True Orange, June 18, 2001, Part 2 ,
 Part 2 of 3

UT Has 7 Commitments, Including At Least 3 Super Blues

The Longhorns are leading the Big 12 in recruiting for the fourth straight
year after racking up seven commitments in May and June.
Headlining the commitments are two players who are on one or more national
top 100s this year and a junior college star who was on virtually all of the
national top 100s last year.
The current top national 100 guys are DTs Earl Anderson, 6-3, 265, 4.8, of
San Marcos, and Lyle Sendlein, 6-4, 260, 4.8, of Scottsdale, Ariz., Chaparral.
Anderson, who is as explosive at the line of scrimmage of any tackle I have
seen this year, committed on May 28, and Sendlein, who is so quick he plays
middle linebacker on a team that is 28-0 the last two seasons, committed on
June 2.
The junior college star is DT Sonny Davis, 6-1, 325, 5.0, formerly of Austin
Lanier and currently of Gulf Coast JC in Mississippi. He signed with Texas
last year, but failed to qualify academically and enrolled in a JC. He says
he is ahead of schedule academically and hopes to be able to graduate in
December and enroll at Texas in January so he can go through spring training
Coach Mack Brown said signing defensive linemen was his No. 1 priority in
this year's recruiting class, and this trio gives him a great start toward
accomplishing that goal.
The Longhorns' first commitment was from outstanding run blocker Brett
Valdez, 6-4, 310, 5.2, of Brownwood on April 7.
The commitments since my last newsletter are athlete Clint Haney, 5-11, 185,
4.27 (Nike camp time at A&M), of Smithson Valley, and QB Billy Don Malone,
6-2 1/2, 185, 4.7,of Paris North Lamar, both on June 11, and WR Dustin
Miksch, 6-0, 167, 4.35 (Nike camp time at A&M), of Round Rock Westwood on
June 14.
While the more recent commitments are not as heralded as the earlier ones,
they obviously were impressive at UT's summer camps. Donald Burgs, the
outstanding cornerback from Houston Madison, told me last Wednesday night
that Miksch was the best wide receiver at the camp that ended earlier that day
.
The following day, Miksch committed to the Longhorns.
It also didn't hurt that Miksch ran a 4.35 40 at the A&M Nike camp and a 4.4
at the UT camp and Haney ran a 4.27 40 at the same Nike camp and a 4.4 at the
Texas camp.
Malone is not as much of a sleeper as the other two. He's a two-time Class 4A
All-District quarterback and safety, and he was the sophomore of the year in
the district both offensively and defensively.
He has receivers who can catch the ball, but they don't dazzle anyone with
their speed. When defensive backs aren't worried about receivers' speed, they
cover them as tightly as they can, knowing that if they lose a step, it will
be easy to get it back.
That makes the quarterback's job a lot harder and can lead to more
interceptions. But Malone completed 106 of 202 passes (52.4%) for 1,649 yards
and 15 touchdowns for a 6-4 team. He had seven interceptions. He also ran for
405 yards and four touchdowns.
Malone said he chose Texas over Tennessee, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa State,
TCU and SMU. He said ISU, TCU and SMU had offered, and North Lamar head coach
Tom Felty said Tennessee, Arkansas and Colorado coaches had told him they
were preparing to offer.
"He has a great arm," Felty said, "but what really makes him special is the
way he sees the entire field. He can find his second and third receivers and
he never just locks onto one guy."
"He's also a very physical player," Felty said.  "That's what makes him such
a fine free safety, and it also helps him at quarterback because he will hang
in there until the last split second to get a completion even when he knows
he's going to get decked."
Haney said he picked the Longhorns over Texas Tech and Colorado (offers) and
several other schools who  were recruiting him.
He rushed 266 times for 1,665 yards (6.25 yards per carry) and 19 touchdowns,
and also was a big threat as a receiver, catching 9 passes for 205 yards and
four touchdowns for the 11-2 Rangers.
He said when he committed, "Coach Brown said they were recruiting me as a
football player. He told me they want fast, athletic kids and they would find
a spot for me after I get there."
That spot probably will be wide receiver or defensive back.
Smithson Valley defeated San Marcos in the Class 4A playoffs last year, and
Haney said San Marcos' defensive tackle Earl Anderson, another UT pledge, "is
really fast to be so big. I broke about a 40-yard touchdown run in that game
and he was right behind me most of the way. I'm glad we're going to be on the
same side at Texas."
In addition to those fast 40 times Miksch ran at the summer camps, he also
blazed to  a 10.53 100 meters last track season.
Miksch, the son of former Longhorn WR Ronnie Miksch, a 1977-78 letterman from
Needville, said Purdue, Nebraska, A&M, Notre Dame and Oklahoma were all
recruiting him.
He said Purdue and Nebraska coaches had invited him to their summer camps.
"I'll have to call both of them and tell them I won't be coming to their
camps," he said.
He caught 46 passes for 676 yards and five touchdowns for the 4-6 Warriors
last season.
When Anderson and Sendlein committed earlier, along with Davis' recommitment,
it gave the Longhorns a fine start toward a great defensive line class.
All three are physical players who have great quickness to go with their size
and athleticism. They also all play very hard all the time.
Anderson is the highest ranked Texas blue-chipper to pick a college. He is
