The Liberty Hill product visited Norman, but decided to finish his career in the Lone Star State.
A Red River Showdown between the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners fell in favor of the burnt orange and white on Friday when former Texas State Bobcats kicker Mason Shipley signed with the Horns.
Texas State kicker Mason Shipley has signed with Texas, @On3sports has learned.
The 2023 first-team Sun Belt selection is 31 of 35 on career field goals. https://t.co/VxSGJETKD9 pic.twitter.com/ZEUgj6itKS
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos_) April 19, 2025
Shipley had just taken an official visit to Norman prior to Texas kicker Bert Auburn announcing his entrance into the NCAA transfer portal on Thursday.
But the Longhorns and special teams coordinator Jeff Banks won out when Shipley decided to continue his career in the Lone Star State.
A Liberty Hill product and former soccer player who spent a year at Oklahoma State in 2020, Shipley transferred to Texas State and redshirted in 2021 before serving as a kickoff specialist in 2022.
Shipley’s trajectory spiked the following season when he made all 15 field-goal attempts, one of two kickers to make every attempt, including all four from more than 40 yards. The efficiency by Shipley earned him recognition as All-Sun Belt first team and a Lou Groza Award semifinalist.
In 2024, Shipley wasn’t quite as efficient, missing two field goals between 30 and 39 yards, but also hit 4-of-5 attempts from 40 to 49 yards and 2-of-3 attempts from more than 50 yards, including a 60-yard field goal against Sam Houston.
Shipley finished 15-of-19 in 2024.
With the transfer of three-year starter Bert Auburn on Thursday, Shipley is the favorite to win the summer and preseason competition against senior Will Stone, the kickoff specialist who smashed through two point-after-attempts in the Cotton Bowl after Auburn missed two go-ahead field-goal attempts in the final 1:37 of regulation in the Peach Bowl.