Billy Walton, a redshirt freshman edge for the Texas Longhorns, told On3 on Monday that he will use the NCAA transfer portal as soon as the spring window opens.
After visiting Stillwater in April, Walton chose to commit to Oklahoma State a few days after receiving his initial offer from Texas back in January 2022.
But the Longhorns persisted in their recruitment of Walton, getting the only other official visit outside of the Cowboys, and did enough to persuade the generally regarded as a three-star prospect to stay in his home state following Walton’s decommitment from Oklahoma State a few days prior to his late June enrollment in the Texas class.
As a junior, Walton was a standout for the 5A-DII state champions, producing 12 sacks, 21 tackles for loss, and 55 tackles at South Oak Cliff, helping him earn over 20 offers, including Nebraska, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech, among others. As a senior, Walton turned in an outstanding season, recording 100 tackles, 32 tackles for loss, 18 sacks, and two interceptions.
When Walton signed with the Longhorns as a member of the 2023 recruiting class, he was as a consensus three-star prospect ranked as the No. 506 player nationally and the No. 49 edge, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
The offseason additions of former UTSA standout Trey Moore, the AAC Defensive Player of the Year, and consensus five-star prospect Colin Simmons, the No. 2 edge in the 2024 recruiting class, made a path to playing time more difficult for the 6’3, 229-pounder.
Two other Texas players — redshirt freshman offensive lineman Payton Kirkland and redshirt freshman linebacker S’Maje Burrell — also plan to enter the portal with the end of spring practice looming next Saturday with the annual Orange-White game.
Leave a Reply