4-star athlete Aaron Butler commits to Texas

Calabasas (Calif.) four-star athlete Aaron Butler has committed to Texas.

The 5-foot-11.5, 165-pounder chose the Longhorns following his decommitment from Colorado on Dec. 9. He was also committed to USC early in his recruitment.

Butler is the No. 179 overall prospect and No. 7 athlete in the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He’s also the No. 16 player in California.

Despite not having Butler on campus for a visit this fall, Steve Sarkisian and his staff were able to beat out both Arizona and Washington for the West Coast-based playmaker.

Butler has an On3 NIL Valuation of $110K. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.

Longhorns now have No. 3 class in 2024 cycle

With Butler now headed to The Forty Acres, Texas rounds out the Early Signing Period with 23 commits. The Longhorns jumped Oregon and now have the No. 3 recruiting class in the cycle, according to the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings.

Texas’ class consists of three five-stars, 16 four-stars and four three-star prospects. The trio of five-star recruits committed to the Longhorns are Duncanville (Texas) Five-Star Plus+ EDGE Colin Simmons, Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei five-star offensive tackle Brandon Baker and Saint Louis (Mo.) University five-star wide receiver Ryan Wingo.

Four additional top-100 recruits are committed to Sarkisian and Texas: McKinney (Texas) four-star safety Xavier Filsaime, Waco (Texas) Connally four-star cornerback Kobe Black, Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy four-star running back Jerrick Gibson and Marrero (La.) John Ehret four-star cornerback Wardell Mack.

Four-star and five-star prospects are rated as ‘blue-chip’ prospects — Texas’ class sits at No. 1 nationally in blue-chip percentage at 82.61%. The average distance of a Texas recruit’s hometown to Austin is 471.5 miles and 57% of the class hails from the state of Texas.