4-star WR Aeryn Hampton names top two schools

Carthage (Texas) four-star wide receiver Aeryn Hampton decommitted from Texas last November after pledging to the Longhorns a little more than nine months before that.

But despite his choice to leave Texas’ class, Steve Sarkisian and Co. kept recruiting him. Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas, Oregon, Michigan, and Nebraska were among the other contenders named in his top seven in early February of this year.

But he is now down to just two: Alabama and Texas.

The 5-foot-11, 185-pounder announced on Wednesday that the Longhorns and Crimson Tide are left at the top of his recruitment.

“It’s great every time I go,” Hampton recently told InsideTexas of the Longhorns. “I really liked DeAndre Moore and Jordan Whittington. Arch (Manning), Johntay (Cook), and (Xavier) Worthy, they really stood out.

… Me, Micah (Hudson), DeAndre and Johntay would be nasty in that offense. We are all speedsters and we all fit Sark’s offensive vision.” 

In early January, he named the Crimson Tide as the leader in his recruitment. And as of right now, the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine still reflects that.

“I’d say Bama is the leader right now,” Hampton told BamaInsider. “Just because of the way they can develop me to become a better receiver. Also, Coach Saban and just the way he coaches. … With other schools, you might get another head coach. But with Saban, you know Coach Saban is going to be there the whole four years you’re there until he retires.”

Aeryn Hampton had a monster junior year

Hampton finished his junior season with 55 receptions for 1,161 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also racked up 57 tackles, five tackles for loss, three interceptions, three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles.

He also excelled on special teams with 11 returns for 260 yards and a score. Those numbers helped him earn second-team all-state honors at Daingerfield (Texas) in 2022. 

Hampton is the No. 124 overall prospect in the 2024 class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He ranks as the nation’s No. 21 wide receiver and the No. 22 recruit in Texas.

He has an On3 NIL Valuation of $123K. 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.