The Oregon Ducks are finalists for elite five-star recruit Michael Terry III. The class of 2025 athlete is the nation’s No. 1 “Athlete” and No. 7 overall prospect in Texas.

The 6-foot-3, 217-pound prospect from San Antonio (Texas) Alamo Heights has narrowed his list of schools to Oregon, the Texas Longhorns, Nebraska Cornhuskers and Texas A&M Aggies. However, Oregon, Texas and Nebraska are emerging as frontrunners to land the coveted recruit, according to 247Sports.

Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein and running backs coach Ra’Shaad Samples are the primary recruiters of Terry III. The critical time in his recruitment, Terry III has yet to announce a commitment date as he starts his senior season at the end of August.

Terry III visited Eugene for Oregon football’s “Saturday Night Live” recruiting event, a massive success for the Ducks staff. Nearly 100 recruits for the 2025, 2026, and 2027 participated in drills coached by the Oregon Football staff in Autzen Stadium in late July.

“I love Oregon,” Terry told On3. “Just as much as I love Texas. I’ve built relationships with both coaching staffs. Both are on the path of greatness… How Coach Stein and Coach Lanning calls more advanced plays If you watch their plays they can make a basic play look like a play you never seen.”

Terry III met with former Oregon star athlete, De’Anthony Thomas while in Eugene. The electric Thomas played a role for the Ducks that could be similar to Terry III – both at running back and wide receiver. Scouting reports on Terry III’s skillset show he could evolve into a tight end at the next level in the NFL.

Directly after his visit to Eugene, Terry III traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska to visit the Cornhuskers and head coach Matt Rhule. The Texas-native has also visited Austin and the Longhorns multiple times this summer.

Texas is the leader to land Terry III, based on commitment predictions from 247Sports and On3. However, both Oregon and Nebraska have pushed to remain in the mix.

Oregon coach Dan Lanning’s 2025 recruiting class currently ranks No. 9 nationally on 247Sports rankings. Terry III would be Oregon’s fourth five-star recruit in the class: joining Duncanville (Texas) wide receiver Dakorien Moore, Mater Dei (California) running back Jordon Davison and Shaker Heights (Ohio) safety Trey McNutt.

Joining the Big Ten makes it easier for coach Lanning to connect with recruits who are father away from Oregon, geographically.

“It also gives us an opportunity,” Coach Lanning said. “We’ve always been a team that has recruited nationally but it has certainly made our footprint stronger here in the Midwest. Where that is states in the area that we had not tapped into as much. It gives us the opportunity to recruit those kids.”

“We’ve always recruited east coast to west coast but now to have the opportunity to have some of those games played in venues that are close to players that we are recruiting certainly helps,” coach Lanning said.

The Ducks have been successful in their recruiting efforts in Texas, recently. Coach Lanning’s strong connection to Texas is partly thanks to rising-star recruiter Samples.

Samples was the primary recruiter for the nation’s No. 1 wide receiver Dakorien Moore committed to the Ducks over his hometown state’s Texas Longhorns, LSU Tigers and Ohio State Buckeyes.

Samples had a unique connection with Moore – Samples’ father is Moore’s high school head coach at Duncanville (TX). The Oregon coach expects to win recruiting battles in the lonestar state.

“I mean, it feels normal. I think that’s what Dan expects of me,” Samples said after Oregon practice last week. “That’s what I expect of myself, so I mean, it’s part of the job. That’s what I came here to do to be able to sign some of these guys, – bring a different landscape, bringing in guys from Texas, and winning recruiting battles. It’s a part of the job at this level and it’s an expectation for me, it’s the standard for me, it’s the standard that Dan expects from me, it’s why he brought me here.”

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