Oklahoma State recruiting target Trae Elston to make college choice on ESPNU’s Signing Day special
Oklahoma State recruiting target Trae Elston is expected to make his college announcement during ESPNU’s National Signing Day Special, the network announced Wednesday.
Elston, a defensive back from Oxford, Ala., could visit either OSU or LSU this weekend. He played in the Under Armour All-American Bowl and is a three-star prospect, according to Rivals.
Rivals lists Mississippi as Elston’s current leader.
Oklahoma State Spring Game set for April 21
Oklahoma State has announced that its Spring Game will be April 21 at a time still to be determined.
Coach Mike Gundy has tentatively set March 12 as the first day of spring practice.
We’ll post a full schedule when that becomes available.
Texas A&M women’s basketball coach Gary Blair sounds off on Aggies moving to SEC
Texas A&M women’s basketball coach Gary Blair was asked about visiting Gallagher-Iba Arena for the last time before the Aggies move to the SEC following A&M’s 57-53 loss to Oklahoma State Tuesday night.
He had plenty to say about OSU, the Big 12 and his unhappiness about leaving the conference.
I’ll get out of the way.
“I hate not coming back to this place.
“We had always played well here because of the respect that I have for this building, like when I went to Kansas. Y’all got the two best arenas, not just in the Big 12, but maybe in the country. Throw Cameron in there, too (Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium).
“Y’all have figured out that you don’t have to just be a football school. You can be a basketball school. You can be a wrestling school. You can be the whole thing. We’re starting to get that way. That’s one of the reasons I was not happy leaving the Big 12. Look where we’ve been in the Sears Cup the last two years—No. 6 and No. 8. We were No. 2 in (the women’s rankings), next to Stanford.
“You get a familiarity with the schools, and your fans get going and it’s just great. Now, we’re going to have to go find new teams and new rivalries. They only have to look at us and Missouri. We’ve got to look at 12 other schools and learn how to play against them and their tendencies. I know a little bit about it, but there’s only three coaches left in the SEC (from) when I was there (as the head coach at Arkansas). Three pretty damn good ones—Pat (Summitt) and Andy (Landers) and Sharon Fanning.
“I’m happy for the Big 12 that it stayed together. It would have been a joke if y’all would have had to go to the (Pac-12). That would have been the demise of Oklahoma State. Now you’re in the Big 12 again, you’re bringing two schools in. Be the best that you can be.
“We’re going to the SEC. I’ll spin it a different way next year. When we were in the SEC, we were the best league in women’s basketball for 10 straight years. Now, the Big 12 has been the best basketball (league) about the last eight out of nine. You have a couple good teams coming in.
“What you have here is you have an atmosphere. That crowd—I’ve never played in front of six, seven, eight thousand here. Thank Goodness. But your 4,000 or 3,500 are very, very loud. They get into it. They’re very knowledgeable about the game.
“We’re getting everybody’s best game. That’s to be expected. Hopefully, it’s going to make us a better team in March.”
Oklahoma State is Wide Receiver (Recruit) U
Oklahoma State added its fifth wide receiver commit Sunday when Jhajuan Seales from Port Arthur Memorial High School in Texas switched his pledge from Houston to the Cowboys. And there could still be more commits at the position coming before Signing Day.
OSU is the leader for four-star receiver Jaydon Mickens of Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, according to multiple reports and his Twitter account. Javon Williams, a four-star receiver from Chandler, Ariz., visited OSU this past weekend.
(Updated: I missed a report by Scout.com’s Inna Lazarev yesterday that Williams is down to UCLA and Arkansas.)
OSU does have holes to fill at receiver, with Justin Blackmon, Josh Cooper, Hubert Anyiam and Colton Chelf all leaving.
But placing this kind of emphasis on the position—and adding a pass-catching tight end in JUCO All-American Blake Jackson and big-armed quarterback Wes Lunt—shows that Todd Monken likely won’t deviate much from the wide-open, spread attack post-Weeden2Blackmon.
