Top WR prospect cancels OSU visit
By Scott Wright
Former Oklahoma State assistant coach Trooper Taylor came in as an ace recruiter, and though he never landed the big fish from the recruiting sea, Taylor did make players who wouldn’t generally look at OSU to consider the Cowboys.
Meet Rueben Randle.
Ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 1 prospect in the nation at any position, the receiver from Bastrop, La., had scheduled a visit to Stillwater this weekend. On Monday, Taylor took a job at Auburn, and on Thursday, reports surfaced that Randle had decided not to visit OSU. Instead, he has scheduled an official visit to — you guessed it — Auburn.
Sources have confirmed the reports, so it looks like OSU will have to look elsewhere for another receiver in the 2009 class.
The top candidate in that group is Cobi Hamilton from Texarkana, Texas, who is expected to visit this month.
In coaching news, there’s nothing new regarding positions being filled, but Robert Matthews’ future continues to be a mystery. OSU’s current recruiting coordinator is a candidate for a promotion, either to an on-field position or the vacant director of operations position. But his wife and former OSU women’s golf coach, Laura Matthews, is among the candidates and has interviewed for the same position at Oregon. Laura Matthews resigned during the fall at OSU.
The coaching carousel is anchored in Stillwater
By Scott Wright
Following the departures of Curtis Luper and Trooper Taylor to Auburn in the last seven days, there’s been lots of talk about other OSU assistants in connection with other coaching jobs. So here’s some of what I’ve learned in talking to people around the coaching industry the last few days.
Auburn, at least for a short time, had some interest in OSU offensive line coach Joe Wickline. Whether it was Auburn that changed its mind, or Wickline that said he wasn’t interested, that talk has died down.
OSU offensive coordinator Gunter Brewer was mentioned by a Miami Hurricanes Web site as a potential target by Randy Shannon for his offensive coordinator job. I spoke Tuesday evening with someone who had spoken earlier in the day with Shannon and Brewer’s name was not mentioned among the people he had contacted. Interestingly, neither was Trooper Taylor’s, although Internet reports had said he had been contacted, and possibly even interviewed, for the job before getting the job at Auburn. The source said Shannon denied having ever reached out to Taylor.
It doesn’t appear that any of OSU’s current remaining offensive coaches are looking for jobs, but as a coach once told me when I asked if a program called, would he talk to them, “If the phone rings, you answer it.”
As for an OSU staff member who might actually leave, strength coach Rob Glass has been in Jacksonville this week to interview for the strength and conditioning job with the NFL’s Jaguars. The Jags’ director of football development is Devin Bonik, who played at OSU under Jimmy Johnson and was a graduate assistant coach under Pat Jones in the mid-’80s. That was the same time that Glass was at OSU as a grad assistant.
There’s been some concern about why OSU assistants were jumping ship so quickly. It doesn’t seem that there’s any major infighting, but it’s easy to see that there’s a logjam of coaches in similar career situations who want to be play-calling coordinators and eventually head coaches. That logjam decreases the opportunity for advancement and might have led guys like Luper and Taylor to look elsewhere sooner than they would have liked.
As for the coaches that might be coming to Stillwater, rather than leaving, here are a few names that have surfaced in Mike Gundy’s search for a defensive coordinator. My sources do not indicate any direct contact between OSU and Pitt’s Phil Bennett or Miami’s Bill Young. But grapevine talk suggests both have some interest in the position.
East Carolina’s Greg Hudson has emerged as a possibility, along with Mississippi’s Tyrone Nix. Reggie Herring is another interesting name. Currently the linebackers coach for the Dallas Cowboys, Herring has been a defensive coordinator at several schools while bouncing back and forth between college and the NFL. Most recently, he was DC and then interim head coach at Arkansas during Houston Nutt’s time there.
And TCU’s Dick Bumpas has been mentioned as well. He hasn’t been a coordinator anywhere much bigger than TCU, but he puts together strong defenses, particularly the Horned Frogs the last few years.
There’s a coaches’ convention in Nashville this weekend and there could be some significant movement in OSU’s searches after that.
Jai Lucas transfer to Texas is official
Here’s the release Texas just sent out.
Jai Lucas Transfers to Texas
Point guard set to enroll in classes for the spring semester
AUSTIN, Texas — Former University of Florida guard Jai Lucas (pronounced Jay) will transfer to The University of Texas, Longhorns head coach Rick Barnes announced Tuesday. Lucas is set to enroll in classes for the spring semester at Texas.
Per NCAA transfer rules, Lucas will be permitted to practice with the Longhorns as soon as his admissions process is complete in the next day or so. However, he will not be able to participate in games or travel with the team.
“Jai dreamed of coming to The University of Texas from an early age, and it will be fun to see him live out that dream,” Barnes said. “He is a pure point guard who has an excellent court awareness and high basketball IQ. Most importantly, Jai has great character and will be an excellent fit in our program.”
Lucas spent his freshman season (2007-08) at Florida and earned a spot on the SEC All-Freshman team while starting all 36 games for the Gators. He averaged 8.5 points per game and converted a team-high 43.5 percent of his three-point field goal attempts (37-of-85) while helping Florida post a 24-12 overall record (8-8 SEC, 4th East) and advance to the MasterCard Postseason NIT semifinals.
Lucas was a McDonald’s All-American and a Parade All-American during his senior year at Bellaire High School in Houston. During his senior season, he averaged 26.3 points and 7.5 assists per game. A three-time District 21-5A Player of the Year, Lucas led Bellaire to three consecutive District 21-5A titles.
