First are the ground rules. For you new corral members, this is a special feature for subscribers only. The reason why it is posted on the premium board (as opposed to a normal story) is because it is the only way to ensure that the info stays exclusive to Cowboy fans. This will only work if everyone helps make it work.
Furthermore, we're serious about this being a Corral-only piece. Everything that is reported in the Cowboy Roundup must stay in the Cowboy Roundup. That's the way this deal works. Sometimes the info is sensitive enough that it simply doesn't need to be passed on beyond the doors of this thread.
As mentioned, we start this week off on the defensive line with one of Oklahoma State’s current commitments…
Bixby, Oklahoma product Jared Glover has been through the ringer so to speak when it comes to the recruiting process. Everybody knows the story on his commitment switch but it is always tough on these kids when they have to go back on their word.
Nevertheless, if you are an Oklahoma State fan, you certainly like the way things turned out as one of the top in-state players is set to sign with the Cowboys in a few weeks. With that in mind Glover talked about how he was able to sit down and watch OSU play in the Independence Bowl against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
“Oh, of course, I didn’t get to go to it but I watched it. I’m definitely excited about the type of defense that (Oklahoma State) plays and I think it will be a great fit for me. It was a great game and the whole team played great. You know, I have to hand it to Alabama on the touchdown pass to the tackle. I talked to Coach Bradford and we were both wondering whether or not it was a forward pass but it was close. OSU played a great game and they won their bowl game,” he said.
There has been a lot of discussion on the boards about where exactly OSU will use Glover when he gets on campus, we decided to let the three-star Spartan try and clear the air a little bit.
“Very early in my recruiting (OSU) started recruiting me as a tight end and then they recruited me as a linebacker. I know I’m listed as a defensive end on Rivals because that is what I had first been recruited as generally but as my recruiting process has unfolded I guess more and more schools have wanted me as an outside linebacker. The offer from Michigan, they wanted me as a SAM and Nebraska was the same way along with OSU. Coach Bradford is my recruiter but more importantly he is going to be my position coach so that is why I’ve been getting to know him,” said Glover.
So there you have it, it looks like Glover will certainly get first crack at playing with his hand off the ground but I can certainly see a case where he could move to defensive end and have just as big of an impact. His combination of size and speed is what makes him special and therefore neither position is really going to be a bad choice. (RC)
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When we talked to Northwest Mississippi C.C. offensive tackle Rodney Brisbon, it was difficult to discern just how much interest he had in Oklahoma State. At the time he did confirm that he intended to visit Stillwater this weekend and we have not talked to him since so we assume that is still the plan.
Nevertheless, Brisbon is a very solid junior college prospect as he garnered several accolades for his performance on the field.
“(My season) went good. We won our conference and I got the most valuable player on the offensive line. I also got All-Metro and All-State,” he said.
Brisbon credits his quickness and knowledge of the game for why he is as good as he is on the field but it is off the field where most of the work needs to be done. As of two weeks ago Brisbon was not qualified to enroll at a division one school by NCAA standards as he did not have the required 2.0 grade point average. Whether or not that has changed since then we don’t know but he has a semester to bring it up.
If Brisbon does come in this weekend then certainly the interest is genuine and we will try and get a hold of him Sunday afternoon to see if he made it and what his thoughts were so stay tuned. (JF)
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It seems like there are about a million potential safety prospects that Oklahoma State is pursuing as we are getting into crunch time with respect to signing day. One of those that we talked to recently was Tyler, Texas product Tekerrein Cuba.
Cuba is one of the better-spoken and more mild-mannered prospects that we have talked to and he seemed to express a genuine interest in Oklahoma State as he is hoping to visit Stillwater soon. At the time we talked to him he had not set up anything officially but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t by now. We haven’t heard anything that would lead us to believe that he will visit this weekend but we may give him a shout on Sunday to see if he hasn’t set anything up in the future.