Someone on Twitter brought up how using a tight end would be different, which is somewhat true. But, as I wrote Sunday, Monken plans to use Jackson much like Tracy Moore was this season. Jackson is a big target, but he runs the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds. He’ll find holes in the zone, create matchup problems, break tackles and stretch the field.
Still, it would be interesting if OSU signed five or six wide receivers and two tight ends, but no running backs in this class.
Here’s a look at the wide receivers OSU has signed over the past three seasons and their production in the 2011 season.
2011
Torrance Carr (Dallas)–no action at receiver
David Glidden (Mustang High School)—no action at receiver
Johnny Haynes (Irving, Texas)—wound up at Navarro JC
Isaac McCoy (Alma, Ark.)—no action at receiver
Josh Stewart (Denton, Texas)—19 catches, 291 yards, two touchdowns
2010
Chris Dinkins (Tyler, Texas)—moved to linebacker, no longer on roster
Kevin Johnson (Houston, Texas)—no action at receiver
Montra Nelson (Arlington, Texas)—moved to fullback, no longer on roster
2009
Michael Harrison (Dallas)—20 catches, 255 yards, three touchdowns
Charlie Moore (Bullard, Texas)—three catches, 56 yards
Tracy Moore (Tulsa Union)—45 catches, 672 yards, four touchdowns
Power Lunch Chat with John Helsley
Twitter tells us Michael Wilson, Chance Allen now Cowboys; Keon Hatcher a Razorback
Twitter gave us three pieces of recruiting news Saturday—two that are good for Poke fans and one that is not so good.
Bad news first?
Owasso wide receiver Keon Hatcher appears to be set on signing with Arkansas.
Hatcher has been committed to the Razorbacks since August, but OSU entered the running late, and he was very “vocal” (on Twitter) about how much he enjoyed his visit to Stillwater last weekend. But he took his official to Fayetteville this weekend and tweeted “IMA HOG 100% #WPS” and a photo of him in Arkansas gear in the Hogs’ locker room. Someone then asked him if that was an “official” commitment (he never decommitted, by the way) and he responded “Yessir.”
Now for the good: Blake Webb was breaking all kinds of news Saturday night.
First, he revealed that Michael Wilson, a 6-foot-6, 265-pound offensive lineman from Aledo, Texas, switched his commitment from Texas A&M to OSU on his official visit this weekend.
Webb tweeted “Got my boy Big Mike Wilson Wilson to join tha brothahood #GoPokes.” Later, Cowboy wide receiver Charlie Moore tweeted “Big mike (Michael Wilson) joined cowboy nation today!! #bignight #okstate.”
Wilson, who committed to A&M last February, is a three-star prospect, according to Rivals.
Wilson isn’t the only A&M commit that OSU is trying to lure away. Five-star running back Trey Williams and three-star defensive back Corey Thompson, who have both pledged to the Aggies, will visit Stillwater next weekend.
Later, Webb tweeted “In case y’all were wondering, we got @DudaMcLovin Too!!! #cowboynation.”
@DudaMcLovin is Chance Allen, a three-star wide receiver from Missouri City, Texas. Allen is a high-school teammate of Thompson.
Wide receiver continues to be the most active position on the recruiting trail for OSU over the past few weeks, with Allen in and Hatcher out. The Cowboys now have four receiver commits in this class in four-star prospect C.J. Curry (Flowery Branch, Ga.) and three-star prospects Brandon Sheperd (Chesterfield, Mo.) and Blake Webb (The Woodlands, Texas) and Allen. Javon Williams (fours stars, Chandler, Ariz.) and Jhajuan Seales (two stars, Port Arthur, Texas) are among the wide receiver prospects that OSU is still targeting, according to Rivals.
This was a huge recruiting weekend for the Cowboys, as evidenced by the large number of prospects and their families sitting in Section 314 at Gallagher-Iba Arena for the men’s basketball game. I also spotted offensive coordinator Todd Monken, defensive coordinator Bill Young, offensive line coach Joe Wickline, wide receiver coach Kasey Dunn, linebacker coach Glenn Spencer, director of football operations Mack Butler and recruiting coordinator Jonny Barr at the game.
