Texas football landed a huge recruiting win on Sunday when four-star linebacker Taven Epps — the country’s No. 2-ranked linebacker prospect for the class of 2027 — committed.
Epps, who’ll be a junior this fall at Tustin High School in Tustin, Calif., is Texas’ first pledge for 2027. He picked Texas over more than 30 other offers, including USC and UCLA. He’s currently the No. 54 overall prospect for 2027, per 247Sports’ composite rankings.
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He made an unofficial visit to Texas on March 28.
More: Texas football already targeting top 2026 and 2027 recruits after National Signing Day
Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium at the University of Texas, March 13, 2025.
“I’m coming home,” Epps wrote in his commitment post.
Epps is a Texas native who moved to California when he was 13. He grew up in Boyd, 45 minutes northwest of Fort Worth.
“I’m originally from Texas so it’s always nice when my hometown University shows interest in me,” Epps told Horns247 in September. “The co-defensive coordinator coach, Johnny Nansen, coached my high school coach Chris Hawkins in college so that’s where the connection was made.”
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Measuring in at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, Epps played safety in the past before moving to linebacker as a sophomore. This past year, in 10 games he racked up 38 tackles, 11 hurries, nine tackles for loss, seven sacks, one blocked punt and one interception, which he returned 65 yards for a touchdown.
Anthony Hill Jr. and Liona Lefau head the Longhorns’ current linebacking corps, and both will be draft-eligible after the conclusion of the 2025 season. Sophomore Ty’Anthony Smith and recent Arkansas transfer Brad Spence are other notable linebackers for Texas along with freshman Elijah Barnes.
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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Taven Epps, 2027 linebacker recruit commits to Texas football
