Houston kicks off 2024 class with a commitment from EDGE Zion Taylor

Houston is one of the newest additions to the Big 12 conference and the Cougars are kicking off their 2024 class a hometown commitment.

During a junior day visit on Saturday, the Cougars set off their 2024 class with a commitment from three-star EDGE Zion Taylor out of Pearland (Texas) Shadow Creek. Taylor checks in as the No. 47 EDGE in the 2024 class, according to the On3 Consensus.

Taylor picked the Cougars over Arkansas, Kansas, Cal, Tulane and Michigan State. Houston made the decision easy on the local product.

“It was hard and then again, it wasn’t hard,” Taylor told On3. “I stayed with these Houston coaches. They messed with me and didn’t get stuck on size, or whether he fit in a three-man or four-man front. In the real world, when it came down to playing football, they told me I was a ball player and Houston has been rocking with me since my freshman year. It always felt like home, there was always love and it’s always been home.”

Defensive line coach Brian Early spearheaded Taylor’s recruitment for Houston and made his intentions known from the jump with the three-star EDGE.

“It’s home and they know how they want to play me, what I can be in their defense and how to make me the best player I can be,” Taylor explained. “They’re gonna run a four-man front and I’ll be a stand-up EDGE. They just want me to be a good ball player and get to the quarterback.”

“Coach Early is a genuine man,” he continued. “He kept it 100 with me about what I needed to work on and what I needed to do. He knows how to develop players and get them to the next level. If you look at the numbers over the past few years, Houston is one of the schools with the most EDGE players at the next level. They’ve proven they know how to develop players and they want to develop me as a person and as a football player.”

Taylor checks in as the No. 721 player in the country overall, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.