Recruiting Battle Between Texas and OU Sparks Wild Party Story

On Christmas Day, Jamarkus McFarland committed to play football next season for the Oklahoma Sooners, ending an intense recruiting battle between the Sooners and the Texas Longhorns.

McFarland, a defensive tackle from Lufkin High School, is one of the top players in the country. His story drew the attention of writer Thayer Evans, who chronicled the recruiting struggle for the New York Times, but now his story is being questioned by Texas Coach Mack Brown.

"One-sided stories usually don't make it when sources aren't checked on the other side," Brown told the Dallas Morning News. "The story has absolutely no credibility with me because the writer did the same thing exactly last year and it's obvious he has an agenda, in my mind, against Texas."

Last year, Evans wrote about the recruiting of running back Darrell Scott, who chose the Colorado Buffaloes over the Longhorns. That story said Scott was worried about playing for UT running backs coach Major Applewhite, who had just joined the Longhorn staff.

This time around, part of Evans' story on McFarland included a recounting of a paper the player wrote for his English class comparing Oklahoma and Texas, which included a description of a party after the Texas-OU game that sounds straight from a music video:

"I will never forget the excitement amongst all participants," McFarland wrote. "Alcohol was all you can drink, money was not an option. Girls were acting wild by taking off their tops, and pulling down their pants. Girls were also romancing each other. Some guys loved every minute of the freakiness some girls demonstrated. I have never attended a party of this magnitude."

McFarland later told Rivals.com that he had "spiced up" the story for class.

Asked by the Morning News about whether he new of any possible recruiting improprieties in the McFarland case, Brown answered: "Absolutely not. We encourage the NCAA to check out every player we're recruiting ever year. We call them and ask them to. We welcome them there."