No. 3 on my 25-man "difference-maker" list. Sendlein is the top recruit in
Arizona and, if he lived in Texas, he would be high in my top 25. Davis was
No. 5 on my "difference maker" list last year.
Anderson, who says he has grown an inch to 6-4 and now weighs 275, told me
can still break 4.8 in the 40 on most days.
"I ran a  4.78 the last time I was clocked," he said. "I want to stay below
4.8, so I'm watching my weight now." I was the first guy to give him a high
ranking after seeing his incredible quickness last season.
He said he picked Texas over Texas A&M, Florida State and others because UT
"has the great combination of athletics and academics that I want and it's so
close that my parents won't have to spend a lot of money traveling around to
see me play."
Besides that, he said, "I've always been a Longhorn fan."
Sendlein comes from such a Longhorn family that his UT linebacker brother is
named Austin. Their father, Robin, was a great linebacker at Texas and also
played in the NFL for many years.
Sendlein said he is 6-5, 275, and can run the 40 in 4.8. His Scottsdale team
has gone 14-0 two straight years and his prowess as a defender is one of the
main reasons for the team's success.
Sendlein was being recruited by all the top schools in the Pac 10, plus Notre
Dame, Nebraska, Michigan and Penn State.
* * * *
Another great defensive line prospect, Chase Pittman of Shreveport Evangel,
came in at 6-4 1/2 and 261 and ran a 4.8 40 at a Nike camp at LSU recently,
and he also bench pressed 185 pounds 36 times. No one else at the camp was
able to bench press 185 pounds more than 22 times. Pittman bench pressed 440
pounds, a tremendous achievement for a high school junior, at a recent
charity fund raising event at Evangel.
He is the younger brother of Cole Pittman, the former UT defensive linemen
who was killed in a tragic auto accident earlier this year while returning to
Texas for spring training. He is considering Texas and LSU.
Chase and his father, Marc Pittman, came to one of the Longhorn camp sessions
on June 6, and several other Evangel stars accompanied them, including John
David Booty, a  6-2, 195-pound quarterback who might be the nation's top
sophomore prospect, and another outstanding sophomore, DE Chris Bowers, 6-3,
232, 4.6. He also brought two top Evangel defensive backs who are being
highly recruited from Evangel. They are Jonathan Wade, 5-10, 175, 4.3 (he ran
a 10.25 100 meters in April), and Chad Johnson, 5-11, 185, 4.4.
* * * *
RECRUITING NOTES: Trivia Question - The speed-rushing DE Longhorn coaches and
their cohors everywhere want to sign lives 550 miles or so northeast of
Austin, but his grandmother and two uncles live in Austin and he took an u
nofficial visit to Austin recently. Who is he? If you guessed Bryan Pickryl,
6-5, 230, 4.5, of Jenks (suburban Tulsa), Oklahoma, you are a certified
recruiting junkie. Pickryl has lived in Oklahoma all his life, but his father
is a UCLA grad and he says his top two schools right now are Texas and UCLA.
Look for the Sooners to be a big player here, but they will have to hurry
because he is planning to graduate in December and enroll in the college of
his choice in January. He's the top player in Oklahoma and one of the truly
great outside pass rushers in the country. . . My list on page 4 has quite a
few new names because the May evaluations by college coaches produced some
new top prospects. . . The Longhorns might sign as many as six or seven
defensive linemen and as many as four  offensive linemen in this recruiting
class because the talent base is so strong in both areas. The top offensive
line prospects the Horns are hustling are Justin Blaylock of Plano East, Tony
Ugoh of Spring Westfield and Neale Tweedie of Allen. The top defensive line
hopes include tackles Rodrique Wright of Alief Hastings, Kasey Studdard of
Highlands Ranch, Colo., Marco Martin of Mesquite and Joseph Edwards of Dayton
and the top ends, in addition to Pittman and Pickryl, are Travis Leitko of
The Woodlands, Larry Dibbles of Lancaster and Dontriel Coates of Anahuac.
Coates has only played football the last two seasons, but he has great
quickness and intensity.

Baseball Roundup

Shorstop Omar Quintanilla  and pitcher Justin Simmons have been named to
Collegiate Baseball's Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-American Team.
This marks the first time Texas has had two freshman All-Amercians in the
same year.
The Longhorns were seeded third in the NCAA sub regional at Stanford in late
May. They upset No. 2 seed Long Beach State, 11-2, then stunned top-seeded
Stanford, 4-3, in the winner's bracket finale, but Stanford came back out of
the loser's bracket to beat Texas twice on May 27.
The Cardinal won the first game, 10-9, in 10 innings, then took the nightcap,
4-3. Sophomore Longhorn pitcher Ray Clark took a 3-1 lead into the eighth
inning in the second game, but sloppy fielding and mental miscues gave
Stanford three extra outs and the Cardinal scored three times.
Stanford went on to win a regional and made the finals of the College World
Series last week before losing to Miami.
The Longhorns will lose Gerrit Simpson and Albert Montes, their top two
pitchers. Both were drafted and plan to sign. They also lost one of their top
recruits, Houston Bellaire catcher James Sweeney, to the pros.
Vincent Sinisi, the slugger from The Woodlands who was the Horns' top signee
last year, has transferred to Rice. He has had persistent problems with a rib
injury.


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