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Jake Raulerson's voyage from Celina to Austin included 5,200 miles on the road, routine meals at Cracker Barrel and nights at Motel 6 and plenty of country music.

The junior Celina offensive tackle, perhaps the state's top recruit in the class of 2013, put plenty of time and money into his college research before committing to Texas last week.

William Wilkerson takes a closer look at Raulerson's recruiting trail over at HornsNation. Here's an excerpt:

Because Jake isn't a senior, all of the trips he took had to be paid for by him and his family. Prospects aren't allowed to take official visits (when schools pay your way) until their senior season.But the Raulersons thought it would be beneficial if they took the time, and spent the money, to let Jake experience these programs first-hand so he could make a commitment with a clear conscience, having left no stone unturned.

"I believe that it gave me an edge," Jake said. "It helps. Some families don't have the opportunity to go to all of these places (on unofficial visits). It helps. If you are from Texas and one of your favorite schools is Florida, Alabama or Tennessee, it's a long way from home. If you never get the chance to be able to see it, then you lose your advantage if you go there and commit and don't like it. It's because you never got the chance to look at it."

Jake was well aware of the monetary sacrifice that his family made for those trips, so he made sure to get his money's worth.

"I made sure I looked at every detail of everywhere I went," he said. "The coaches, the campus, the atmosphere. You could ask me one little thing about the schools, and I could tell you what I liked, didn't like. It gives me the upper hand in knowing what is right for me."

And for that, Jake is forever grateful.

Read the full story here.

ESPN Senior National Recruiting Analyst Tom Luginbill breaks down the Longhorns' recruiting class.

ESPN Senior National Recruiting Analyst Tom Luginbill breaks down the Sooners' recruiting class.

ESPN Midlands Regional Recruiting Coordinator Damon Sayles interviews Mesquite Horn cornerback De’Vante Harris, one of Texas A&M’s newest recruits.

When TCU recruited Jerry Hughes, he was a 220-pound running back. When the Indianapolis Colts drafted him in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft, Hughes was a 255-pound, two-time All-American defensive end.

TCU head coach Gary Patterson has a knack for putting players in the right spots.

Oklahoma wanted Euless Trinity's Brandon Carter to play cornerback. When Patterson gave him a chance at receiver, Carter decommitted and joined TCU, where he caught 23 passes for 352 yards as a true freshman, including the game-winning touchdown at Boise State.

With TCU’s 2012 recruiting class, arguably Patterson’s best, it won’t be any different.

“When it’s all said and done, they want to be in a position where they can play at the highest level,” Patterson said. “It’s a very small percentage where a kid says ‘I just don’t want to move,' or 'I just don’t want to do that.’ ”

He said there are five or six players in this class that could play different positions than they did in high school.

“We’re still looking for athletes,” Patterson said. “Guys who can run and go do things.”

Patterson talked specifically about 2012 commit Derrick Kindred. Most of the 5-foot-10 athlete’s highlights are from playing running back at San Antonio’s Wagner High School. But Patterson said Kindred could end up playing wide receiver, safety or cornerback.

DeSOTO, Texas -- After signing a letter of intent with Texas, Bryson Echols said the feeling was one of relief.

“I worked hard since I was a freshman for this day and now I’m glad it is over,’’ said the DeSoto cornerback, who is No. 79 in the ESPNU 150.

Echols (5-foot-10, 175 pounds) was a four-year varsity player for the Eagles, competing at one of the most difficult of positions. He made an early oral commitment to Mack Brown and the Longhorns.

Claude Mathis, DeSoto’s head coach throughout Echols' career, could not be a part of signing day. Mathis recently accepted a job as an assistant coach at the University of Houston.

“Even though Coach Mathis wasn’t here in person, I know his heart was here,’’ Echols said.

Keller Central's Zach Sanchez was one of the few athletes not playing quarterback or running back who could take over a game by himself.

Now Sanchez will try to do the same in the Big 12.

The receiver/defensive back signed a national letter of intent to play for Oklahoma on Wednesday, finishing a career that may leave him as the best player in Central's short history.

Sanchez caught 45 balls for 994 yards and 13 touchdowns in addition to his work on the defensive side of the ball, where he was one of the most feared DBs in the area.

