Johnny Manziel Replaced by a Different Texas A&M Great As ‘College GameDay’ Guest Picker

A former Aggies basketball star will step in.

Johnny Manziel had been announced as guest picker for Saturday’s ‘College GameDay.’ / Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

ESPN’s College GameDay is pulling double duty this weekend for the College Football Playoff, airing ahead of last night’s Alabama win at Oklahoma and again this morning in College Station, Texas for Texas A&M’s opening-round game against Miami.

A pair of notorious college football legends were set to represent for their schools as guest pickers. Brian Bosworth was on hand in Norman, Okla. for Friday night’s show, while Heisman winner Johnny Manziel was set to serve as guest picker on Saturday. Evidently there’s been a change of plans with Johnny Football, as moments ago host Rece Davis former Aggies basketball star and two-time NBA champion Alex Caruso was announced as the show’s guest picker.

College GameDay has not announced a reason for the change, and has not announced it on social media.

Manziel has not comented about the change either. He shared a number of Instagram stories on Friday night from the Anthony Joshua-Jake Paul boxing match, which took place at the Kaseya Center in Miami.

Bleacher Report also promoted that Manziel was to appear on the outlet’s pregame show from Kyle Field, which livestreamed on YouTube at 10 a.m. ET. Manziel shared Bleacher Report’s Instagram post about his appearance to his stories on Friday night, but he did not appear on the Saturday show alongside Mike Golic Jr. and Ray G.

Manziel previously served as guest picker for the Aggies’ Week 1 game against Notre Dame. Caruso will be making his College GameDay debut.

Who is Alex Caruso? The former Texas A&M basketball star is an important piece of the dominant Thunder

Caruso is a College Station native who stayed home to star for the Aggiest basketball program from 2012 to ‘16, earning SEC All-Defensive Team and second-team All-SEC honors during his impressive college career. He left college as the program leader in assists and steals, and was the centerpiece of the 2015–16 team that made a run to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.

Caruso has gone on to become a valuable role player in the NBA. After going undrafted and beginning his career in the G League, Caruso played for the Lakers from 2017 to ‘21, winning the 2020 NBA Finals. He played in 21 playoff games, making one start during that title run, and averaged 6.5 points, 2.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

He continued his career with the Bulls from 2021 to ‘24, scoring a career high 10.1 points per game in his final season with Chicago. Following the 2023–24 season, he was traded to the Thunder, and was a crucial piece to the dominant 2024–25 Oklahoma City title team, averaging 7.1 points per game through the regular season and playing some of his best ball in the playoffs, with 9.2 points and two steals per game during the title run.

Caruso did not score 20 points once during the regular season for OKC, but did it twice in the Thunder’s Finals win over the Pacers, making NBA history in the process.

Oklahoma City made clear how valuable he is after the season, signing Caruso to a guaranteed four-year, $81 million contract extension.

This is a developing story. Check back for more updates.

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