Four-star DL Johnny Bowens backs off Texas A&M commitment
2023 Converse (Tex.) Judson four-star defensive lineman Johnny Bowens announced he will be backing off his commitment to Texas A&M on Tuesday afternoon.
“First off, I want to thank Texas A&M and the opportunity Coach Price, Coach Robinson and the entire staff provided me to fulfill a lifelong dream of playing college football,” he said in a statement. “I will forever be grateful for the relationships I built with the coaching staff and members within the program. With that being said, I am decommitting and re-opening my recruitment. I am doing what is best for me, and at this time I want to be able to see other places to find what fits me best. My recruitment is 100% open. I hope Texas A&M fans understand.”
The four-star is coming off a recent weekend visit to Oregon, and the Ducks have made the rising senior a priority since the arrival of new head coach Dan Lanning and the staff in Eugene. In addition to the push from the Ducks, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Texas and other schools have continued to maintain contact with Bowens.
The four-star previously noted that he had planned to use all five of his official visits.
“Just to have fun, because you only get one experience to go to all the schools and officials,” he said. “Everybody don’t get to do that so I want to make sure I do that.”
Despite his decommitment, expect the Aggies to maintain contact and look to re-secure the four-star’s commitment. Prior to decommitting, Bowens noted the Aggies remained a top school for him
because of the love he’s felt from the program.
“They show more love than everybody else,” he said. ” And it just felt like home when I got there. All the fans knew me and stuff. I just felt at home when I was there.”
The four-star added that he hears from defensive ends coach Terry Price everyday.
“It’s good,” he said of his relationship with Price. “He calls me everyday to check on my family and my mom and everybody.”
With the loss of Bowens, the Aggies now hold five total commits in the 2023 class, which now ranks as the No. 14 class in the country, falling three spots from No. 11.
Bowens ranks as the No. 251 prospect and No. 34 defensive lineman in the country per the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. The Texas A&M commit has an On3 NIL Valuation of $13.8K. 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.