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Ryan Wingo did plenty of soul searching before making the biggest decision of his life.

The five-star St. Louis University High football standout is taking his immense talents to the University of Texas.

Wingo made the verbal commitment Wednesday afternoon in front of family, friends and students at Danis Fieldhouse on the SLUH campus.

He grabbed a Texas hat on the table and then unzipped the jacket of his 2-year old niece Remi, who was wearing a Longhorns shirt.

Wingo said Texas was at the top of his list before Missouri made a late push over the final seven days.

“It was super hard,� Wingo said of the choice.

Wingo indicated the toughest part was turning down an offer from the Tigers, where Luther Burden, one of his best friends, is in the middle of a breakout career.

“Taking (Texas) over a home state school that’s kind of on a rise right now was pretty tough,� Wingo said. “It was hard because they’ve been recruiting me for so long.�

The Longhorns are ranked No. 7 nationally with a 6-1 record.

Wingo said one of the major factors was the type of high-octane offense the Longhorns run under coach Steve Sarkisian.

“He’s able to get his playmakers the ball early and efficiently,� Wingo said. “I think that’s the biggest thing.�

Verbal commitments are non-binding. Recruits can’t sign their national letters of intent until Dec. 20.

Wingo had more than 40 scholarship offers from schools across the nation. His other finalists were Missouri, Georgia, Texas A&M, Tennessee and Miami, all represented by hats during his live-streamed commitment ceremony.

A 6-foot-2, 205-pound receiver and cornerback, Wingo is the lone senior five-star recruit in the St. Louis area. He is the No. 1 recruit on the Post-Dispatch Super 30 countdown of the area’s top senior football prospects.

Wingo has been slowed this season by a knee injury and missed four successive games before returning Oct. 13 against Rockhurst. Wingo still 32 has receptions this season for 469 yards. He seems to be rounding back into his usual dangerous form with 15 catches for 195 yards over his last two games.

As a junior, he hauled in 41 passes for 785 yards and scored 13 times overall.

tabs Wingo as the No. 4 wide receiver and No. 19 overall prospect in the 2024 class, while ranks him as the No. 2 wideout and No. 5 overall prospect.

Wingo exceeds on both sides of the ball, although his big-play catching skills fit well at wide receiver.

His mother, Tiffany, said she was proud of the way her son handled the attention the comes from being a top-tier athlete. Wingo is the last 5-star recruit in the country from the class of 2024 to make a verbal commitment.

“He’s been a great kid, never much trouble,� Tiffany said. “He ate a cookie once after bedtime when he shouldn’t have. But that’s about it.�

SLUH coach Adam Cruz says that Wingo, “Is just as good, if not better, of a person as he is a football player.�

Cruz indicated that the sky is limit for Wingo.

The speedster, who once recorded a clocking of 10.55 seconds in the 100-meter dash on the track, comes from an excellent football family.

His brother Ray Wingo played at Mizzou and hauled in five catches for 133 yards and two touchdowns in 2016.

Another brother, Ronnie Wingo, was a running back at the University of Arkansas from 2009-2012. Ronnie rushed for 1,089 yards and six touchdowns over a four-year career. He was on the practice squad of the Atlanta Falcons in 2013 and 2014.

His father, Ronnie Sr., played for the Sumner High team that won the Class 5 state championship in 1982.