Recruiting Country: The latest recruiting news surrounding the Maroon & White

Key notes from Recruiting Country

• Two weekends of visits. Last weekend, Hunter McKinney‍ made his second trip. What a story. I bumped into Steve McKinney at UTSA. He told me Adam Cushing offered Hunter a roster spot. They were going to talk about it more, and it looks like they’ve gone through with it. Super cool.
   
• I started going to watch Hunter when he was a freshman. That time, Montgomery Lake Creek had a running back who was getting interest from A&M, so that was why I headed down there. Hunter has offers from here and Houston Christian. To follow in his dad’s and his uncle Seth McKinney’s footsteps is a big thing. Now, a parent shouldn’t police their kid on where to go. Their life is theirs, but Hunter has grown up coming to Kyle Field. He was at the Alabama Seth Small game-winning field goal game. It gives you a good idea that Hunter has been all in on the Aggies for a long time.
   
• To play college football is great, but the development you are going to get on and off the field at A&M is outmatched. I don’t think anyone at HCU would argue that. He is 6-foot-3. It couldn’t happen to a better Aggie family. The Final Countdown is the best hour of radio we produce here in the fall, and both McKinneys are as good as human beings as you can get. Good Aggies, and they've had to deal with Billy Liucci as their best friend for over half their life.
   
• The performances by A&M’s wide receiver commits were great. Mike Brown‍, son of Reggie Brown, was incredible. Eleven catches, 216 yards, and four touchdowns against Port Arthur Memorial. That is the best defense he will play this year. Against Houston Second Baptist, he had 109 yards receiving and a touchdown. He is on his way to 1,000 yards receiving. I talked to him and told him he is the most improved player I have ever seen.
   
• When he committed to A&M, I thought he was like Chase Lane, but as Mike has been getting older and stronger, it was on full display this past weekend against a 5A DI team. In the second half, Port Arthur Memorial moved their defensive back Brock King‍, a TCU commit, over to Mike, and it didn’t matter. Contested catches, over the middle passes and low catches. He had a 12-yard comeback reception, and then hit a spin move and ran for a 60-yard touchdown.
   
• The standard set in the Brown household includes recovery sessions, speed training, a weight plan and a regimen to get better. Reggie is such a humble guy, and he just wants to watch his son play. He was great at A&M. I am so impressed by what Mike has grown into.
   
• Jason Howell was getting texts about Madden Williams‍ saying, “A&M has got a real dude here.” Saint John Bosco played vs. Saint Frances Academy in Maryland, a very quality high school. So Williams was going against the best secondary he would play all year. He went for seven catches, 180 yards and a touchdown, and they won. A&M took this kid before his stock had gone up, and now his trajectory is going north. Aaron Gregory‍ should be a five-star by every service. Eleven catches and 200 yards again. He has a monster start to his season, as well.
   
• The totals for the committed A&M receivers through two games are 34 catches, 513 yards in Week 1. Last week, 619 yards on 30 grabs and six scores. It has been a clear, concise plan by Mike Elko and GM Derek Miller for the receiver room.
   
• In the 2025 class, you sign Kelshaun Johnson, who can run. TK Norman was your do-it-all guy. Jerome Myles can fly. Then you get KC Concepcion and Mario Craver in the portal. Gregory can really run. They've got guys who can really run. They’ve done a good job at making the receiver room versatile. Brown is not an elite runner. Williams looks like a running back out there. They value speed, agility and creating space in the open field is much more of a premium than body style. Can you run and separate? That is what they’ve been into.
   
• A second quarterback in the 2026 class is unlikely. In the manner that none of those quarterbacks leave, besides Jacob Zeno, you will add Helaman Casuga‍. Brady Hart was supposed to be class of 2026. It will be too crowded to take another.
   
• For defensive tackle, combing through the state of Texas, Jaimeon Winfield‍’s name keeps coming up. There is a kid in Friendswood named Jordyn Crites‍, who is committed to Tulane. He is like 6-foot-6, 270 pounds. He looks like J.J. Watt out there. Maybe they kick the tires there. But guys like that are people still getting looked at. Depends on how the season goes and what happens in the portal.
   
• Keisean Henderson‍ is a name that has come up, too. He is committed to Houston. We’ve talked about him before, early in his high school development. They thought he’d be a receiver or safety. Houston said, “No, you are a quarterback.” At the time of that decision, he was very raw as a quarterback. Many schools were skeptical. The amount of work he has put in has been tremendous.
   
• Against Port Arthur, Henderson went 30-for-38, 537 yards and five touchdowns, six rushes for 116 yards and a rushing touchdown. 652 total yards and six touchdowns in a game. It was the best quarterback performance I’ve ever seen in my 10 years of going to games for recruiting. At that school, they have kids from every sector of Houston. They are putting out a good product, showing development, and it has been good for them. They will continue to grow.
   
• All the commits have been quiet. With KJ Edwards‍, Texas and LSU are pushing for him, but I heard that he is in a good spot with A&M. I trust Trooper Taylor. It seems that A&M is in a good spot to keep Edwards.