Now, as to where he fits in the realm of all this, there are several safety prospects that the Cowboys are after including Christian Scott, James Thomas, Bret Harris, Tarence Farmer, Joseph Leary, and Sam Proctor. I am going to guess that the staff would maybe like to get two of any of the above with the first two to commit getting spots. I have absolutely no confirmation on that but it’s just a feel for how I think it is going to work, I could be wrong. We’ll just have to see what happens. (RC)
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Easily the top offensive high school prospect left on the board for Oklahoma State is Lufkin, Texas wide receiver Dez Bryant. We talked to Bryant last week and for as amazing as he is on the field, he is certainly a humble and quiet young man. We had no real reason for telling you guys that other than it’s nice to see that sometimes.
Anyway, we digress and the four-star rated Bryant has rescheduled his official visit to Stillwater for next weekend (Jan 26) as he has intentions to trip to Lubbock this weekend to visit Texas Tech. We do know that they are expecting a lot of snow in the Lubbock area soon but whether or not it inhibits the weekend for the Red Raiders has yet to be seen.
We do feel that if the Cowboys are the final official visit for Bryant that they certainly will have the advantage of being the freshest thing on his mind heading into the dead period which is never a bad thing. That is all assuming he doesn’t schedule an official visit for the weekend of February 2 which if he were to, one would think it would be to Baton Rouge to check out the Tigers.
Furthermore, Bryant still has yet to qualify academically. This has been common knowledge for a while but the fact that a few schools including Oklahoma State are starting to pursue him even harder signifies that he may be pretty close. We still get the feeling that he has some work to do but he does have a semester to improve his status.
Any way you look at it though, it is similar to the Perrish Cox situation last year for OSU where they need to get them signed first and then you worry about whether or not the player can make the proper g.p.a./test score combination to pass through the clearinghouse. (JF)
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Along with Co-Eric Riley, another one of the wide receiver prospects that the Cowboys are bringing in this weekend is North Garland product Hubert Anyiam. Likely behind Dez Bryant and the aforementioned Riley in the pecking order, we put Anyiam on the same level as a Darnius Moore although Moore may be a little more athletic but played at a lower level of competition.
When we talked to Anyiam recently, he talked about how one of the few visits that he will be taking without teammate Jermaine Love is his trip to Oklahoma State. Love is currently committed to Arkansas and although it seemed like it at one point, the two friends are not necessarily set on going to school together.
“Well, not really anymore. He’s a person that could have affected my decision because we planned on going to college together but he went on and committed to Arkansas because Nebraska was filling up at linebackers and we were going to go to Nebraska together. Nebraska filled up at linebackers though so he went ahead and committed to Arkansas and now Louisville stepped up and said they want the both of us so we will go ahead and take the visit (Jan 26) and see how that goes,” he said.
With that said, Anyiam’s dynamite senior year certainly perked up several ears around the Midwest and his stats certainly present the fact that he is worth of the attention he is receiving.
“Oh, (my season) went great. I had my best year with 61 receptions for 1100 yards and I had 250 rushing yards and 12 total touchdowns (11 receiving and one punt return),” he said.
The receiver position is similar to the safety position for the Cowboys in this year’s class in that there are several prospects available for a limited number of spots. It appears though that there may be more of a pecking order priority-wise for the receivers than there is on the defensive side of the ball. (RC)
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There is one thing that we have regarding basketball recruiting and it concerns everyone’s favorite prospect.
Jai Lucas may not be a daily fixture on the recruiting message boards like he was prior to last November's signing date, but he is talked about more than any other recruit still out on the table and is certainly never out of the minds of rabid recruiting junkies at Oklahoma State, Kentucky, Maryland and Oklahoma.
Now he may also become a hot topic of discussion from fans at Duke, Kansas and Indiana.
According to Coach John Lucas the latter schools continue to keep in touch "in case something opens up" but adds that "It would take something pretty special" for Jai to open up his recruiting to anyone other than the four schools who've been on his list the longest.
Lucas still has the original four schools at the top of his list and he's going to watch one of them personally on Saturday night.
