The nation's top high school quarterback verbally committed to Texas on Monday, according to national recruiting service Rivals.com.
Ryan Perrilloux, a 6-foot-2-inch, 207-pound prized quarterback from East St. John High School in Reserve, La., had accumulated a staggering 82 scholarship offers, including offers from Michigan, LSU, Miami, Florida and Florida State, but he decided to end all of the speculation and chaos surrounding the recruiting process and commit to the Longhorns.
Perrilloux is considered the top quarterback prospect in the country by several national scouting services. The commitment cannot be made official until signing day on Feb. 5, 2005.
"Perrilloux called [Texas offensive coordinator] Greg Davis on Sunday night to tell him the good news," said Geoff Ketchum, who is the recruiting analyst for Rivals-affiliated Orangebloods.com.
"As the quarterbacks coach, Davis has been in control of recruiting Perrilloux. Perrilloux and his mother came to Austin for a one-day camp in June and got a chance to see the campus and the facilities. They were very comfortable with the Texas coaches."
According to Rivals.com, the Longhorns' depth chart proved to be the deciding factor. Perrilloux, who is ranked as the ninth overall prospect for 2005 by Rivals, was swayed by the lack of young quarterbacks on the 40 Acres. It was particularly appealing to him, because the Longhorns have failed to sign a quarterback in their past two recruiting classes. The state of Texas had one of its best quarterback classes ever last year, but Mack Brown came up empty, as Rhett Bomar (Oklahoma), Bobby Reid (Oklahoma State) and Kirby Freeman (Miami) all left the Lone Star State.
Perrilloux is highly touted primarily because of his ability to be a dual threat with his legs and his arm, and if Perrilloux can maintain his production, Brown's recent failures in recruiting quarterbacks could be a distant memory. As a high school sophomore, Perrilloux totaled 2,711 yards and 32 touchdowns. Perrilloux upped his statistics to a staggering 3,678 total yards and 47 touchdowns as a junior -- passing for 2,404 and rushing for 1,274.
"If Perrilloux signs in February [on national signing day], the last few years without signing a quarterback won't be a big deal anymore," Ketchum said. "Brown would be bringing in his third top-ranked quarterback, because Chris Simms was the nation's top-ranked quarterback in 1999, as was Vince Young in 2002. But it is still up in the air. Recruiting is a crazy business, but I talked to Perrilloux, and he sounded as solid as they get."
Perrilloux is currently visiting LSU for a three-day summer camp, but Ketchum was confident that the Longhorns have nothing to worry about. He said that Perrilloux told the LSU coaching staff that he would be at the camp, and he is sticking by his word. In fact, Ketchum thinks that Perrilloux's attendance at the camp should make Texas fans more confident that he will sign the dotted line in February.
"He said that he is a man of his word, and he wanted to go to the LSU camp because it was the right thing to do," Ketchum said. "He emphasized that his word is his bond, and that goes for his commitment to Texas as well."
Last weekend, Perrilloux was able to showcase his skills at the prestigious Elite 11 Quarterback Camp in Mission Viejo, Calif., against 10 of the nation's top quarterbacks. The camp annually invites the top high school signal callers from across the United States.
Ketchum said that Perrilloux had a very impressive week of workouts in California and was able to showcase his arm, which could be the strongest in the country. You won't get any argument out of Perrilloux.
"I have a stronger arm than every quarterback," Perrilloux said in a May interview with Rivals.com. "I'm more accurate than any quarterback. I'm faster and bigger, and really think I'm the best quarterback in the country."
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