26 days until Texas Football: Versatile Tre Wisner looks to carve out a role
Inside Texas is putting a new twist on long-time photographer Will Gallagher’s time-honored countdown to Texas football kickoff. In addition to Will’s great pictures, the Inside Texas staff will go through every player on the roster by jersey number and offer a season outlook on each, from five-star to walk-on.
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We’ll also look back at other greats to wear that day’s number, with special reverence to some of Texas’ best.
Today is 26 days until kickoff. No. 26 for the Longhorns this season will be worn by Tre Wisner, a true freshman running back.
Tre Wisner season outlook
Wisner transferred from Waco Connally to DeSoto ahead of a 2022 campaign he played as a Texas commit. Talented in his own right after several strong seasons with the Cadets and future Longhorn teammate Jelani McDonald, Wisner joined an Eagle program chock-full of talent.
Some of that talent was at running back in the form of 2025 four-star and Texas target Deondrae Riden. Wisner was 1B to Riden’s 1A as Riden, known as “Tiger,” led DeSoto in carries, yards, and rushing touchdowns. Wisner was right behind him, tallying 125 carries for 846 yards and six scores.
Riden’s presence on the roster forced the Eagle staff to get creative in how they utilized Wisner. That led to him being split out wide on occasion, where Wisner caught 35 passes for 466 yards and four touchdowns during DeSoto’s state championship campaign.
Thus far during UT’s preseason camp, Wisner has repped with the running backs as the last man in the pecking order, at least during the most recent media viewing window. But there’s a veteran in Tashard Choice‘s room Wisner could model his game after in order to better his chances of seeing the field this year.
Wisner is listed by Texas at 6-foot-0, 188 pounds. Keilan Robinson is listed by Texas at 5-foot-9, 188-pounds. The two may not be every-down, between-the-tackles backs at the Power 5 level, but they do have enough speed and explosiveness to where they can both be versatile options for the Longhorn offense.
Robinson has a hold on that role this year, but Wisner would be well-served by looking up to what No. 7 does and following his lead. That includes on special teams, where he could provide even more versatility in Jeff Banks‘ side of the ball.
Tre Wisner as a recruit
Wisner was ranked as the No. 439 overall prospect, the No. 30 running back, and the No. 74 prospect in Texas according to the 2023 On3 Industry Ranking, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services.
Recent player to wear No. 26: Keaontay Ingram
Ingram played in 32 games with 18 starts in his three years at Texas, producing 1,811 yards and 11 touchdowns on 339 carries rushing and 515 yards and six TDs receiving over his career. He was a preseason watch list candidate for the Doak Walker Award in 2019 and 2020 and was named a third-team All-Big 12 Preseason selection by Phil Steele in 2020.
Ingram was selected to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team in 2020 and was a two-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (spring 2019, spring 2020). He transferred to USC prior to the 2021 season and was taken in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft by Arizona.
All-Americans to wear No. 26
Johnny “Lam” Jones, WR, 1978-79
Joe Cook co-authored this article
