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Running back drawing attention Take a look at the moves of Bryce Brown. The Wichita, Kan. star is Rivals.com's top-rated prospect in country

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RECRUITING NOTEBOOK

By Jeremy Crabtree

updated 5:26 p.m. ET Feb. 10, 2009

Now that the smoke has cleared after National Signing Day, almost every recruitnik will focus on five-star running back Bryce Brown, the nation’s No. 1 player. Brown, from Wichita (Kan.) East, decided to wait things out and didn’t sign Wednesday.

As to which schools remain on his list, that’s not clear.

“Every day is one step closer, and I am still deciding on where I will be taking my final two visits,” Brown said in a news release posted on his mentor’s Web site. “After that, my family and I will spend some time in prayer and the decision will be made.

“National Signing Day is the beginning of the period that runs until April, and I didn’t sign on the first day. I was surprised that so many people were making a big deal about me not signing on the first day of the period. No one has to sign on Feb. 4. This is the biggest decision of my life, and I am not 100 percent at peace about any school, so I decided to wait.”

Brown said before NSD that he still was committed to Miami, but Auburn, Clemson, Kansas State, Oregon, Tennessee and USC remained in the hunt. There also were reports that Georgia and LSU were trying to secure one of Brown’s visits.

Brown said he will announce his decision on March 12.

Longhorns looking ahead
Texas’ Mack Brown used to be known as “Coach February” because of his early recruiting success and failures in big games. Well, now that Brown has led the Longhorns to a national championship and multiple BCS bowl appearances, that title is long gone — but his recruiting dominance in February isn’t.

Nobody in the nation is better at early recruiting than Texas, and the Longhorns flexed their muscle with a colossal recruiting weekend. After inviting a select crew of top juniors to Austin for “Junior Day,” the Horns scored 10 commitments from some of the best players in the Lone Star State.

The weekend started off with the surprise commitment of Galena Park (Texas) North Shore offensive lineman Trey Hopkins, and then it continued with nine more commitments over the next 72 hours. In the end, it has to go down as one of the wildest recruiting weekends ever as the Longhorns put a stranglehold on many of the top 2010 players from Texas.

Safety Ahmad Dixon was one of the players who pledged to the Longhorns, and his commitment could go down as one of the gems in the class. Though Rivals.com won’t release its first state rankings for several months, it’s clear Dixon is one of the top players in Texas.

“I like how the coaches click together,” Dixon said. “It’s like a big family, a home away from home.”

That sentiment was repeated time after time over the weekend. Brown and Co. did a masterful job of rolling out the red carpet for prospects and making them feel as if they already were a part of the Longhorns’ program.

“They’re genuinely good people, and they were telling me stuff and I didn’t think they were lying about it,” Denton (Texas) Guyer defensive tackle Taylor Bible said. “I felt they were genuinely honest about what they were saying. There are some places you just don’t feel that way. You feel like they’re hiding something from you.”

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