The senior's defining performance came against Denton Guyer. He caught two touchdown passes and returned an interception 85 yards for a touchdown in Central's 21-14 win.

That win went a long way toward solidifying Central's first playoff berth in school history. Central beat Coppell in Week 10 in what amounted to a playoff play-in game, and the Chargers put a scare into top-ranked Allen in bi-district before losing 30-17 at Cowboys Stadium.

Sanchez was originally committed to Baylor but switched late in the process.

Central offensive lineman Simon Goines also signed on Wednesday. He joins Jim Mora's first class at UCLA.

DeSOTO, Texas -- DeSoto offensive lineman Curtis Riser put pen to paper on Wednesday and became a Texas Longhorn.

“It was always between Texas and LSU in my mind,’’ said the 6-foot-3, 283-pounder who committed to the Horns on Junior Day. “Austin was more of a place I could see myself living.‘’

At DeSoto’s signing ceremony, coaches lauded Riser for playing his senior season six months after his second knee surgery, even though he had a commitment to Texas already in his pocket. Coaches said that showed Riser’s dedication to his teammates.

“The knee feels great now,’’ Riser said. “I looking forward to getting down to Austin and show people what I’ve got.’’

SMU announced the signing of 20 recruits today, including quarterback Neal Burcham, who was a four-star recruit according to the ESPN rankings.

Interestingly, SMU also signed Prescott Line, the brother of SMU's Zach Line. SMU has nine ESPN three-star or higher signees, tied for the most in Conference USA (Marshall).

The list of signees:

Chauncey Briggs, OL, 6-5 330 West Bloomfield, Mich. (West Bloomfield)
Neal Burcham, QB, 6-3 185 Greenbrier, Ark. (Greenbrier)
Christian Chamagua, OL, 6-6 290 Manvel, Texas (Manvel)
Brian Cramer, DL, 6-4 230 Round Rock, Texas (Stony Point)
A.J. Justice, DB, 6-2 185 Houston, Texas (Stratford)
Collin LaGasse, WR/DB, 5-11 190 Austin, Texas (Lake Travis)
Ty Law, DB, 5-10 170 Orlando, Fla. (Lake Highland Prep)
Prescott Line, RB, 6-0 215 Oxford, Mich. (Oxford Area Senior)
Ajee Montes, DB, 5-11 180 La Puente, Calif. (Bishop Amat)
Seaver Myers, OL, 6-6 290 Friendswood, Texas (Friendswood)
Elie Nabushosi, DL, 6-4 240 Frisco, Texas (Heritage)
Damien Neroes, LB, 6-1 215 Garland, Texas (Garland)
Jarvis Pruitt, DL, 6-3 220 Houston, Texas (Stratford)
Shakiel Randolph, DB, 6-5 190 Waco, Texas (Midway)
Nick Reed, DL, 6-1 265 Texarkana, Texas (Pleasant Grove)
Sam Rice, OL, 6-4 270 Coppell, Texas (Coppell)
Lincoln Richard, LB, 6-3 215 Everman, Texas (Everman)
Horace Richardson, DB, 6-0 175 Everman, Texas (Everman)
Daijuan Stewart, WR, 5-10 175 Baldwin, La. (West Saint Mary)
Chase Walling, OL, 6-6 270 Dallas, Texas (Lake Highlands)

DeSOTO, Texas -- The tradition of DeSoto sending a top-flight defensive lineman to Texas A&M continued when Michael Richardson signed a letter of intent Wednesday in a massive ceremony at the school gym.

The Aggies had three former DeSoto players on last year's team, including defensive lineman Tony Jerod-Eddie.

“It's like a pipeline and I’m keeping the tradition going,’’ said Richardson, an end who is following the same trail that Von Miller blazed with great results five years ago. “Hopefully some other DeSoto guys will follow me next year.’’

Richardson was an early Aggie commitment, but A&M’s head coaching change caused him concern. That concern ended when he met the new staff and new head coach Kevin Sumlin.

“Coach Sumlin reminded me a lot of my high school coach, Coach [Claude] Mathis,’’ said Richardson, one of 22 DeSoto players to sign on Wednesday.

