BREAKING: Texas Longhorns confirms 5-stars commitment over Colorado, Houston, Kansas State, Syracuse and Texas Tech
The Texas Longhorns have filled their final available scholarship for the 2024 season, securing a commitment from former Kansas Jayhawks and SMU Mustangs running back on Wednesday evening. The 5’9″, 189-pound back, who has one season of eligibility left, ends a search that Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian had discussed earlier in the week.
“We certainly have a spot we can use. At this point, it might not be a traditional transfer but possibly a graduate transfer or something similar. We’re exploring all our options. We don’t want to just fill the spot for the sake of it—if it’s someone who can contribute, in any capacity, we’ll consider it,” Sarkisian mentioned on Monday.
Gardner, from Dallas Skyline, was a consensus three-star recruit in the 2019 class, ranked No. 817 nationally and No. 51 among athletes by 247Sports Composite rankings. He played quarterback in high school, where he threw for 2,459 yards and 26 touchdowns, while also rushing for 842 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior, following a junior season with over 3,000 total yards and 30 touchdowns.
As a freshman at Kansas, Gardner contributed on special teams with two tackles and made one start at running back in 10 appearances, recording 138 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries, along with six receptions for 24 yards. In the following two seasons, he made five more starts, rushing for 381 yards and four touchdowns on 101 carries, before redshirting in 2021 after playing three games.
After transferring to SMU in 2022, Gardner started one of 18 games for the Mustangs, accumulating 505 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 93 carries, including 62 yards against Charlotte last season.
Now joining Texas, Gardner adds depth to the running back room as the fourth healthy scholarship player at the position. Entering his sixth season of college football, he will compete with freshman Jerrick Gibson for the third-string role behind junior Jaydon Blue and sophomore Tre Wisner. Gibson’s larger frame provides a contrast to Gardner’s smaller, quicker style.
A look at what Velton Gardner can bring to this Texas running back room 🤘@_V1oading https://t.co/OhahwSaPyO pic.twitter.com/D3ZhmVS1bz
— OnTexasFootball (@ontexasfootball) August 22, 2024
With Blue and Wisner wearing green non-contact jerseys during last Saturday’s scrimmage, Sarkisian and running backs coach Tashard Choice are expected to continue exercising caution with their top backs, but Gardner’s addition gives the Longhorns more flexibility.
Former SMU RB Velton Gardner has posted on IG he will be joining the Texas roster as a grad transfer.
Gardner spent three seasons at Kansas before the last two at SMU. Gardner has 229 career rushing attempts for 1,024 yards. https://t.co/qIi0Je7uwC pic.twitter.com/sdILIV1e0H
— CJ Vogel (@CJVogel_OTF) August 22, 2024