"We'll probably go up to College Station tomorrow (for OSU's game against Texas A&M) after Jai's game," said to the elder Lucas. "Jai's game is at 1:00 and then we'd go watch the OSU/A&M game at 7:00."
"We haven't had a chance to see most of the teams play, except for on TV, and we want to see them play," Lucas continued. "Jai isn't going to make any real decisions until the season is over though."
Coach Lucas and Jai will join us next week on the Greg Swaim Radio Show and we'll be sure to ask them how recruiting is shaping up. (GS)
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Certainly the biggest news in the last two weeks has been the saga regarding Norman, Oklahoma product Ryan Broyles and his commitment to OSU which was subsequently followed by a scholarship offer from the local Sooners.
We talked to Broyles briefly a day or two after he received the offer and as we saw in the update he said that he is 100% committed to Oklahoma State. Now there has been obvious speculation that he may consider the Sooners’ offer but as of now we have no reason to believe that he won’t sign with the Cowboys come February 7.
My gut feeling on this is that Broyles will not back off his commitment. He is a great kid and I feel as if the loyalty factor will win out simply because Oklahoma didn’t really give him the time of day, so to speak, until he pledged to OSU. That may have actually hurt OU’s chances in terms of the timing of it all.
Nevertheless, I would look for Broyles to don the orange and black next year barring any unforeseen major change in his thought process. Take it for what it’s worth. (JF)
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The recruitment of John Tyler running back Kendall Hunter has been pretty well documented by OSU fans. At one point he was widely considered the top junior running back in the Lone Star State before breaking his leg that year. Coming off the injury, his stock naturally dropped as it was also fueled by the fact that he may have trouble qualifying.
Nevertheless, and we’ve said it before, Hunter is a great get, if he makes it to campus. If not, you obviously sign and place him but if he is able to get qualified, the potential to return to his junior form is there and obviously that is good enough for the coaches to take a chance on him.
He clearly wasn’t the number one choice as the coaches would have maybe liked to land a more sure-fire prospect relative to the qualification and size issues but Hunter is not your everyday fourth-choice prospect.
I don’t have any doubt that the success of Dantrell Savage in this year’s offense had a lot to do with the coaches relaxing their qualms about his size. At this point, they struck out on their first couple of options but certainly got a viable prospect in a class that definitely needed a running back in it. (RC)
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Likely the only tight end prospect that the Cowboys are willing to take if he were to want to commit is St. Martinville, Louisiana prospect Wilson Youman. When we talked to him this week, Youman expressed that he is either going to take his rescheduled official visit to Stillwater this weekend or next weekend depending on if he was able to change his UL-Lafayette visit.
He told us in the interview that Oklahoma State had pulled out in front as his leader and the fact that he would rather visit Stillwater than other schools that he had already planned for a few weeks in advance should speak volumes about how serious his interest is in the Cowboys.
If he does make it this weekend, which we don’t know if he will or not, then we will certainly contact him on Sunday. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t necessarily expect a commitment from him if he showed up but I could foresee it in the near future relative to when he visits the OSU campus.
Essentially, stay tuned because this one may only be a matter of time. (JF)
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We normally will not include much regarding junior prospects but our interview with Mesquite Horn prospect Donyea Hamilton this week was one of the more entertaining that we’ve had in a while. Honestly, it reminded us of the way Richetti Jones would just start talking and would fill up a page of quotes in no time.
Hamilton is likely to be a big-time prospect next year despite playing on a team that was not very good this past season. He played defensive end this past year but in his update he mentioned that he will likely move to linebacker as a senior because that is where he feels he could see the field the fastest in college.
As for what Hamilton is like as a player, we’ll let him tell you.
“For the most part I would say (my best attribute is) teamwork, if that counts. I think I’m not so much of a self player but more of a team player. Like if I had to not start a game, that probably won’t happen, but if I had to not start a game for the team to win, I’ll do it. So I’ll say I’m a team player and I’ll say that I have a motor on the field. I run to the ball and I catch people that can run 4.4’s. I come at angles, you know, but I’ll still catch them and they are like ‘Look at that big dude move. I can’t believe he just caught me.’ I just take a good angle and run as fast as I can and try and knock their helmet off or something,” he chuckled.
