'Horns, Aggies both happy with recruiting

AUSTIN (AP) - Texassigned a class of recruits built for speed and versatility, yet missed on the California running back that might have turned a solid group into a spectacular one.

Texas had made a hard push in recent months for Darrell Scott, ranked by some as the top running back recruit in the country, but the tailback chose Wednesday to sign with Colorado instead of the Longhorns.

Texassigned three other running backs - Jeremy Hills of Houston (Alief Elsik High School), Tre Newton of Southlake (Carroll HS) and Ryan Roberson of Brenham - but missed the chance to sign its biggest tailback recruit since Cedric Benson in 2001. Newton is the son of former Dallas Cowboys All-Pro offensive lineman Nate Newton.

"It's more important you concern yourself with the guys you get, not the ones who did not come," coach Mack Brown said. "Lou Holtz told me you'd better worry about the ones that sign because you're around them every day for the next four years."

The Texas class was ranked No. 14 nationally by the recruiting Web site Rivals.com.

As usual, most of the 20 players are from the Lone Star State. The only who isn't, defensive back Nolan Brewster of Denver, is the son of former Longhorns assistant coach Tim Brewster.

"We want to win a national championship with kids from this state," Brown said.

Brown's Texas-first mentality can hurt when he ventures across state lines, said Rivals.com analyst Bobby Burton.

Texas grabs plenty of homegrown talent, but Brown is usually too late in the game when he decides to pursue an elite player from another state, such as Scott.

Burton said the class Brown signed is impressive for its speed and talent at defensive back and on the defensive line, two areas where Texas could use immediate help next season. The Longhorns lose two starting defensive linemen and the secondary was among the worst in the country in 2007.

"If I had to look at one thing, it's speed," Burton said. "They really did do well."

Standouts include Brewster, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound USA Today All-USA selection at safety, and Aaron Williams, a 6-1, 175-pound Parade All-American defensive back. Dravannti Johnson (Nederland HS), a 6-2, 237-pound linebacker, also was

Parade All-American.

With Texas coming off a 10-3 season and a Holiday Bowl victory, Brown said he expects several members of this class to compete for playing time in

08.

"I'm not planning on redshirting anybody who can help us win a game," Brown said. "(And) some of them may have to play more than one position. Versatility was a key to this class."

Nine of the signees have already enrolled in college and will be eligible to participate in spring drills later this month. That includes Hills and Newton, who will have a chance to compete with No. 1 tailback Vondrell McGee.

Texas is thin at tailback after Jamaal Charles decided to leave the team for the NFLafter his junior season.

• Gray highlights incoming Aggies: New Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman had just more than two months to recruit, and one of those was spent juggling work as the Houston Texans offensive coordinator.

That didn't stop him from snagging a solid recruiting class headlined by Cyrus Gray, the top running back in the state, on Wednesday, the first day of the national signing period.

The recruiting Web site rivals. com calls Gray the best running back in Texas and the fifth best at his position in the country. The 5-foot-10, 188- pound Gray ran for 1,975 yards and 28 touchdowns as a senior at DeSoto. That came after a junior season where he had 1,510 yards rushing for 31 scores.

"Cyrus was a guy that I identified as someone we wanted to get as soon as I got here," Sherman said. "We targeted him as the top back in the state. We did everything we could to get him to come here."

Texas A&M got a late boost to its class Wednesday evening when Houston Eisenhower defensive tackle Rod Davis chose the Aggies over Texas. Davis is the third rated defensive tackle in the state and the 17th in the country, according to Rivals.

The Aggies signed Gray and 22 other high school recruits on Wednesday as well as junior college transfer Matt Moss, a defensive end from Grossmont Community College. Rivals called A&M's class the 16th best in the country.