Rather than suiting up for Texas, the New Orleans product will now play against the Horns as a Horned Frog.
Rather than having seven new faces in the defensive backfield next season, the Texas Longhorns will now have six after New Orleans (La.) Warren Easton cornerback Ronald Lewis flipped to the TCU Horned Frogs National Signing Day 2.
‘ . #GoFrogs pic.twitter.com/AUSkSOjOuf
— Ronald “Champ” Lewis ✞ (@chaamp7) February 2, 2022
A one-time Colorado pledge, Lewis was committed to the Longhorns for most of the 2021 season, announcing his decision in late September. But as Texas closed the cornerback position on an unexpectedly high note down the stretch, flipping Jaylon Gilbeau from TCU in late November, and then flipping Terrence Brooks from Ohio State on NSD1, just one week before landing Ohio State transfer Ryan Watts, there was some thought that Lewis could potentially get processed from class after the roster numbers tightened.
That certainly seemed to be the case when Lewis opted to keep his options open through the early signing day, becoming the only Longhorns commit not to sign on Dec. 15.
Afterward, with the door still clearly open, others made their late pushes for the three-star prospect, with offers coming in from Boston College, Jackson State, Florida International, and lastly, TCU on Jan. 23. Within just a couple days of that offer from the Horned Frogs, it became expected that Lewis found a soft landing if he, indeed, get processed from Texas’ 27-man class — not including the four transfers — with a flurry of Crystal Ball picks being placed for TCU.
And on Feb. 2, that expected flip became reality, so now rather than playing for the Longhorns, he’ll be suited up against them — at least for a season or two before the Longhorns leave for the SEC.
Meanwhile, the secondary finished as a strength of the Longhorns’ 2022 class.
In addition to Gilbeau, Brooks, and the transfer addition of Watts, Texas signed a trio of four-star safeties in Austin Jordan, Bryan Allen Jr., and Larry Turner Gooden, as well as a three-star athlete in Xavion Brice, who’s expected to find a fit in the secondary.