Furthermore, Hamilton was not shy about some facets that he could improve upon before arriving at the division one level.
“I’d say my upper body strength and probably my size. It depends on what I’m going to play in college but for the most part I’ll say upper body strength and I would like to get down to at least a 4.7 or 4.6. That is what I’ve been working on during the off-season and I’m going to continue to work on it during the summer. I mean, I’m pretty quick but just as far as running straight as fast as possible I would like to get it to a 4.6 but my agility is pretty good,” he said.
I can already tell that this kid is going to have an entertaining recruitment but it certainly appears that OSU could be in the catbird seat early on because as far as we can tell, Hamilton took three unofficial visits last season and every one of them was to Stillwater. (RC)
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The last prospect that we talked to this week is Schertz, Texas defensive lineman and current Cowboy commitment Tyrell Higgins. With the update today you read what he told us regarding the whole Texas situation and he certainly came across as being very sincere.
Being a kid from Texas, you have to expect that when the Longhorns offer they are going to at least take a look, no matter when it happens in the process. It is tough to swallow from the Oklahoma State perspective but the lore of the in-state Longhorns is tough to match. As to what Higgins will be looking for when he officially visits Austin this weekend, here is what he told us.
“I’m going to look to meet all the coaches from Texas and I’m going to see how compatible I am with their coaching staff and I guess the facilities as well. It’s going to be hard to beat out Oklahoma State’s facilities but it will be just the coaching staff, the environment, and just seeing if I am more comfortable there than I am at OSU,” said Higgins.
The two-star rated Higgins kept mentioning the quality of facilities that OSU has or is going to have and that could bode well if it continues to stick in the back of his mind.
“Yeah, Coach Barnes had come down a while ago and showed me a highlight film and a facilities film about the new locker room and the field and whatnot. The facilities are going to be a factor I guess because like I said it is going to be hard to beat Oklahoma State’s facilities,” he said.
Another thing that could affect how this thing plays out is if Higgins’ parents are able to accompany him on his trip which, naturally, the Texas coaches would like to have happen.
“I know that one of them is but they are both trying to find out if they can get off work to make it down there with me. Texas said that they wanted for both of them to come and see how they liked it but we’ll have to see who can get off work and then we’ll decide if they can come with me,” he said.
Frankly, this one is tough to call. I realize there have been rumors floating that it is just matter of time before Higgins makes the switch but I’m not sure that is necessarily true. That may be ultimately what plays out but Higgins is another kid that has always been a great interview and is very sincere when he talks and I think the loyally issue with the Cowboys being his first scholarship offer may carry some weight.
That along with the fact that Higgins has to judge where he thinks he will get on the field faster which I feel is one of the primary reasons that he may not jump at the opportunity to play for Texas, we may be wrong in all of this and he could be a Longhorn by Sunday but we will certainly know more then as he told us he would call us when he got home from his trip. (JF)
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To finish, here is the latest that we have on the scheduled official visits. Several of these are unconfirmed and we noted as such but for now this is the who and the when as of Friday afternoon. Keep your eyes on this list though as it may fluctuate some by tonight if we find out anything new. OSU commitments are in italics.
October 28-29
Jonathan Rush
November 24-25
Graig Cooper
Mickey Okafor
Christian Scott
December 8-9
Kenny Alexander
Grant Garner
Bret Harris
Ahmad Jones
Richetti Jones
Isaac Madison
Nick Martinez
Marcus Richardson
Tonga Tea
January 19-20
Hubert Anyiam
Rodney Brisbon
Jonathan Clark
Josh Cooper
Damien Davis
Jared Glover
Kendall Hunter
Darnius Moore
Sam Proctor
Woodny Turenne
Wilson Youman
January 26-27
Jamie Blatnick
Ryan Broyles
Dez Bryant
Co-Eric Riley
Harold Turnage
February 2-3
William Cole (not confirmed)
Tyrell Higgins
Tarence Farmer (not confirmed)
This post was edited on 1/19 7:38 PM by Jay Fif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
Furthermore, we're serious about this being a Corral-only piece. Everything that is reported in the Cowboy Roundup must stay in the Cowboy Roundup. That's the way this deal works. Sometimes the info is sensitive enough that it simply doesn't need to be passed on beyond the doors of this thread.
