3 seniors reflect on their journey
AUSTIN — Demarvion Overshown had it all plotted out. The kid from the sleepy East Texas town of Arp figured he’d spend three years in Austin, then bolt to the NFL as a ballyhooed Kam Chancellor clone.
But teenage dreams tend to be more romantic than realistic, even for someone as talented and determined as Overshown, ranked the nation’s best safety by 247Sports when he signed with Texas in December 2017.
Sooner or later, they come to realize paths are rarely linear.
“You know, coming in a highly ranked guy, thinking I’m a safety and wanting to be in that position to succeed as a safety because I wanted to be that Kam Chancellor,” Over
shown said Monday, referencing the former Super Bowl champion and All-pro safety. “But growing and maturing is realizing what college sports was and what it meant to really be a team player. Really, (it's been) a roller coaster.”
Overshown was a core component of the Longhorns' 2018 signing class, ranked third in the nation by 247Sports. This group was supposed to represent the rebirth of Texas as “DBU,” with the four-star Arp signee joined by five-star safeties Caden Sterns and B.J. Foster and four-star cornerbacks Jalen Green, Anthony Cook and D'shawn Jamison.
Now approaching the five-year anniversary of their signing day, only three remain.
Green transferred to Mississippi State in 2021. Foster left a year later, landing at Sam Houston. Sterns declared for the 2021 NFL draft and plays for the Denver Broncos.
Meanwhile, Overshown, Cook and Jamison are preparing to play one last game together at Royal-memorial Stadium on Friday against Baylor. And only Jamison will do so at the position he originally was recruited to play.
Overshown moved to linebacker after his sophomore season.
It took some time, and learning a new position amid the pandemic added another layer of difficulty to the transition. But the switch allowed the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Overshown to blossom into a bona fide NFL prospect — he's amassed 215 tackles, 21½ tackles for loss, six sacks and two interceptions in 31 games at linebacker.
“So really a roller coaster,” Overshown said, “but these last couple years it's just kept going up.”
Cook inadvertently parroted Overshown's assessment of his five years at Texas — with one minor appendage.
“Roller coaster,” Cook said Monday. “It's been a fun roller coaster, though.”
Once an All-america corner at Houston Lamar, Cook struggled to climb the depth chart over his first two seasons.
He found a role as a nickel corner in 2020, then seized on that momentum to make eight starts and earn All-big 12 honorable mention in 2021. This year, Cook, who's playing through a broken arm, has made a seamless transition to safety, starting all 11 games for one of the nation's most-improved defenses.
“I just learned so much throughout all my years here,” Cook said. “I came here as a 17-year-old kid, you know, graduated early, and now I'm leaving as a 22-year-old adult. That's a lot of time. I've seen a lot of stuff and just learned so much about life from the game of football. That's what I appreciate, and I feel like I'm going to cherish that the most.”
Jamison's path has been a little smoother than his fellow 2018 signees. But even he had some early trials, including a short-lived stint at wide receiver as a true freshman.
Since then, “The Shark,” as friends and teammates know him, has been a steady presence in the secondary. Jamison has started 41 career games at corner along with excelling on special teams, earning All-big 12 honorable mention as a kick returner after averaging a school-record 31.7 yards per return.
This season, Jamison leads Texas and ranks fifth among qualified Big 12 cornerbacks with a 76.0 coverage grade, per Pro Football Focus.
“I always try to stay positive through everything,” Jamison said Monday of his journey. “And you know, I learned a lot (playing receiver). It helped me learn a lot about receivers, why they do this, why they do that. It made my hands better, too. It was a learning process.”
On Friday, those three super senior starters will try to help Texas (7-4, 5-3 Big 12) beat Baylor (6-5, 4-4). And if they do, they'll gather together Saturday night as onetime-only Kansas fans. Because if Friday goes according to plan and the Jayhawks upset No. 15 Kansas State, that trio will get to play in next week's Big 12 championship game against No. 4 TCU.
And after all the ups and downs, that would be a truly worthwhile destination to arrive at together.
“The bond started a long, long time ago,” Jamison said. “It's gotten stronger and stronger throughout the years. And we always try to help each other find ways to be better in our craft. The journey's been amazing. We know this bond is gonna be forever.”