Burnt Orange Nation

In a Signing Day ceremony at his high school, all-world wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, considered a rare talent at the position, committed to Missouri, choosing the Tigers over Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and a host of other schools.

An official visit over the weekend helped vault the Tigers into the lead, passing previous favorite Arkansas, the school that appeared to be in the lead after a visit the week before. The announcement must have come as quite a shock to Hog fans who considered DGB to be in the bag only a few short days ago.

But the home-state school won out in the end, possible the preference of his parents after the Beckhams declined to accompany their adopted son on the trip to Fayetteville. There were reports that the Longhorns were notified by either DGB or the family that they had been eliminated from consideration on Tuesday evening.

For the Longhorns, how much it hurts to lose DGB probably depends on whether individual fans see him as a luxury take in a class that already includes several top-rated wide receiver commits. None of them are on the otherwordly level, who has a combination of size and speed rarely seen at the high school level. At Texas, he would have provided both a security blanket and a deep threat who could stretch the field on playaction, a major necessity in the Bryan Harsin offense.

Still, it's probably remarkable enough that the Longhorns were even in consideration down the final stretch, as Texas got in on the recruitment rather late and only because wide receivers coach Darrell Wyatt had already built a relationship with the big wide receiver. Had Texas been closer to home, many reports in recent weeks indicated that the Longhorns might even have been in the lead after making positive impressions on DGB, his family, and his younger brother.

For video of the announcement, head on over to the mothership.