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Aggies getting a visit from new 2026 5-star DE (new to 2026, not new to 5-star status)

5-star defensive end Richard Wesley of Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon visited A&M in January as one of his first trips to colleges he's interested in. That was when he was a highly-touted 2027 recruit. Now, he's a highly-touted 2026 recruit, having reclassified today. I found out that he intends to visit A&M again during spring practice. He'll also be checking out Ohio State, Georgia, that school in Austin, Miami, USC and Ole Miss. Considering that the Aggies already got him in for a trip earlier this year and he's coming back for more, that would seem to give them a bit of an edge. Now that he has re-classified, Wesley has jumped into the number eight spot in the overall rankings, which gives you a pretty good idea of how well-regarded he is.

Another rush end will be by during spring ball
4-star and Rivals 250 member Jaquez Wilkes is listed as an athlete by Rivals, but he's likely a Jack at the next level at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds. Wilkes will be in College Station in early April for an unofficial visit. He'll also be checking out Auburn, Georgia and Alabama in rapid succession.

Aggies probably not sweating Markel Ford's de-commitment
Markel Ford, the first commit for the 2026 class, pulled the ripcord this morning while I was at a funeral for one of Cody's classmates. But, even though he's a talented 4-star, I'm not sure how broken up A&M is over this. One reason is their standing with 5-star Jireh Edwards, who has A&M as his favorite at the moment. They also have Pascagoola (Miss.) 4-star Tylan Wilson making an official in June. I haven't had this verified yet, but I get the gut feeling that A&M has reset its recruiting board and some players have jumped up on their priority list. It's happened more than once before.

4-star LB sets summer official
The Aggies have increased their interest in Jakore Smith out of Little Rock the last couple of months and the talented linebacker will be visiting in June. A&M has to overcome the likes of Arkansas and Missouri to get him, but they've made some solid progress on that front.

Son of former Cowboys legend visiting soon
It's kind of unfair to call 4-star Cooper Witten Jason Witten's son, but since Kaeden Kent is Jeff Kent's son, what the hell. Anyway, the talented athlete from Argyle Liberty Christian will be visiting during his swing around universities during spring ball. Witten is considered to be a Tennessee lean due to his dad going there, but he's lived in Texas his entire life, so it'll be interesting to see how tight those bonds with the Vols are.

Aggies offer a Legend
More precisely, 3-star quarterback Legend Bey of North Forney. That came down just a couple of hours ago.
Bey completed just over half his passes for 1,438 yards, 13 touchdowns and 8 interceptions last year, but he can really run: 11.4 yards a carry, 1,852 yards and 28 touchdowns last season. Sounds like someone they're looking at for a possible position switch. Notre Dame and Duke are his current leaders.

Hoops bits
Wade Taylor is 9 points from setting A&M's new all-time scoring record, passing Bernard King. LSU is pretty terrible, so unless he's off his game entirely, he should get there tomorrow in Baton Rouge. He's also six points from having 400 on the season, joining Zhuric Phelps at that level. That would be the fourth straight year A&M has a guard duo with more than 400 points a piece, with Taylor and Boots Radford having done it the previous three years.
After beating No. 1 Auburn, it looks like A&M has locked itself in as a 3 seed unless they lose to LSU tomorrow. That would be a terrible loss. A&M sleepwalked to a 68-57 win over LSU at Reed on Jan. 18, but since then LSU has gone 2-12. They've lost four in a row, only coming within single digits once in that span and getting cooked 95-64 by Kentucky Tuesday night.

Baseball bit
Right fielder Caden Sorrell is expected to return from his hamstring strain for the the SEC opening series against Alabama next weekend. He will slot back into right field, with Terrence Kiel II likely to take over in left with Gavin Kash at first. It looks like the patience with Blake Binderup and Matt Bergevin has worn out already.

Myles Garrett On The Trading Block?

From The Athletic:

I remain less than sure that the Browns could trade all-world defensive end Myles Garrett before the Nov. 5 deadline — or even before next season. Garrett is a weather-changing force who, even at 28 and in his eighth NFL season, can still deliver top-level performances for years to come.

But with each passing week, I think the Browns have to be open to discussions about Garrett’s future — both internally about where this whole thing is headed and any external offers they might receive with contending teams believing the Browns will be sellers at the deadline.

The Browns are facing a multiyear rebuild. They’re tied to around $170 million in salary-cap commitments to Watson regardless of how the team decides to alter or stretch them out. There are still eight likely Browns starters this week who are 30 or older, even after the Amari Cooper trade, and the future dead money involved with Cooper and pending moves over the coming weeks will force Cleveland to get younger and cheaper. This is what happens when an all-in season is embarrassingly over before the leaves change.

Can the Browns get a first-round pick plus more for Garrett? Sure. But trading Garrett would bring $36 million more in dead money for next year, and even getting close to a Garrett trade would require organizational continuity on how to both tear down the current roster and plot a path for the future. Saying it’s nice to have an extra late first-round pick (or picks) is one thing. Making a plan to maximize those picks is more important.

If the Browns are going to trade Garrett, they’re probably going to ask not only for multiple premium picks but potentially for a young player with multiple seasons left on his rookie contract. They’re entitled to ask for anything they want, really. But it’s still going to be difficult to find a real meeting place between what the Browns would need to actually let Garrett move on and what a team could give.

There’s also this: Would ownership even allow a Garrett trade before the deadline? The Browns are facing crucial, expensive and franchise-altering decisions on many levels in the coming months. It remains possible that the Haslam family isn’t sure who will be in charge of the roster in February and March, and that could add one extra layer of complication to potentially trading the most gifted player of the team’s new era.

Stay tuned. I’ve shifted from thinking there’s almost no way a Garrett trade happens to believing the Browns have to at least participate in the varied discussions surrounding it.

A&M out of state fees

My granddaughter, who lives in Norman, OK, has been exceptional through grade/high school and accepted into A&M. But the out of state cost is ~$50,000/year vs ~ $20, 000/year for in state. She applied for A&M scholarships that might waive the out of state fees, but she did not get one. So she will end up at OU, unless someone has any other ideas on how to get the out of state fees waived at A&M.
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