That means we should have plenty more news in the coming days as we enter the home stretch before Signing Day.
Wagoner’s Kevin Peterson visiting Oklahoma State
Wagoner’s Kevin Peterson, who committed to Oklahoma on Dec. 18, is in Stillwater this weekend on an official visit to Oklahoma State.
Wagoner football coach Dale Condict said in a text message that the departures of defensive coordinator Brent Venables and secondary coach Willie Martinez led Peterson to want to at least visit OSU. Condict also said that Cowboys coach Mike Gundy made an in-house visit to Peterson last Monday.
Peterson picked up offers from both OU and OSU after leading Wagoner to its first-ever football state championship with his play at both running back and defensive back. He was The Oklahoman’s 2011 Defensive Player of the Year.
OSU-KState: Five Things
By John Helsley
jhelsley@opubco.com
On Twitter @jjhelsley
Nearing tipoff here at Gallagher-Iba Arena, where the Cowboys are set to take on No. 25 Kansas State. Fans are slowing flowing in.
Here’s a quick primer, our Five Things, for a Big 12 game that means much to both teams. The Wildcats are trying to break through on the road in the Big 12, where they are 0-2 so far. That’s not good enough for a ranked team that considers itself in the top tier of the Big 12.
The Cowboys are trying to break through against a good team, having come oh-so-close at Iowa State on Wednesday night. Do they have what it takes?
1. Rebound. It’s going to be a regular item here during this season, but banging the boards is critical today, with the Wildcats leading the Big 12 in total rebounds and offensive rebounds, the latter a sore spot for the Cowboys this season. They need to limit second chance opportunities. Mike Cobbins and Philip Jurick can only do so much, athletic guards Markel Brown and Brian Williams need to chip in.
2. Good Nash, Bad Nash. Do we see the Le’Bryan Nash who scored 21 points and was most effective at Iowa State, or do we see the Nash who hit just 2-of-12 shots at Baylor and was a non-factor? That’s been the tale much of this season. Obviously, the Cowboys need the Good Nash.
3. Point Taken. The Pokes got a huge lift from Markel Brown at the point in Ames, with him producing 11 assists, the most since Byron Eaton’s days on campus. The Cats will adjust, so how does Ford and Brown adjust?
4. K-State Streak. Frank Martin has never walked out of GIA a winner and the Wildcats have lost 11 straight in Stillwater. The crowd is starting to fill in, and these young Cowboys need the support. Will it be there?
5. Don’t Reach. Battling the Cats’ athletic and aggressive forwards, Jamar Samuels and Thomas Gipson, and their reinforcements, will be a challenge on the boards and in the paint. The depth-strapped Cowboys can’t afford the cheap fouls.
Mike Gundy’s second national Coach of the Year award: What does it mean?
Mike Gundy picked up another national coaching honor late Thursday night, winning the 2011 Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year.
National Coach of the Year awards are a bit like All-America teams—there are a lot of them. But there are five “main” ones—Bear Bryant, Eddie Robinson, American Football Coaches Association, Associated Press and Home Depot.
This season, those five awards were split between Gundy and Les Miles. Gundy also won the Eddie Robinson Award, while Miles won the other three. Another connection between the former OSU colleagues.
I thought it would be interesting to go back and revisit the Coach of the Year awards from the past 10 seasons. You’ll see expected names like Nick Saban, Gary Patterson, Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel, Joe Paterno and Chris Petersen. You’ll see some “huh?” names like Charlie Weis and Tyrone Willingham.
But the only coach to sweep all five awards during that time? Mark Mangino in 2007. My friendly colleague Travis Haney put it best: “It’s that hard to win football games at Kansas. Take ‘em to a BCS game, you’re going to get love.”
