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Elite 2025 4-star LB Riley Pettijohn visits Texas

hunterby: Hunter Shelton01/20/24HunterShelton_
Riley-pettijohn
On300 2025 4-star LB Riley Pettijohn (Sam Spiegelman, On3)

Austin is a recruiting hotbed this weekend. Plenty of the best 2025 prospects are on The Forty Acres for a stacked Texas Junior Day.

One of the highest-ranked recruits in attendance is McKinney (Texas) four-star linebacker Riley Pettijohn. The Lone Star product posed for a picture alongside Longhorns skipper Steve Sarkisian on Saturday:

Pettijohn holds offers from the who’s who of college football — ranging from Florida and Florida State, to LSU, Ohio State and Oregon, to Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Thus far, the Gators have had him on campus the most.

Texas, Florida among those pushing for Pettijohn

McKinney High is no stranger to a Florida-Texas recruiting battle — as seen with five-star safety Xavier Filsaime in the 2024 cycle. The elite defensive back flipped his commitment from the Gators to the Longhorns late and signed with the in-state program.

Pettijohn will be just as important of a recruit. He checks in as the No. 27 overall prospect and No. 3 linebacker in the 2025 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

“I have a good relationship with the coaches and like the way I can fit into their defense,” Pettijohn told Gators Online of UF in November. “(They like) my speed. They know I will be all around the field at will (linebacker). Also, just my tackling, being able to rush the passer, and coverage too.”

Linebackers coach Jeff Choate is leading Texas’ push for Pettijohn. If he were to pledge to the Longhorns, he would be the highest-ranked commit in the 2025 class — which currently ranks No. 10 in the nation, per the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings.

“Coach Choate is a really good guy. Funny guy. He checks on me quite often. He said he likes how versatile I am, and how he could move me around in their coverage. My ability to drop in coverage, and play the run,” Pettijohn told Inside Texas in October.

Back in October, Pettijohn released his top 12 schools. Joining Texas and Florida in the dozen are USC, Colorado, LSU, Auburn, Oklahoma, SMU, Michigan, Florida State, Ohio State, and TCU.

Pettijohn has an On3 NIL Valuation of $100K. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). 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.