Selman Bridges, nation's No. 5 cornerback, trims list to 9

During the recruiting process, Lake Belton (Texas) four-star cornerback Selman Bridges has racked up nearly 30 scholarship offers.

And for good reason.

As a junior, the athletic 6-foot-3, 170-pound defensive back racked up 46 tackles, six pass break-ups and two interceptions with one "pick-six." 

That combination of size, athleticism and on-field production has Bridges rated as the nation's No. 51 overall prospect and No. 5 cornerback.

But on Thursday, Bridges took a big step forward in trimming down his list of suitors, announcing a top nine of Arkansas, LSU, Oklahoma, Oregon, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and USC:

Unsurprisingly, Arkansas and Texas were two of the top programs on that list.

Bridges has set an official visit to Arkansas for June 16, while Texas is widely viewed as the team to beat across the recruiting industry. 

USC is another major program to watch. 

Generally, it has been an interesting year in Texas high school recruiting, as only two of the state's top 10 prospects have announced their respective decisions so far and both are Florida Gators.

Willis five-star quarterback DJ Lagway and McKinney five-star safety Xavier Filsaime have set their futures in Billy Napier's program.

Obviously that is a trend the Texas schools would like to see come to an end as soon as possible.

Bridges is a clear-cut candidate to end that streak, especially given his hyper-local collection of finalists.

Junior season highlights