“What really makes me proud is that we had seven defensive linemen last season and six of them signed today,’’ Richardson said.

For the occasion, Richardson wore an Aggies hat that featured the University of Texas mascot, Bevo, with sawed horns.

He said he wore the cap to annoy offensive lineman and good buddy Curtis Riser, seated at the table nearest Richardson. Riser signed with the Longhorns.

Local recruits are flocking to Baylor on national signing day.

As of 9:30 Wednesday morning, the Bears had announced the signing of 20 recruits, eight of them from the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The Bears have received signed letters of intent from two Wylie players, DB Terrell Burt and OL Kyle Fuller.

Also headed down I-35 to Waco are Denton Ryan DL Dominique Banks, Richardson Pearce WR Corey Coleman, Hebron WR Kiante' Griffin, Euless Trinity LB Brian Nance, McKinney Boyd DE Jamal Palmer and Garland QB Seth Russell.

AUSTIN, Texas - - ESPNU 150 athlete Daje Johnson (Pflugerville, Texas/Hendrickson) has finally committed to the Longhorns.

Johnson, the No. 14 athlete and No. 141 player overall, was offered a scholarship by Texas during his official visit on Saturday and accepted on the spot. In doing so, he became the 25th member of its 2012 class and the 18th with at least a four-star grade.

There appeared to at least be a chance of that happening when he scheduled his official visit to Austin last week. Johnson has always liked the Longhorns and even made the initial effort to see if they had any interest in him by asking Texas coach Mack Brown via text early during the 2011 season.

Then there didn't seem to be much a shot at all after he canceled his visit on Monday.

At that time, Johnson said that Texas had simply waited too long to get in the race and he had every intention on sticking with his commitment to TCU, where he had been committed since March 26.

But Texas stayed persistent. On Tuesday, Johnson received a phone call from Longhorns co-offensive coordinator Major Applewhite and a Facebook message from Mack Brown. That was enough to get Johnson to reschedule his visit for this weekend.

You can read the rest of the story here.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Peter Jinkens was engaged in a serious battle, 140 characters at a time. It was late at night on Jan. 18, and his Twitter account was on fire.

The online brawl appeared to be over a girl, one whom he's not too fond of anymore. The profanity-laced attacks flowed from his @SUMBODYSTOP_7 account and onto the timelines of friends and fans, rivals and reporters.

Once Jinkens cooled off, he saw the error of his ways and said sorry to his 650-plus followers.

"I WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE FOR MY TWEETS AND FROM THIS DAY FORWARD I WILL SHOW RESPECT AND HONOR FOR THE LONGHORN NAME…..HOOK'EM \m/"

And, more importantly:

"please dont tell mack brown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

On Wednesday, Jinkens will sign his letter of intent and officially become a Longhorn. Once he arrives on campus, though, the four-star linebacker from Dallas Skyline High won't have to worry about anyone tattling to his new head coach.

Brown can walk across the Texas football office and find out for himself. His staffers already receive emails alerting them to inappropriate tweets and Facebook posts made by UT football players.

You can read the rest of the story here.

Stepping onto a college campus for the first time can be pretty intimidating, especially if you're going to a school where you don't know a single person.

Oklahoma quarterback commit Trevor Knight (San Antonio/Reagan) knew that and wanted to help ease that transition. And before he'll ever be considered a leader on the field, Knight already has become a leader for the 2012 recruiting class.

Knight committed to Texas A&M last spring before switching to the Sooners in July. Not long after, Knight took the first of several steps he has made to show what a natural leader he is.

Knight wanted to find a way to get in touch with his future teammates and had just the way. He created an invite-only Facebook page for all the Sooners' commits in the Class of 2012.
"I started the page so that all of us could keep in contact as a group," Knight said. "I think it has turned out working great and really allowed us to stay in closer contact and start that close-knit family atmosphere that is needed on a team that wants to be successful."

During the football season, the commits would get online and talk about their games as well as talk about how OU did that week. It became a way for the recruits to get introduced to each other.

You can read the rest of the story here.

Michele Steele and ESPN Regional Coordinators Jaime Newberg, Dave Hooker, Damon Sayles, Mitch Sherman and Jared Shanker take you through the latest news on the college football recruiting scene.