Cedric Baxter Jr. has committed to play college football at Texas. This is another great accomplishment for the Longhorns, who skipped Georgia and Ohio State in the 2023 recruiting rankings for 247Sports thanks to this news. Other top college programs that had hats on the table included Miami, Florida, UCF and Texas A&M.
This addition improves Texas’ recruiting score for the year to 285.93, which ranks them third in the nation behind only Alabama and Notre Dame. Baxter is the fifth top-50 prospect to join the school, highlighted by the nation’s top recruit, quarterback Arch Manning.
A four-star recruit himself, Baxter (6-foot-1, 215 pounds) says that made up his mind weeks ago but made the announcement just moments ago at a ceremony at his high school in Orlando. He went down the line, touting the merits of each of the college programs he was considering. As for Texas, Baxter mentioned head coach Steve Sarkisian’s experience at Alabama and his knowledge of how to win.
At the big reveal, Baxter donned a cowboy hat and made it official.
Some of the more elevated players Baxter has received include Najee Harris and Le’Veon Bell. Here’s a look at his highlight tape from his breakout season in 2021.
Baxter played his first three years at Edgewater in Orlando, but didn’t become a full-time starter until last season. He totaled 1,651 rushing yards in 199 attempts (8.3 yards per carry average) and scored 22 rushing touchdowns.
He was ranked No. 31 as a rookie and the second best flees back to the country behind Rueben Owens II, according to 247Sports.