2011
Eddie Robinson: Mike Gundy (OSU)
Bear Bryant: Mike Gundy
AP: Les Miles (LSU)
Home Depot: Les Miles
AFCA: Les Miles
2010
Eddie Robinson: Chip Kelly (Oregon)
Bear Bryant: Gene Chizik (Auburn)
AP: Chip Kelly
Home Depot: Gene Chizik
AFCA: Chip Kelly
2009
Eddie Robinson: Gary Patterson (TCU)
Bear Bryant: Chris Petersen (Boise State)
AP: Gary Patterson
Home Depot: Brian Kelly (Cincinnati)
AFCA: Gary Patterson
2008
Eddie Robinson: Nick Saban (Alabama)
Bear Bryant: Kyle Whittingham (Utah)
AP: Nick Saban
Home Depot: Nick Saban
AFCA: Kyle Whittingham
2007
Eddie Robinson: Mark Mangino (Kansas)
Bear Bryant: Mark Mangino
AP: Mark Mangino
Home Depot: Mark Mangino
AFCA: Mark Mangino
2006
Eddie Robinson: Greg Schiano (Rutgers)
Bear Bryant: Chris Petersen (Boise State)
AP: Jim Grobe (Wake Forest)
Home Depot: Greg Schiano
AFCA: Jim Grobe
2005
Eddie Robinson: Charlie Weis (Notre Dame)
Bear Bryant: Mack Brown (Texas)
AP: Joe Paterno (Penn State)
Home Depot: Joe Paterno
AFCA: Joe Paterno
2004
Eddie Robinson: Urban Meyer (Utah)
Bear Bryant: Tommy Tuberville (Auburn)
AP: Tommy Tuberville
Home Depot: Urban Meyer
AFCA: Tommy Tuberville
2003
Eddie Robinson: Nick Saban (LSU)
Bear Bryant: Nick Saban
AP: Nick Saban
Home Depot: Pete Carroll (USC)
AFCA: Pete Carroll
2002
Eddie Robinson: Jim Tressel (Ohio State)
Bear Bryant: Jim Tressel
AP: Kirk Ferentz (Iowa)
Home Depot: Tyrone Willingham (Notre Dame)
AFCA: Jim Tressel
Jhajuan Seales: the next Oklahoma State commit?
Jhajuan Seales, a wide receiver from Port Arthur Memorial High School in Texas, had no college offers coming into his senior year.
Now he has the opportunity to join a program that finished No. 3 in the final Associated Press and USA Today Coaches’ polls after its greatest season in school history.
Seales, who committed to Houston on Sunday, received an offer from Oklahoma State on Tuesday, according to multiple reports. He will visit Stillwater on Friday and Houston next weekend, a source told the Beaumont (Texas) Enterprise.
Credit my friend and former colleague, Beaumont Enterprise reporter David Henry, for being on this story since the beginning. Ditto for Sam Khan, the UH beat reporter at the Chronicle.
Rumors surfaced late Wednesday night that Seales had switched his commitment from UH to OSU after the offer came from the Cowboys. But the source told the Enterprise that Seales is still committed to the Cougars and that if he changed his mind, he likely would not say until Signing Day on Feb. 1.
Seales is a classic example of a late bloomer. After being used sparingly is junior season, he caught 54 passes for 1,207 yards and 13 touchdowns this past season for a Memorial team that advanced to the Class 5A state semifinals.
His recruiting interest then skyrocketed. He received offers UNLV and Houston, as well as FCS programs Lamar, Stephen F. Austin and Northwestern State. Seales first worked out for OSU about two weeks ago and is being recruited by Kasey Dunn.
“He’s a big-play receiver with great speed, great hands and a heck of a vertical leap,” Memorial coach Kenny Harrison told The Enterprise. “He is just explosive. He knows how to read coverages and has a great knowledge of the game.”
OSU loses four receivers in its two-deep in Justin Blackmon, Josh Cooper, Hubert Anyiam (who missed half the season with a broken foot) and Colton Chelf. The Cowboys already have three wide receiver commitments in this class in C.J. Curry (Flowery Branch, Ga.), Brandon Sheperd (Chesterfield, Mo.) and Blake Webb (The Woodlands, Texas).
Here is Seales’ highlight video.
