BY NOLAN RUTH
X – @RealNolanRuth
With the arrival of early signing day on Wednesday, several athletes still had to make their final decision before finishing their high school career. Among those athletes was the recently reclassified Raycine Guillory, the running back for the Aledo Bearcats.
Guillory, once a Texas commit, reopened his recruiting in June of 2024 to take closer looks at Miami, Georgia, Ole Miss and Utah. At a ceremony in the indoor facility of Aledo high school, he put on each hat and threw them all off to fool the crowd of teammates and coaches that were around before picking up the Utah hat and simply saying “Go Utah!”
“I love the city,” Guillory said in reference to his recent visit in November. “I love the coaching staff, they showed so much love. The love was unmatched and that’s really the main thing that I looked into with my recruiting. It’s where I’m needed. Some people just want you just to have you. I want somewhere I will actually get an opportunity to play and have an impact as a freshman.”
With the changing landscape of college football and the recent realignments, Guillory made it clear that conference affiliation did not play any factor in the decision, comparing himself to former Duncanville and current LSU running back Caden Durham.
“I feel like I’d be watching people in the SEC and I’d be like ‘I’ll go in and do the same thing.’ But seeing Caden Durham come in and do what he’s done, no disrespect but I feel like I could come in and do probably better than he’s doing. Conference didn’t matter.
Originally Guilllory was in the middle of his junior season with the Bearcats, but in November he reclassified from the 2026 class to the 2025 class, officially making the current football season his last at Aledo.
In the last two seasons, Guillory has totaled 2,535 yards rushing and 41 touchdowns on 307 carries. In his freshman season at Lake Ridge high school in Mansfield, he rushed for 769 yards and nine touchdowns, giving him a career total of 3,304 yards and 50 touchdowns as of December 4, 2024.
He will finish his season with Aledo which is seeking its record thirteenth state championship. The Bearcats face Denton Ryan at 2 p.m. Saturday for the class 5A Division I Region 1 final.
