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OSU's 2010 commitment list rated No. 10 nationally
Published: 8/20/2009 10:58 PM
Last Modified: 8/20/2009 10:58 PM

A lot can happen between now and Feb. 3, when college football recruits may sign national letters of intent. It's quite common for a prospect to switch commitments. Last year, Sand Springs offensive tackle Michael Bowie committed to Kansas State and then to Texas Tech before signing with Oklahoma State.

For the time being, however, OSU appears to be on track to sign what would be the highest-rated recruiting class of the Mike Gundy era.

As of Thursday, OSU's collection of 2010 commitments is rated No. 10 nationally by Scout.com. The Cowboy commitment list currently is rated ahead of Southern Cal's, ahead of Tennessee's, ahead of Notre Dame's and ahead of Ohio State's. Nebraska's list is rated No. 50.

And clearly, the OSU emphasis is on defense. New defensive coordinator Bill Young was hired to completely redefine the Oklahoma State defensive product. OSU's current recruiting effort is a reflection of an effort to get it done immediately.

Of the 20 players on the Cowboys' 2010 commitment list, 13 are defensive players. Five of the 13 are rated by Scout.com as four-star national prospects: safety-linebacker Tommie Saunders (Madison High School in San Antonio), defensive tackle Calvin Barnett (Tulsa's Booker T. Washington High School), outside linebacker Shaun Lewis (Hightower High School in Sugar Land, Texas), defensive end Chase Rome (Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Mo.) and outside linebacker Caleb Lavey (Celina, Texas).

The last few days have been sensational for the Cowboys. On Aug. 13, there was the Lewis commitment. On Tuesday, there was a commitment from Diamonte Wheeler, a three-star defensive tackle from Bowie High School in Arlington, Texas. On Wednesday, there were commitments from Barnett and three-star cornerback Devin Hedgepeth of Derby, Kan. On Thursday, there was the Saunders commitment. Saunders is an Andre Sexton type who eventually may be suited for OSU's star linebacker role.

Fifteen of the 20 committed players are Texans.
Even as their 2009 recruiting class was rated 45th nationally by Scout.com and their 2008 class was rated 40th, the Cowboys have surged into the national-title conversation. If their coaches can continue to recruit at this level, they may stay in that conversation for years to come.

-- Bill Haisten

Written by
Bill Haisten
Sports Writer



Reader Comments 5 Total

OSUArthur (3 years ago)
As far as that website is concerned, here are some highlights of the underrated: Zac Robinson, two stars, Andre Sexton, two stars, Ryan McBean, three stars, Matt Fodge, two stars and unranked at his position, Andrew Lewis, ONE star (maybe he's not NFL bound, but certainly the guy that centers one of the best o-lines in the country is better than one star), Brandon Pettigrew, three stars (although fairly high for his position, not quite indicative of a future first rounder he was ranked as the 13th TE prospect).

For those the website ranks highly, some of them are right, but many are not: Russel Okung, four stars, Jonathon Lewis, four stars, Perrish Cox, four stars, Derek Burton, four stars (although playing pretty well, I don't think most would say he is one of the top 15 or so defensive tackles), Alex Cate, four stars, Donnell Williams, four stars, Adrian Hamilton, four stars, Justin Gent, four stars.....

These are just some highlights. Both lists could go on a mile long just from OSU recruits let alone the underrating of Sam Bradford or Chris Brown.

Even ranking classes as a whole, the 2005 recruiting class would have been the class from which the majority of NFL prospects this past year were drafted. The website in question has Big 12 teams ranked this way, OU, NU, UT, A&M, Tech, Mizzou, Colorado, KSU, ISU,Kansas, Baylor OSU tie for last. Here's their rankings according to how many players got drafted: Mizzou, OU, UT and Tech tie for third, Nebraska, A&M, Baylor Colorado OSU and KSU all tie for 7th, leaving Iowa State and KU tied for last with none.

After beating the dead horse, I'll just leave it at recruiting sources, and this one in particular, mean almost nothing.
Golden Hurricane (3 years ago)
I think you can expect an NCAA investigation. I know that it is cynical, but Oklahoma State has never recruited on this high of a level unless cheating was involved.

I'm not saying that this has happened in this case, but if there were ever red flags, these are them. It's just not all that common for a kid to choose to live in Stillwater, Oklahoma over Los Angeles, Florida, Miami or even Norman.

Considering OSU's past and the inordinate amount of blue chippers commiting, I think the NCAA is going to take a close look at this...we will see.
Ash (3 years ago)
Right "Golden Hurricane", and none of it can be contributed the the past several years of national attention that OSU drew from putting +$260MM into modernizing its facilities, the on-field improvements and success, and the fact that the current recruiting generation has seen mostly on-field success from OSU as opposed to the negative history that the naysayers chose to constantly recall.

What a dolt.
dice (3 years ago)
golden hurricane you should change your name to playa hater! your not getting top players at tu because who knows who will be the coach there from year to year.dont hate on the pokes FEAR THEM!
Golden Hurricane (3 years ago)
I'm merely stating the facts. I am not saying that OSU broke NCAA rules this time around, but I am saying that you cannot show me a time in OSU history, when they recruited at high level like this, and improprieties weren't involved. It's in the middle of nowhere and simply too difficult of a place to recruit to without bending or breaking the rules.
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OSU Sports

Tulsa World Sports Writer Jimmie Tramel is a former class president at Locust Grove High School. He graduated magna cum laude from Northeastern State University with a journalism degree and, while attending college, was sports editor of the Pryor Daily Times. He joined the Tulsa World on Oct. 17, 1989, the same day an earthquake struck the World Series. In 2007, he wrote a book about Oklahoma State football with former Cowboy coach Pat Jones.

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Tulsa World Sports Writer Kelly Hines joined the World staff in September 2007. She grew up in the Oklahoma City area, was valedictorian at her high school and attended Oklahoma State University. She previously worked at The Oklahoman and KOTV and in the World's web and news departments.

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