As mentioned, we start this week off on the defensive line with one of Oklahoma State’s current commitments…
Bixby, Oklahoma product Jared Glover has been through the ringer so to speak when it comes to the recruiting process. Everybody knows the story on his commitment switch but it is always tough on these kids when they have to go back on their word.
Nevertheless, if you are an Oklahoma State fan, you certainly like the way things turned out as one of the top in-state players is set to sign with the Cowboys in a few weeks. With that in mind Glover talked about how he was able to sit down and watch OSU play in the Independence Bowl against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
“Oh, of course, I didn’t get to go to it but I watched it. I’m definitely excited about the type of defense that (Oklahoma State) plays and I think it will be a great fit for me. It was a great game and the whole team played great. You know, I have to hand it to Alabama on the touchdown pass to the tackle. I talked to Coach Bradford and we were both wondering whether or not it was a forward pass but it was close. OSU played a great game and they won their bowl game,” he said.
There has been a lot of discussion on the boards about where exactly OSU will use Glover when he gets on campus, we decided to let the three-star Spartan try and clear the air a little bit.
“Very early in my recruiting (OSU) started recruiting me as a tight end and then they recruited me as a linebacker. I know I’m listed as a defensive end on Rivals because that is what I had first been recruited as generally but as my recruiting process has unfolded I guess more and more schools have wanted me as an outside linebacker. The offer from Michigan, they wanted me as a SAM and Nebraska was the same way along with OSU. Coach Bradford is my recruiter but more importantly he is going to be my position coach so that is why I’ve been getting to know him,” said Glover.
So there you have it, it looks like Glover will certainly get first crack at playing with his hand off the ground but I can certainly see a case where he could move to defensive end and have just as big of an impact. His combination of size and speed is what makes him special and therefore neither position is really going to be a bad choice. (RC)
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When we talked to Northwest Mississippi C.C. offensive tackle Rodney Brisbon, it was difficult to discern just how much interest he had in Oklahoma State. At the time he did confirm that he intended to visit Stillwater this weekend and we have not talked to him since so we assume that is still the plan.
Nevertheless, Brisbon is a very solid junior college prospect as he garnered several accolades for his performance on the field.
“(My season) went good. We won our conference and I got the most valuable player on the offensive line. I also got All-Metro and All-State,” he said.
Brisbon credits his quickness and knowledge of the game for why he is as good as he is on the field but it is off the field where most of the work needs to be done. As of two weeks ago Brisbon was not qualified to enroll at a division one school by NCAA standards as he did not have the required 2.0 grade point average. Whether or not that has changed since then we don’t know but he has a semester to bring it up.
If Brisbon does come in this weekend then certainly the interest is genuine and we will try and get a hold of him Sunday afternoon to see if he made it and what his thoughts were so stay tuned. (JF)
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It seems like there are about a million potential safety prospects that Oklahoma State is pursuing as we are getting into crunch time with respect to signing day. One of those that we talked to recently was Tyler, Texas product Tekerrein Cuba.
Cuba is one of the better-spoken and more mild-mannered prospects that we have talked to and he seemed to express a genuine interest in Oklahoma State as he is hoping to visit Stillwater soon. At the time we talked to him he had not set up anything officially but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t by now. We haven’t heard anything that would lead us to believe that he will visit this weekend but we may give him a shout on Sunday to see if he hasn’t set anything up in the future.
