
The Longhorns remain in the mix for one of the top players available in the NCAA transfer portal.
Former TCU Horned Frogs edge Ochaun Mathis released his top five schools on Thursday and the Texas Longhorns made the cut.
Thankful for all of the schools who showed love and interests! But here’s my Top 5‼️#collegefootball pic.twitter.com/o6QiFnIWQ8
— Ochaun Mathis (@OchaunDevon) February 17, 2022
The other schools that remain under consideration by Mathis are Nebraska, Ole Miss, Penn State, and USC.
Mathis entered the NCAA transfer portal last month and the Longhorns immediately became the favorite, receiving five 247Sports Crystal Ball transfer predictions even before former Horned Frogs head coach Gary Patterson arrived on the Forty Acres as a special assistant to head coach Steve Sarkisian.
A consensus three-star prospect out of Manor in the 2018 recruiting class ranked as the No. 746 player nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Mathis was identified by Patterson early in the cycle, committing at a Junior Day in January 2017. The belief that Mathis had in Patterson, who made his career at TCU identifying and developing players like Mathis, kept the Austin-area product in the class even after he received an offer from Oklahoma.
Mathis played sparingly as a freshman, appearing in four games for the Horned Frogs to maintain his redshirt status, then began to make an impact in 2019, starting all 12 games and tying for fifth on the team with 40 tackles, including 9.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
As a redshirt sophomore in 2020, Mathis had his breakout season, recording 46 tackles, finishing third in the Big 12 with 14 tackles for loss, and leading the conference with 11 sacks, the most for a TCU player since Mat Boesen in 2017, and earning second-team All-Big 12 recognition.
In 2021, Mathis wasn’t quite as productive with 46 tackles, seven tackles for loss, and four sacks, but he still would have led Texas in tackles for loss and sacks.
The Longhorns did add some promising edge recruits in the 2022 class, including Justice Finley and J’Mond Tapp, but landing Mathis would reduce the pressure on those prospects to contribute early or for older but unproven players like Prince Dorbah and Derrick Harris Jr. to break through.
Mathis will be a summer enrollee at the program of his choice as a senior with two potential seasons of eligibility remaining.