Baylor beats USC, Washington to keep DL Trey Wilson in-state

Trey Wilson was coveted coast to coast by teams nationwide, but in the end it made sense to stay in Texas.

Wilson, the On3 Consensus’ No. 52-rated defensive lineman in the country pledged to Baylor on Tuesday. USC, Washington, and Utah were other finalists for the Garland (Texas) Lakeview Centennial edge-defender, who was leaning out of state for a large portion of his recruitment. Ultimately, lead Bear Dave Aranda and defensive line coach Dennis Johnson, who has been recruiting Wilson since he was an underclassman, got their message across at the right time.

“It just all makes sense playing for Dave Aranda and Dennis Johnson with their track record at LSU and the major one-year turnaround, it’s easy to see the potential and where they’re trying to take it,” Wilson told On3.

At different junctures of his recruitment, Wilson was high on Stanford, Michigan, Washington and USC, but Baylor remained adamant in their pursuit. Johnson was the link that kept the Baylors in the mix, and during Wilson and his family’s return trip to Waco last month they got new perspective as they moved toward a decision.

“Me and Coach DJ are able to have talks out of football and in my recruitment, and that was the biggest thing for me because you want to be able to have talks outside of football,” Wilson explained. “Seeing guys like me and people with the same goals as me knowing, I’m going to be taken care of football-wise and academically.”

Wilson is the nation’s No. 451 overall player regardless of position on the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.