Now, as to where he fits in the realm of all this, there are several safety prospects that the Cowboys are after including Christian Scott, James Thomas, Bret Harris, Tarence Farmer, Joseph Leary, and Sam Proctor. I am going to guess that the staff would maybe like to get two of any of the above with the first two to commit getting spots. I have absolutely no confirmation on that but it’s just a feel for how I think it is going to work, I could be wrong. We’ll just have to see what happens. (RC)
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Easily the top offensive high school prospect left on the board for Oklahoma State is Lufkin, Texas wide receiver Dez Bryant. We talked to Bryant last week and for as amazing as he is on the field, he is certainly a humble and quiet young man. We had no real reason for telling you guys that other than it’s nice to see that sometimes.
Anyway, we digress and the four-star rated Bryant has rescheduled his official visit to Stillwater for next weekend (Jan 26) as he has intentions to trip to Lubbock this weekend to visit Texas Tech. We do know that they are expecting a lot of snow in the Lubbock area soon but whether or not it inhibits the weekend for the Red Raiders has yet to be seen.
We do feel that if the Cowboys are the final official visit for Bryant that they certainly will have the advantage of being the freshest thing on his mind heading into the dead period which is never a bad thing. That is all assuming he doesn’t schedule an official visit for the weekend of February 2 which if he were to, one would think it would be to Baton Rouge to check out the Tigers.
Furthermore, Bryant still has yet to qualify academically. This has been common knowledge for a while but the fact that a few schools including Oklahoma State are starting to pursue him even harder signifies that he may be pretty close. We still get the feeling that he has some work to do but he does have a semester to improve his status.
Any way you look at it though, it is similar to the Perrish Cox situation last year for OSU where they need to get them signed first and then you worry about whether or not the player can make the proper g.p.a./test score combination to pass through the clearinghouse. (JF)
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Along with Co-Eric Riley, another one of the wide receiver prospects that the Cowboys are bringing in this weekend is North Garland product Hubert Anyiam. Likely behind Dez Bryant and the aforementioned Riley in the pecking order, we put Anyiam on the same level as a Darnius Moore although Moore may be a little more athletic but played at a lower level of competition.
When we talked to Anyiam recently, he talked about how one of the few visits that he will be taking without teammate Jermaine Love is his trip to Oklahoma State. Love is currently committed to Arkansas and although it seemed like it at one point, the two friends are not necessarily set on going to school together.
“Well, not really anymore. He’s a person that could have affected my decision because we planned on going to college together but he went on and committed to Arkansas because Nebraska was filling up at linebackers and we were going to go to Nebraska together. Nebraska filled up at linebackers though so he went ahead and committed to Arkansas and now Louisville stepped up and said they want the both of us so we will go ahead and take the visit (Jan 26) and see how that goes,” he said.
With that said, Anyiam’s dynamite senior year certainly perked up several ears around the Midwest and his stats certainly present the fact that he is worth of the attention he is receiving.
“Oh, (my season) went great. I had my best year with 61 receptions for 1100 yards and I had 250 rushing yards and 12 total touchdowns (11 receiving and one punt return),” he said.
The receiver position is similar to the safety position for the Cowboys in this year’s class in that there are several prospects available for a limited number of spots. It appears though that there may be more of a pecking order priority-wise for the receivers than there is on the defensive side of the ball. (RC)
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There is one thing that we have regarding basketball recruiting and it concerns everyone’s favorite prospect.
Jai Lucas may not be a daily fixture on the recruiting message boards like he was prior to last November's signing date, but he is talked about more than any other recruit still out on the table and is certainly never out of the minds of rabid recruiting junkies at Oklahoma State, Kentucky, Maryland and Oklahoma.
Now he may also become a hot topic of discussion from fans at Duke, Kansas and Indiana.
According to Coach John Lucas the latter schools continue to keep in touch "in case something opens up" but adds that "It would take something pretty special" for Jai to open up his recruiting to anyone other than the four schools who've been on his list the longest.
Lucas still has the original four schools at the top of his list and he's going to watch one of them personally on Saturday night.
"We'll probably go up to College Station tomorrow (for OSU's game against Texas A&M) after Jai's game," said to the elder Lucas. "Jai's game is at 1:00 and then we'd go watch the OSU/A&M game at 7:00."
