First-year Texas soccer coach Steve Sarkisian made his first big hit on the scouting track on Saturday, securing the hiring of five-star Class 2022 quarterback Maalik Murphy. Murphy pledged to the Longhorns on a long list of contenders that included Alabama, UCLA, Oregon and Auburn. This is Sarkisian’s first five-star engagement in Texas since he resumed the concert last month and a foundational piece the program must build on during its first full recruiting cycle.
Murphy’s engagement fills a gap in a position of need after five-star quarterback Quinn Ewers, ranked No.1 in the 2022 category, walked away from his Texas engagement last fall and then went engaged in the state of Ohio. He ranks 30th at 247Sports Composite and second nationally among all professional style prospects.
A tall quarterback with a strong arm, Murphy first jumped on the Texas radar when former coach Tom Herman and his team awarded him a scholarship in 2019. But when Sarkisian took the reins the month last, it seems they made it a priority. Murphy, who paid in haste.
“I think he’s the perfect coach to prepare me for the next level,” Murphy told 247Sports. “He’s a guy from Cali and someone I’m really comfortable with. I look at what he has done in the past and how he is developing quarterbacks and I think he can help me achieve my goals, which is to play in the NFL. I love his offensive and think I get along really well with what he wants to do when it comes to the ploy. “
The 2022 engagement class for Texas remains slim as the cycle has just started in earnest and Sarkisian is just putting his legs under him. But with Murphy in the fold, the class ranks in the top 10 nationally and second among all the Big 12 teams behind Oklahoma. More importantly, Murphy, who is from California, could get Sarkisian to really tap into his West Coast ties, which could help attract other targets from the region.
“I think Texas put everything in place to do a race,” added Murphy. “They can recruit nationally and I’m seeing that already with some of the guys I’ve talked to. There’s a ton of talent out there in Texas, but they can recruit players from all over the country and it’s really exciting. for me. “
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