Cowboys Recruiting Analysis: Five-Stars, OSU Offered Them, Has a Chance at Kobe Black
STILLWATER – If I had a dime for everytime I heard an “Oklahoma State fan” say that the reason Oklahoma State can’t win more conference championships or move the program up is the head coach Mike Gundy and his staff don’t try to recruit the best players the five-stars. Oklahoma State has had a handful of five-star players. They have had more four-star players and more of them have panned out in production.
The truth is that Oklahoma State does offer almost every five-star recruit in their recruiting footprint. The footprint is Oklahoma, Texas Louisiana, Kansas, Arkansas, and Missouri. The Cowboys have done some good lately in Utah and some in Georgia, but it isn’t in the footprint.
Rarely do you see five-star prospects in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, etc. The majority are going to be in Texas. Louisiana will one now and then.
I chose to start with this year because the Cowboys have a shot at a five-star in Kobe Black. He is the younger brother of Cowboys standout three-year starter at corner in Korie Black. I believe Kobe wants to play a season with his brother and he could. He has also seen Oklahoma State a lot this fall and seems to enjoy himself. I think between Tim Duffie and Bryan Nardo, the younger Black knows he will be coached well and have a good experience.
Connally (4-3/1-0) is on the road at Salado tonight as they come off of an off week and they are driving to the playoffs.
Black was committed to Texas and he has 35 offers with Jim Knowles at Ohio State and Texas A&M among the schools really pushing, but the good thing is he keeps ending up in Stillwater and Tim Duffie has been to waco for a Connally game as Oklahoma State is working hard to get Black.
Check the dates because I believe it is important to note that Oklahoma State generally offers early enough to get some traction before this prospects commit to someone else.
You will notice there was no offer for Xavier Filsaime and D.J. Lagway, both going to Florida, at least they are committed. Oklahoma State did not offer because they were full at each position.
Of the other players, Micah Hudson may have been the player that showed Oklahoma State the nost interest.
| Name | Position | High School | Ht./Wt. | Date of OSU Offer | Total Offers | Commitment School/Date |
| Bryant Wesco | WR | Midlothian, Tex. | 6-2/180 | 3/19/2023 | 35 | Clemson 6/6/2023 |
| Terry Bussey | Ath. | Timpson, Tex. | 5-10.5/180 | 2/17/2023 | 33 | Texas A&M 9/28/2023 |
| Justin Williams | LB | Conroe (Oak Ridge), Tex. | 6-2/205 | 10/10/2022 | 33 | Georgia 7/24/2023 |
| Micah Hudson | WR | Temple (Lake Belton), Tex. | 6-0/190 | 5/13/2022 | 35 | Texas Tech 9/11/2023 |
| Kobe Black | CB | Waco (Connally), Tex. | 6-0/190 | 12/17/2019 | 35 | TBA |
| Colin Simmons | DE | Duncanville, Tex. | 6-3/225 | 12/2/2021 | 46 | Texas 8/10/2023 |
| Xavier Filsaime | Saf. | McKinney, Tex. | 6-1/190 | No Offer | 35 | Florida 4/13/2023 |
| D.J. Lagway | QB | Willis, Tex. | 6-2/225 | No Offer | 34 | Florida 12/7/2022 |
Looking at the 2023 class of five-stars and I’m not sure Oklahoma State was ever very deep on any in this crew. They offered running back Rueben Owens the earliest. I know that Cowboys running backs coach John Wozniak did a good job of getting the attention of Owens. El Campo off the beaten path offered Oklahoma State better chance in some ways. All players in this class seem to be doing well.
| Name | Position | High School | Ht./Wt. | Date of OSU Offer | Total Offers | Commitment School/Date |
| Jackson Arnold | QB | Denton (Guyer), Tex. | 6-1/205 | 5/21/2021 | 25 | Oklahoma 1/24/2022 |
| D.J. Hicks | DL | Katy (Paetow), Tex. | 6-4/290 | 3/24/2021 | 39 | Texas A&M 9/28/2022 |
| Lance Heard | OT | Monroe (Neville) La. | 6-6/340 | 10/27/2021 | 19 | LSU 9/1/2022 |
| Anthony Hill | LB | Denton (Ryan), Tex. | 6-2/225 | 9/6/2021 | 33 | Texas A&M 12/15/2022 |
| Rueben Owens | RB | El Campo, Tex. | 5-11/190 | 1/6/2020 | 43 | Texas A&M 12/7/2022 |
This last group is interesting because Oklahoma State had a member of the 2022 class of five-stars in the footprint committed to almost a year as Charlie Dickey jumped in after Mike Gundy, Kasey Dunn, and Josh Henson started out on Kelvin Banks. Banks had been to Stillwater multiple times and seemed to like everybody in orange and Oklahoma State and Stillwater. I spoke with Banks on numerous occasions and know what I heard as he was committed as good as you can be. Then Texas came through with that $50.000 per year per offensive lineman NIL deal and it wasn’t long after that when Banks changed his commitment.
| Name | Position | High School | Ht./Wt. | Date of OSU Offer | Total Offers | Commitment School/Date |
| Harold Perkins | LB | Cypress (Cy-Park_, Tex. | 6-2.5/210 | 7/24/2020 | 33 | LSU 2/2/2022 |
| Evan Stewart | WR | Frisco (Liberty), Tex. | 6-0/175 | 12/16/2020 | 37 | Texas A&M 11/29/2021 |
| Cade Klubnik | QB | Austin (Westlake), Tex. | 6-2.5/205 | 10/12/2020 | 31 | Clemson 3/2/2021 |
| Connor Weigman | QB | Cypress (Bridgeland), Tex. | 6-2/208 | 11/3/2020 | 19 | Texas A&M 2/4/2021 |
| D.J. Campbell | OL | Arlington (Bowie), Tex. | 6-3/332 | 1/26/2020 | 32 | Texas 2/2/2022 |
| Chris Marshall | WR | Fort Bend (Marshall), Tex. | 6-3/205 | 3/31/2021 | 24 | Texas A&M 11/6/2021 |
| Kelvin Banks | OL | Humble (Summer Creek), Tex. | 6-4/324 | 5/8/2019 | 25 | Texas 12/11/2021 |
If Oklahoma State was losing to schools like Baylor, TCU, Kansas, Kansas State, etc. then more panic, but look where the five stars have gone recently, to pretty much the same schools that have always brought in five-stars or blue chips. The bluebloods like Texas, Texas A&M, LSU, and Clemson. You could simply say, follow the money or now say, follow the biggest money.
The 5-Star Signing/Commitment Standings (2022-2024)
(in the Oklahoma State recruiting footprint)
Texas A&M - 6
Texas - 4
LSU - 2
Clemson - 2
Florida - 2
Oklahoma, Georgia - 1 each
