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Texas Longhorns recruiting target just swerved Texas A&M amid official visits as Steve Sarkisian hopes to land commitment soon

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Travis May | Last updated Jun 12, 2025 7:56 PM ET

The Texas Longhorns continue closing in on a number of elite recruits amid official visits season this month. The team has already been enjoying significant success, looking like they're about to bring in another special recruiting class for 2026.

That simple knowledge is usually good enough, but any time that Texas can prosper while Texas A&M suffers it's especially enjoyable for Longhorns fans. And that's exactly what happened this week with an elite recruit who could be Steve Sarkisian's next Colin Simmons at edge rusher.

Jamarion Carlton, Four Star EDGE Recruit

Jamarion Carlton–a four star edge defender talent from Texas–has been considered a consensus Top 100 recruit in the nation for well over a year now, garnering offers from nearly every national power in college football.

Early on in his recruiting process he seemed to be a bit more amenable to out-of-state options, but down the stretch he's focused nearly all of his efforts on landing with the right Texas school.

Carlton visited officially with Texas Tech just over a month ago. Then he visited with the Texas Longhorns this past weekend. He was supposed to visit Texas A&M soon as well, but abruptly decided to cancel that trip following his time with Steve Sarkisian and company this past week. This of course is great news for Texas fans, seeing as his only remaining visit is with Baylor on the weekend of June 20th. Carlton will then be committing on July 10th.

Consensus top 50 overall prospect Jamarion Carlton has cancelled a trip to Texas A&M this weekend following his Texas official visit.

He tells me he will still take his official visit to #Baylor before making his commitment decision on July 10th. #SicEm pic.twitter.com/tIq4cFy3jL
— Grayson Grundhoefer (@GrayGrundhoefer) June 11, 2025

The hilarious swerve of Texas A&M is just the icing on top of what continues to be a promising recruitment that looks like it's leaning towards Texas. Jamarion Carlton has met with the Longhorns more than any other program and Texas is by far the only true "contender" school left in the mix to land this special talent.

All-American freshman edge rusher Colin Simmons continues to have an impact in recruiting when it comes to players along the defensive front. Not just with his obvious year one development and the easy selling point that is, but also by hosting players individually in person when they visit with Texas.

Carlton made it clear that Simmons and the entire program impressed him on his visit this past week. His decision to completely abandon Texas A&M likely isn't a coincidence.

Carlton isn't the only edge defender Texas is trying to bring in for the 2026 recruiting class, but he might be the most important. Both Trey Moore and Ethan Burke will be gone after this upcoming season, so the team is definitely going to need another elite edge rushing presence to step up opposite Colin Simmons here soon.

Carlton boasts both the necessary size to play a more conventional defensive end and the speed to play a variety of techniques that Texas may require him to play. Let's hope Steve Sarkisian, his staff, and apparently Colin Simmons did enough to seal the deal.

We'll be back with more Texas Longhorns coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!

If you want to see how important Jamarion Carlton could be for the Texas Longhorns defense just check out his highlights from last fall in the video below.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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