"We haven't had a chance to see most of the teams play, except for on TV, and we want to see them play," Lucas continued. "Jai isn't going to make any real decisions until the season is over though."
Coach Lucas and Jai will join us next week on the Greg Swaim Radio Show and we'll be sure to ask them how recruiting is shaping up. (GS)
********************
Certainly the biggest news in the last two weeks has been the saga regarding Norman, Oklahoma product Ryan Broyles and his commitment to OSU which was subsequently followed by a scholarship offer from the local Sooners.
We talked to Broyles briefly a day or two after he received the offer and as we saw in the update he said that he is 100% committed to Oklahoma State. Now there has been obvious speculation that he may consider the Sooners’ offer but as of now we have no reason to believe that he won’t sign with the Cowboys come February 7.
My gut feeling on this is that Broyles will not back off his commitment. He is a great kid and I feel as if the loyalty factor will win out simply because Oklahoma didn’t really give him the time of day, so to speak, until he pledged to OSU. That may have actually hurt OU’s chances in terms of the timing of it all.
Nevertheless, I would look for Broyles to don the orange and black next year barring any unforeseen major change in his thought process. Take it for what it’s worth. (JF)
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The recruitment of John Tyler running back Kendall Hunter has been pretty well documented by OSU fans. At one point he was widely considered the top junior running back in the Lone Star State before breaking his leg that year. Coming off the injury, his stock naturally dropped as it was also fueled by the fact that he may have trouble qualifying.
Nevertheless, and we’ve said it before, Hunter is a great get, if he makes it to campus. If not, you obviously sign and place him but if he is able to get qualified, the potential to return to his junior form is there and obviously that is good enough for the coaches to take a chance on him.
He clearly wasn’t the number one choice as the coaches would have maybe liked to land a more sure-fire prospect relative to the qualification and size issues but Hunter is not your everyday fourth-choice prospect.
I don’t have any doubt that the success of Dantrell Savage in this year’s offense had a lot to do with the coaches relaxing their qualms about his size. At this point, they struck out on their first couple of options but certainly got a viable prospect in a class that definitely needed a running back in it. (RC)
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Likely the only tight end prospect that the Cowboys are willing to take if he were to want to commit is St. Martinville, Louisiana prospect Wilson Youman. When we talked to him this week, Youman expressed that he is either going to take his rescheduled official visit to Stillwater this weekend or next weekend depending on if he was able to change his UL-Lafayette visit.
He told us in the interview that Oklahoma State had pulled out in front as his leader and the fact that he would rather visit Stillwater than other schools that he had already planned for a few weeks in advance should speak volumes about how serious his interest is in the Cowboys.
If he does make it this weekend, which we don’t know if he will or not, then we will certainly contact him on Sunday. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t necessarily expect a commitment from him if he showed up but I could foresee it in the near future relative to when he visits the OSU campus.
Essentially, stay tuned because this one may only be a matter of time. (JF)
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We normally will not include much regarding junior prospects but our interview with Mesquite Horn prospect Donyea Hamilton this week was one of the more entertaining that we’ve had in a while. Honestly, it reminded us of the way Richetti Jones would just start talking and would fill up a page of quotes in no time.
Hamilton is likely to be a big-time prospect next year despite playing on a team that was not very good this past season. He played defensive end this past year but in his update he mentioned that he will likely move to linebacker as a senior because that is where he feels he could see the field the fastest in college.
As for what Hamilton is like as a player, we’ll let him tell you.
“For the most part I would say (my best attribute is) teamwork, if that counts. I think I’m not so much of a self player but more of a team player. Like if I had to not start a game, that probably won’t happen, but if I had to not start a game for the team to win, I’ll do it. So I’ll say I’m a team player and I’ll say that I have a motor on the field. I run to the ball and I catch people that can run 4.4’s. I come at angles, you know, but I’ll still catch them and they are like ‘Look at that big dude move. I can’t believe he just caught me.’ I just take a good angle and run as fast as I can and try and knock their helmet off or something,” he chuckled.
