Jelani McDonald comin’, y’all.
The Texas Longhorns sophomore safety flashed in his first career start against the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday, an early way point for the 2023 signee on a trajectory that could be stratospheric only two years after head coach Steve Sarkisian’s staff offered the Waco Connally product.
Let’s start even before that.
When the Texas staff began evaluating McDonald, the raw athleticism stood out — as a junior, the 6’2, 205-pounder won the Texas 4A triple jump at 48-2 in the spring of 2022.
The track exploits came after a basketball season during which McDonald helped Connally to a 31-4 record, earning Waco Tribune-Herald Super CenTex boys basketball Player of the Year after averaging 20.