Longhorns: The 2022 class is Texas' fourth top-10 class in last five years

It shouldn't be a surprise that Alabama and Texas chase the same prospects. Alabama had the nation's No. 2 class and Texas the No. 5 class for the 2022 cycle. Between 2018 and 2021, the Crimson Tide's classes were Nos. 5, 1, 2 and 1 in 247Sports' composite rankings. Texas' classes in those syears were No. 3, 3, 8 and 15.

According to 247Sports, 16 of the 28 players who signed with the Longhorns also had received an offer from the Crimson Tide. That included defensive lineman Justice Finkley, who hails from Alabama.

Meanwhile, 11 of Alabama's 25 signees also had received offers from Texas. That includes running back Jamarion Miller, who was committed to Texas for nearly five months before he flipped.

'Committed to the University of Texas': Longhorns receive a pledge from QB Arch Manning

Currently, Alabama's 2023 class is No. 1 in the country; Texas', with 22 players, is No. 2. Five-star quarterback Arch Manning is among the 10 UT pledges who also have received offers from the Crimson Tide. Manning also reportedly visited Alabama this summer.

Texas has extended scholarship offers to nine of Alabama's 21 pledges.

Make a pick, get a pick: Texas added a third commitment to its 2024 class last week. Houston Clear Lake athlete Hunter Moddon joined a class that already includes Aledo cornerback Jaden Allen and Daingerfield cornerback Aeryn Hampton.

The 6-foot, 175-pound Moddon committed last Friday. Later that night, he intercepted a pass in Clear Lake's game against Angleton. He's a four-star prospect and the nation's No. 18 athlete prospect.

Using football to recruit for volleyball: Last week, Texas volleyball coach Jerritt Elliott was asked if he uses football games as a recruiting tool. He described those Saturdays in which his volleyball team is in town and the football team has a home game as "a big draw, obviously."

"It gets every dad interested in coming to a visit," Elliott joked, adding that "the atmosphere is great. I try to tell our recruits they're not Logan Eggleston the volleyball player, they're Logan Eggleston that loves volleyball. For that, they need to be able to have some mental health and things that they enjoy doing, and Texas offers that."

Texas has five current high school commitments, and Westlake junior libero Reese Emerick is also a future Longhorn.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas, Alabama have shared interests in talented football prospects