Furthermore, Hamilton was not shy about some facets that he could improve upon before arriving at the division one level.
“I’d say my upper body strength and probably my size. It depends on what I’m going to play in college but for the most part I’ll say upper body strength and I would like to get down to at least a 4.7 or 4.6. That is what I’ve been working on during the off-season and I’m going to continue to work on it during the summer. I mean, I’m pretty quick but just as far as running straight as fast as possible I would like to get it to a 4.6 but my agility is pretty good,” he said.
I can already tell that this kid is going to have an entertaining recruitment but it certainly appears that OSU could be in the catbird seat early on because as far as we can tell, Hamilton took three unofficial visits last season and every one of them was to Stillwater. (RC)
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The last prospect that we talked to this week is Schertz, Texas defensive lineman and current Cowboy commitment Tyrell Higgins. With the update today you read what he told us regarding the whole Texas situation and he certainly came across as being very sincere.
Being a kid from Texas, you have to expect that when the Longhorns offer they are going to at least take a look, no matter when it happens in the process. It is tough to swallow from the Oklahoma State perspective but the lore of the in-state Longhorns is tough to match. As to what Higgins will be looking for when he officially visits Austin this weekend, here is what he told us.
“I’m going to look to meet all the coaches from Texas and I’m going to see how compatible I am with their coaching staff and I guess the facilities as well. It’s going to be hard to beat out Oklahoma State’s facilities but it will be just the coaching staff, the environment, and just seeing if I am more comfortable there than I am at OSU,” said Higgins.
The two-star rated Higgins kept mentioning the quality of facilities that OSU has or is going to have and that could bode well if it continues to stick in the back of his mind.
“Yeah, Coach Barnes had come down a while ago and showed me a highlight film and a facilities film about the new locker room and the field and whatnot. The facilities are going to be a factor I guess because like I said it is going to be hard to beat Oklahoma State’s facilities,” he said.
Another thing that could affect how this thing plays out is if Higgins’ parents are able to accompany him on his trip which, naturally, the Texas coaches would like to have happen.
“I know that one of them is but they are both trying to find out if they can get off work to make it down there with me. Texas said that they wanted for both of them to come and see how they liked it but we’ll have to see who can get off work and then we’ll decide if they can come with me,” he said.
Frankly, this one is tough to call. I realize there have been rumors floating that it is just matter of time before Higgins makes the switch but I’m not sure that is necessarily true. That may be ultimately what plays out but Higgins is another kid that has always been a great interview and is very sincere when he talks and I think the loyally issue with the Cowboys being his first scholarship offer may carry some weight.
That along with the fact that Higgins has to judge where he thinks he will get on the field faster which I feel is one of the primary reasons that he may not jump at the opportunity to play for Texas, we may be wrong in all of this and he could be a Longhorn by Sunday but we will certainly know more then as he told us he would call us when he got home from his trip. (JF)
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To finish, here is the latest that we have on the scheduled official visits. Several of these are unconfirmed and we noted as such but for now this is the who and the when as of Friday afternoon. Keep your eyes on this list though as it may fluctuate some by tonight if we find out anything new. OSU commitments are in italics.
October 28-29
Jonathan Rush
November 24-25
Graig Cooper
Mickey Okafor
Christian Scott
December 8-9
Kenny Alexander
Grant Garner
Bret Harris
Ahmad Jones
Richetti Jones
Isaac Madison
Nick Martinez
Marcus Richardson
Tonga Tea
January 19-20
Hubert Anyiam
Rodney Brisbon
Jonathan Clark
Josh Cooper
Damien Davis
Jared Glover
Kendall Hunter
Darnius Moore
Sam Proctor
Woodny Turenne
Wilson Youman
January 26-27
Jamie Blatnick
Ryan Broyles
Dez Bryant
Co-Eric Riley
Harold Turnage
February 2-3
William Cole (not confirmed)
Tyrell Higgins
Tarence Farmer (not confirmed)
This post was edited on 1/19 7:38 PM by Jay Fif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
