Cousins JaKobe Sanders and Keegan Bass were youth football teammates. Now, they're Division I signees.
Hallie HartOklahoman
STILLWATER — Keegan Bass didn’t take a break after basketball practice.
The Mustang High School senior immediately left the gym, jumped into his vehicle and drove to Stillwater. On his busy first day out of school in December, Bass made sure he had enough time to visit JaKobe Sanders.
He planned it as a bit of a surprise, but Sanders had a hunch Bass would show up for the Monday signing ceremony. Sanders’ closest friends, mostly Stillwater teammates, gathered behind him as he sat at a table with an Oklahoma State flag draped over it and a new state championship trophy perched atop it.
Naturally, that supportive group had to include Bass.
Although Bass spent all of his high school years at Mustang, he and Sanders share a lifelong bond.
They’re first cousins. They won three youth championships together on a Stillwater team. And this week, they’re both signing with Division I football programs.
“It means everything,” Sanders said, “both of us being able to get our school paid for and achieve our dreams playing college football.”
The early signing period always ushers in a massive celebration for high school football players as they make their college decisions official.
For this Oklahoma family, the festivities are doubled.
Sanders, a standout center, is signing his national letter of intent with OSU, the school where his grandfather Robert Turner played in the 1970s. Bass, a speedy receiver and returner, is continuing his career at Air Force.
JaKobe Sanders and cousin Keegan Bass
Sanders and Bass will sign their letters Wednesday, but their ceremonies were set for different days to work around the winter break schedule. Stillwater had an early event, while Mustang plans to recognize Bass alongside several other signees in February.
Grandparents Robert and Annette proudly watched from courtside seats in Stillwater’s gym as Sanders spoke at his ceremony, knowing Bass would have his turn soon.
“That’s awesome to have two grandsons, the same age, and they’re both D-I athletes,” Annette said.
Although Bass is waiting to celebrate with classmates, the unusual schedule rewarded him with the chance to support his cousin.
And his route from the Oklahoma City metro area to Stillwater is familiar.
Long before he was old enough to drive, Bass frequently traveled between the two locations. Keysha Sanders, JaKobe’s mother, shuttled her elementary-aged nephew to and from football practice four times a week, sometimes meeting Bass’ mom partway to split the drive time.
It took dedication, but Keysha didn’t hesitate. She cares about family, and in Stillwater, JaKobe was playing for the youth team his father, Joe, coached. Although Bass lived in the OKC area, it was important for him to join his uncle and cousin on the football field, too.
“I just wanted to be next to family, just learn the game from somebody knowledgeable,” Bass said.
Together, Bass and Sanders suited up in blue-and-yellow Pioneers uniforms, mini versions of the high school team’s attire. With an array of young stars, including now-Stillwater quarterback Gage Gundy, the talented squad grew into a fourth- and fifth-grade version of Alabama or Georgia.
The trophies poured in.
The teammates relished their victories, but after one of the championships, Keysha turned to Bass and saw tears in his eyes.
He knew what was coming next: school ball would start, and he would no longer play alongside those teammates. By high school, the cousins accepted it.
“It was kind of sad that we had to split up in high school, but we both continued doing what we wanted to do,” Sanders said.
Each athlete found his niche. In Mustang, Bass grew into a versatile, fleet-footed receiver while maintaining his love for basketball — his maternal grandfather is longtime girls basketball coach Paul Bass, and Keegan’s mother Katie has followed as a successful hoops coach.
Meanwhile, Sanders grew into a relentless lineman as pancakes added up on the field and his max lifts skyrocketed in the weight room. It didn’t hurt that his offensive line coach, Charlie Johnson, played at OSU and earned a Super Bowl ring with the Indianapolis Colts.
Despite their distinct roles on the field, the cousins aren’t opposites. Several similarities have prepared them for Division I football careers. They stay focused. They value academics, as Robert emphasized, each carrying a GPA of 4.00 or higher.
And their bold competitiveness carried into matchups with each other. Sanders said he has “bragging rights for life” because Stillwater won twice, but Bass insisted Mustang should have taken the second game, when the Pioneers turned the tide with a last-minute fourth-down touchdown pass.
Annette wouldn’t take a side, instead wearing a half-blue, half-red T-shirt bearing the phrase “GRAMMY DIVIDED” as she rooted for both grandsons.
Her next fashion statement can involve a combination of Air Force and OSU apparel.
Bass, who also had offers from Army, Navy and Georgetown, chose Air Force for multiple reasons.
“Just seeing everything that comes with the Air Force Academy, like the academics and the job security and the salary that comes with it after football, was a big deciding factor for me,” Bass said. “Because I just want to get my career started on the right path.”
Mustang's Keegan Bass
Sanders likely could have gone to school out of state, too. Programs such as Texas Tech and Kansas State showed interest, but he ended his recruitment process early so he wouldn’t waste their time.
“He said, ‘If you want to offer, that’s fine, but I’m hard committed to Oklahoma State,’” Joe said. “And then once they figured out that Charlie played at Oklahoma State (and) his grandfather played at Oklahoma State, then they kind of knew. … So then it became so much easier.”
Sanders’ loyalty to the Cowboys permeated his signing ceremony, where recent College Football Hall of Fame inductee Terry Miller — Robert's longtime friend — watched from the crowd among fellow Stillwater residents. A table covered in orange items, from a mock magazine cover to Reese’s cups to an OSU helmet, greeted attendees in the lobby.
None of this would have been possible without the scene depicted in the photograph that stood atop the helmet’s case.
The caption reads “Stillwater Youth Football – Stillwater Blue.” It’s a classic team photo with rows of children and coaches lined up in front of the scoreboard.
Sanders is in the picture.
Bass is there, too.
Biologically, they’re cousins. But with a bond forged by family and strengthened by football, Sanders uses a different term for their connection.
“He’s really just my brother,” Sanders said. “I’m definitely glad he came (to the ceremony), and I’ll probably end up making it to his, too.”
Cousins JaKobe Sanders (left) and Keegan Bass
