Longview Receiver Dorian Leonard Commits to Texas

One of East Texas' top targets in the 2014 football class pulled the trigger Thursday on his college commitment.

Longview's Dorian Leonard committed to Texas, Lobo head coach John King told ETSN.fm via text late Thursday morning.

The 6-foot-4, 198-pound receiver picked the Longhorns over offers from Florida State, Oklahoma, Oregon State, San Diego State, and Texas Tech. The Sooners were believed to be the closest challenger to Texas, which had offensive line coach Stacy Searels and co-offensive coordinator/receivers coach Darrell Wyatt recruiting Leonard.

"He said it came down to two, Texas and Oklahoma. He called me last night and said he was thinking about committing this morning," King said. "I told him to sleep on it and we'd visit about it in the morning. I think it came down to academics, depth chart, and coaching staff. That was the order he told me. That was the three things he said. He felt comfortable with it, so I told him to go where your heart leads you."

Leonard had 21 catches for 444 yards and four touchdowns in 2012, when Longview went 9-4 with a Class 5A Division II Region II semifinal appearance. He is expected to be the top target this fall for 2015 quarterback Dezmond Chumley (6-0, 188) in an offense with a slew of high-potential playmakers, such as 2015 tailback JaMycal Hasty (5-9, 181), 2014 tight end/receiver Jordan Whitaker (6-4, 190), and 2015 tight end/receiver Antonio Carter (6-2, 174).

Leonard has drawn comparisons to former Lobo star Malcolm Kelly, a 2005 Longview graduate who was an all-Big 12 performer at Oklahoma before playing for the Washington Redskins. Leonard's frame is similar to Kelly, who played at 6-foot-4, 219 pounds for the Sooners.

"Physically he's the closest thing we've had to Malcolm Kelly. There are some things he does at this age that are better maybe than what Malcolm did and some things maybe not as good," King said. "I think his best football is in front of him. It's gonna take some maturing for him to be in this type of environment playing in the Big 12 and being the go-to receiver. It's not something you can just walk on campus and do. The higher you get the more complex systems get and the more conversions you may have as a receiver. They'll ask you to do a few more things. There's no doubt he's got a lot of physical gifts to put him in a place to get a scholarship to Texas. There are some things he does you just can't coach."

Leonard is the first East Texan in the 2014 class to commit to Texas, although the Longhorns got two 2015 commitments from the region this past weekend.

Lufkin athlete Key'Vantanie "KeKe" Coutee (5-10, 160) and Center safety Johnny Shaw (6-1, 187) pledged to the Horns at a Texas camp in Austin. Shaw flipped his commitment from TCU, which he had committed to about three weeks earlier.

2014 East Texas Football Players With Division I FBS Offers

• Terry Ausborne, S, John Tyler, 5-10, 175 -- offer from SMU (1)
• Jacob Bragg, OL, Nacogdoches, 6-4, 310 -- offer from Kansas, Louisiana Tech, Oregon State, ULM (4)
• K.D. Cannon, WR, Mount Pleasant, 6-0, 160 — offers from Arizona, Baylor, Clemson, Florida State, Houston, Miami, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Purdue, SMU, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Utah, Vanderbilt, Virginia, West Virginia (21)
• Caleb Chumley, QB/ATH, Pine Tree, 6-5, 220 -- offers from Houston, Kansas, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, North Texas, Oregon State, Texas State (7)
• Joseph Clark, RB/S, Chapel Hill, 5-9, 175 -- offers from Air Force, Texas State (2)
• Kade Clayton, ATH, Tyler Grace, 6-0, 180 — offer from SMU, Texas State (2)
• Terrell Cuney, C, Jasper, 6-3, 260 — committed to Texas; additional offers from TCU, Texas Tech (3)
• Adrian Goodacre, OL, Carthage, 6-4, 310 -- offer from ULL (1)
• Tee Goree, WR, Carthage, 6-2, 168 -- offer from Louisiana Tech, Memphis, ULL, ULM (4)
• Davion Hall, ATH, Liberty-Eylau, 6-2, 191 — committed to Baylor; additional offers from Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, SMU, Stanford, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech (9)
• Zaycoven Henderson, DT, Longview, 6-1, 287 — committed to TCU; additional offers from Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, SMU, Texas Tech (7)
• Willy Ivery, ATH, Sulphur Springs, 5-8, 180 -- offers from Colorado State, New Mexico, North Texas, Texas State, Toledo (5)
• Jamal Jeffery, WR, Lufkin, 5-9, 165 — committed to Texas A&M (1)
• Chris Jefferson, ATH, Athens, 6-2, 200 -- committed to SMU (1)
• Ben Luckett, RB, Palestine, 6-0, 195 -- offer from ULM (1)
• Dorian Leonard, WR, Longview, 6-4, 200 — committed to Texas; offers from Florida State, Oklahoma, Oregon State, San Diego State, Texas Tech (6)
• Patrick Mahomes, QB, Whitehouse, 6-3, 203 — committed to Texas Tech; additional offers from Houston, North Texas, Rice (4); also has Arizona, Arkansas, Houston baseball offers
• Jarrell Owens, LB/DE, Palestine, 6-3, 238 -- offer from TCU, Texas State, Texas Tech, ULM (4)
• Greg Roberts, DE, Nacogdoches, 6-5, 210 -- offer from Baylor (1)
• Anthony Rhone, LB, Texas High, 6-0, 205 -- offer from SMU (1)
• Okeeron Rutherford, WR, Carthage, 6-5, 181 -- offer from ULM (1)
• Anthony Sanders, ATH, Athens, 5-11, 185 -- offer from ULM (1)
• Kevin Shorter, RB/S, Newton, 6-0, 190 — offers from Arkansas, Army, Baylor, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Houston, Kansas, LSU, Maryland, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, San Diego State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCLA, ULM, Utah (22)
• Brian Thlang, OL, Palestine, 6-2, 290 -- committed ULM (1)
• Justin Twine, ATH, Hemphill, 5-10, 195 — committed to TCU for baseball; additional football offer from Baylor (1)
• Josh Walker, RB/LB, Gilmer, 6-1, 220 — committed to Texas A&M; additional offers from Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech (4)
• D.J. Williams, DT, Lufkin, 6-4, 293 -- offers from Miami, Missouri, North Texas, Oklahoma (4)
• Jeffery Wilson, RB, Elkhart, 6-0, 190 -- offers from New Mexico State, North Texas, ULM (3)