Texas

Oregon Football Recruiting: Ducks Battling Texas, Nebraska For Five-Star Michael Terry III

Published

2 years ago

August 14, 2024

Oregon Football Recruiting: Ducks Battling Texas, Nebraska For Five-Star Michael Terry III

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 Ducks coach Dan Lanning with five-star recruit Michael Terry III. Oregon is battling the Texas Longhorns for Terry III’s commitment. / Michael Terry III Twitter/X

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.

Jul 24, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule speaks to the media during the Big 10 football media day at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

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.

Jul 25, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning speaks to the media during the Big 10 football media day at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

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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Texas

Opal Lee’s granddaughter advocates for “Grandmother of Juneteenth” to be included in Texas curriculum

Published

4 hours ago

April 8, 2026

Press Room

Opal Lee’s granddaughter advocates for “Grandmother of Juneteenth” to be included in Texas curriculum

The granddaughter of Dr. Opal Lee, famously known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” was in Austin Tuesday to advocate for the inclusion her grandmother in Texas’ Juneteenth curriculum.

Dr. Lee is nearly 100 years old and lives in Fort Worth. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2024 and was by President Biden’s side when he made Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021.

“I want to petition for her to be a required person to study Juneteenth,” said granddaughter Dione Sims. “People that have to do with freedom, liberty, and unity; she’s the embodiment of that. Helping to get Juneteenth as a national holiday, I think deserves to be mentioned.”

Sims testified in front of the State Board of Education Tuesday night. A final decision is expected in June.

Lee, born in 1926, played a crucial role in making Juneteenth a federal holiday. The North Texas icon walked two and a half miles every Juneteenth to symbolize the two and a half years it took for enslaved people in Texas to learn they were free, after the Emancipation Proclamation. In 2016, she walked from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness.

She didn’t participate in the 2025 walk after being hospitalized.

Lee has also been honored with a Barbie doll that celebrates her advocacy as part of its Inspiring Women collection.

Sims previously discussed expanding Lee’s walk across all 50 states, preserving her grandmother’s legacy with a walk in one city in each state.

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Texas

North Texas Iranian Americans fear for families amid Trump’s threats against Iran

Published

16 hours ago

April 7, 2026

Press Room

North Texas Iranian Americans fear for families amid Trump’s threats against Iran

Tensions are rising between the United States and Iran, as a deadline from President Donald Trump fuels concerns about potential military action.

Just hours before President Trump’s deadline for Iran to accept a deal or face military consequences, Iranian Americans in North Texas feared for their relatives on the ground, saying the focus should stay on the people of Iran.

“We’re in a wartime, so everyone’s worried and following the news,” said Homeira Hesami, the chairwoman for the Iranian American Community of North Texas. “The internet’s still being down, you know, we don’t have a very secure way to communicate with our family and friends back home, so sometimes, you know, they may be able to call out, but it’s very patchy.”

Tuesday, Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran does not open the Strait of Hormuz, following similar threats he made on Easter Sunday. TCU Political Science Professor Ralph Carter offered this perspective on the potential loss of life.

“In the worst-case scenario, President Trump carries out massive attacks against civilian targets, killing thousands or even millions of people, then I think Congress has to act,” said Carter.

Carter added that targeting an entire civilization could amount to a war crime and raises serious questions about Mr. Trump’s legal authority. He said this also shakes up the U.S.’s relationships with its allies.

“I do think that Iran will survive, whatever happens,” Carter said. “I think the Iranian people will be united in a rally around the flag phenomenon to defend their homeland against an aggressor, and I think, again, this is one of those things where a weaker power outlasts a stronger power, because the stronger power gets tired of the price they have to pay to try to get a victory.”

Hesami believes change in Iran must come from the Iranian people, not through foreign intervention.

“War has proven that sometimes it is not the solution, and the solution is relying on the Iranian people and their organized resistance,” she said.

Less than two hours before his deadline for Iran to either cut a deal with the U.S. or face massive strikes on its power plants, Mr. Trump said he agreed to a “double sided CEASEFIRE” with Iran.

“I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” the president wrote on Truth Social.

He said the ceasefire, which he agreed to at Pakistan’s request, was “subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.”