The first day of their senior year of high school featured special announcements from two highly-touted Duncanville High School football players.
Five-star defensive end Collin Simmons and four-star running back Caden Durham announced their college commitments during a ceremony at the school’s gymnasium on Thursday.
Durham made his choice first, enlisting some help and implementing a fake-out with a Texas A&M hat before committing to LSU, as most experts predicted.
The senior running back becomes the Tigers’ first commit at the position this recruiting cycle. According to 247Sports, he is the 173rd-ranked player in the country, the 12th-best running back, and the 31st-ranked player in the state after rushing for 2,609 yards and 43 touchdowns over the last two seasons.
Simmons announced his choice a few minutes later, choosing the University of Texas over LSU and Miami. Initially, Durham placed an LSU hat on Simmons’ head, but the defensive end quickly took it off before donning a Miami cap that he also removed. He then turned to his brother, who handed him the Texas hat as he made his commitment official.
Simmons is the No.1-rated defensive end in the country and the sixth-best player in the 2024 recruiting class overall. He becomes the first defensive end to commit to the Longhorns in this class and has 147 tackles, 33 tackles for loss, and 34.5 sacks as a high school player.