Chapel Hill Bulldog standouts (from left) Demetrius Brisbon Jr. (Baylor), Keldrick Davis (Tarleton State), and Rickey Stewart Jr. (Texas) are shown with their Bulldog teammates on Wednesday. (Phil Hicks/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

AUSTIN — Texas restocked.

Not that the cupboard was bare. Anything but.

Heck, it’s so full you can’t even see the shelf lining.

On the heels of an ongoing national championship run, Longhorn head coach Steve Sarkisian signed the nation’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class on signing day Wednesday, landing a defense-heavy crop that should maintain the pedigree of a unit that ranks among the tops in the country.

The Longhorns signed 24 players in its 2025 recruiting class and finished strong to hold off Georgia and Alabama for the top ranking, according to 247 Sports Composite.

Of the top 25 ranked by 247, 12 were SEC teams, including Texas A&M, which was slotted eighth with 25 signees, two of them five-star players. All 16 league teams were ranked among the top 32, save for Vanderbilt, whose class with no five and only one four star was ranked 71st.

Texas would end up with four five-star players and 14 four-star prospects, and nine of the signees in the 2025 class are Top 100 players. No other school besides Georgia (five), Alabama (four) and Oregon (four) had as many as four five-star additions.

Among the biggest names for Texas were safety/baseball pitcher Jonah Williams, deep-threat wide receiver Kaliq Lockett and versatile athlete Michael Terry III, who has played running back, wide receiver, cornerback and safety for Alamo Heights in San Antonio. The Longhorns beat out Texas A&M and LSU for Williams.

The breakdown of the class filled a lot of needs for Texas, especially with four defensive linemen to ease the potential loss of six seniors. Sarkisian went heavy on defensive backs again, landing three safeties and two cornerbacks.

Sarkisian signed 11 defensive and 12 offensive players and one in Terry who can play wherever he wants.

Texas’ second consecutive season with at least 11 wins and possibly more that that came away with a big bounty with a very versatile group. The school’s spectacular debut in its first year in the SEC turned huge dividends for Texas.

Among the key figures are four-star Elijah Barnes, who fits in the mold of an Anthony Hill Jr. and Colin Simmons; four-star defensive lineman Josiah Sharma, four-star defensive back Zelus Hicks and the aforementioned Terry, the nation’s top-ranked athlete according to 247Sports Composite who can play running back or tight end or even in the defensive secondary. Terry picked Texas over No. 1 Oregon and Nebraska.

Texas did flip four-star cornerback Kade Phillips of Fort Bend Hightower from his commitment to LSU and signed defensive back Caleb Chester of Fort Bend Marshall but couldn’t dislodge Lewisville star offensive tackle Michael Fasusi — the No. 2-ranked lineman in the nation — away from Oklahoma.

Sarkisian also expanded his recruiting borders in a big way, grabbing eight out-of-state players from as far away as California and Florida.

Texas had the fourth-ranked recruiting class in the nation before Terry’s commitment put it over the top.

Texas lost three-star offensive lineman John Mills to Washington and four-star defensive lineman Joseph Mbatchou to Florida but Texas signed two players who also have a load of potential in baseball.

Both edge rusher Lance Jackson — the brother of Arkansas football star Landon Jackson — and defensive back Jonah Williams are power pitchers. Jackson is a 6-5 right-hander capable of hitting 95 mph with his fastball, and Williams is a hard-throwing lefty can throw a 94-mph fastball and who is expected to be cleared for activity Friday after breaking his collarbone.

“He’s really good when he’s been playing,” Texas baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “A very talented athlete.”

The Longhorns also signed Chapel Hill running back Rickey Stewart Jr.

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