2025 four-star WR Winston Watkins decommits from Texas A&M

2025 Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy four-star wide receiver Winston Watkins Jr. has backed off his early pledge to Texas A&M nearly a year after originally committing to the Aggies back in December 2021.

The four-star, who ranks as the No. 20 prospect and the No. 4 wide receiver in the cycle, was the lone commit in the Aggies’ 2025 class. Even though he’s opening things up, Texas A&M will remain a top contender for him.

“(Texas A&M) is definitely going to be in my top schools,” the sophomore told On3. “They’re not going anywhere from my top schools. But right now, I just feel like I need to hear other schools and see what they’ve got going on.”

The four-star didn’t shy away from stating that Texas A&M’s 3-7 was part of the reason he decommitted.

“They’re not doing the best on the field right now and they’re just trying to figure things out,” he said.

He continued to make visits after committing to Texas A&M and now those trips will only ramp up. To date, he’s visited Florida State, Miami, Utah, Ohio State, Alabama and Tennessee and plans to visit Maryland this weekend for the Terrapins game against Ohio State. The Buckeyes, in addition to the in-state Seminoles and Hurricanes have quickly emerged as top contenders in his recruitment since re-opening his recruitment. .

Watkins was one of the first 2025 prospects to make a commitment when he announced in favor of the Aggies back in December, but this time around, he plans to take the process a little slower.

“I definitely want to take things slow and just see what’s all going on and just figure everything out,” Watkins Jr. said.

When the time does come to make a decision, Watkins knows what he’s looking for in a program.

“I want to see who’s in front of me class-wise and see if I will be able to get on the field,” Watkins Jr. said. “Get taught and get to be able to be at my best level of play.”

Watkins is the second commit Texas A&M has lost in November along with 2023 Denton (Tex.) Ryan five-star linebacker Anthony Hill who decommitted from the Aggies last week. Texas A&M now holds eleven commits in the 2023 class, two in the 2024 class and none in the 2025 class.

Watkins ranks as the No. 20 prospect and the No. 4 wide receiver in the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. The four-star has an On3 NIL Valuation of $130K. The On3 NIL Valuation is an index that looks to set the standard market value for both high school and college-level athletes. 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.