Recruitment Still Wide Open for Cinco Ranch 2019 LB David Gbenda

Cinco Ranch's defensive leader David Gbenda has popped up at the top of the board for schools around the country but the 3-star linebacker still has a long ways to go in his recruitment process. Gbenda has offers from 24 Division-I programs around the nation and the Katy, Texas athlete has been getting a lot of attention from the in-state schools.

"I have schools that talk to me every day like SMU, Baylor, Texas and TCU," Gbenda said. "Staying in Texas doesn't really matter to me though. I'm basing my decisions off what I just feel in my heart. I'm going to pick official visits out of the schools where I really like the education because that's a big deal to me."

The 6-foot, 212-pound linebacker blew up in his junior year and was a first-team all-district selection for Cinco Ranch. According to MaxPreps, Gbenda racked up 56 total tackles as a junior and had eight tackles for loss.

Gbenda holds an offer from the Razorbacks but says he still has a lot more research to do on all of the schools that have offered him. The Sierra Leone native gets most of his recruiting assistance from his high school coaching staff because, as his head coach told HawgBeat, his parents are still blown away that he'll get a free education because of what he can do on the football field.

"I still need to do a lot more research because I've had a lot of great offers so far and a lot of things have changed, like defensive coordinators moving around and stuff," Gbenda said. "Another big factor for me is where I stand with them on the depth chart and how they want to use me defensively."

"Arkansas has just been talking to me a lot about getting an unofficial visit set up. I've talked to Coach Morris, he's a great guy."

Cinco Ranch Head Coach Don Clayton on Gbenda:

"Texas, A&M, TCU and Alabama have been reaching out to me a lot about him. I always tell coaches that he's a great kid, a respectable young man. He's a very sincere guy that's also very talented."

"His leadership ability is a big strength, you have to have a leader on defense that can set the guys on fire and he does that. He's very smart, he doesn't repeat a mistake, he reads the offense well. I'd compare him to Malik Jefferson at Texas.

"A lot of athletes start looking at playing college football almost like a job but he's still got that kid in him and he loves playing the game. Having a guy like him elevates the play of everyone else around him."