Football Recruiting - Midlands Region: Bob Stoops
Inspired by Florida's "#ComePlayWRFortheJoker" campaign, our recruiting writers looked at other ways schools can sell themselves on the trail. Here's a look at recruiting pitches for the Big 12:
Baylor Bears
What they’re selling: The new 45,000-seat, $250-million on-campus stadium that will open in 2014. Recruiting is an arms race, and players like fancy stadiums and locker rooms, and Baylor’s upgrade puts them finally on the same level playing field as everybody else in the Big 12.
What they're missing: Help on defense -- specifically at defensive line and defensive back.
Iowa State Cyclones
What they’re selling: Paul Rhoads. He grew up miles from the campus and has helped turn around Iowa State with a physical and fundamentally sound style of football.
What they're missing: A true home-run threat at receiver.
Kansas Jayhawks
What they’re selling: Charlie Weis. He’s taken risks (juco infusion), repaired relationships with area high school coaches and widened KU’s recruiting pool.
What they're missing: Wins. When you’ve won only one conference game in three years, a little bit of everything is missing.
Kansas State Wildcats
What they’re selling: Bill Synder. The plan has worked for years in Manhattan. K-State doesn’t care how many stars a player has attached to his name, a player only earns an offer from K-State unless Snyder personally signs off on it after a lengthy review. It’s a plan that produced a No. 1 BCS ranking and a Big 12 championship in 2012.
What’s missing: I’ve been told by coaches for years that the most difficult position to recruit is defensive tackle. That’s why you often see even average defensive tackles rack up double-digit offers, and finding good depth at defensive tackle has been very difficult to do at K-State.
Oklahoma Sooners
What they’re selling: Oklahoma is proud of its football tradition, and few schools can match the Sooners’ track record for success, facilities and ability to prepare you for the next level.
What they're missing: A renewed focus on evaluating players. It’s what differentiated Bob Stoops’ staff when they started, and it’s how they found players like Sam Bradford, Josh Heupel, Juaquin Iglesias and Donald Stephenson. All at the time were considered to be three-star recruits but wound up being impact players for the Sooners.
Oklahoma State Cowboys
What they’re selling: Their ability to evaluate and develop offensive talent.
What they're missing: Elite players in the Lone Star State. With the best facilities in the conference, it might be just enough to get kids to visit.
Texas Longhorns
What they’re selling: Few in the nation can offer up the type of atmosphere, fan base, tradition and total student-athlete package like Texas can.
What they're missing: A true a difference-maker at quarterback. The last two Heisman Trophy winners have come from Texas high schools, and the Longhorns didn’t recruit one heavily and recruited the other as an athlete.
TCU Horned Frogs
What they’re selling: The Horned Frogs recruit to their style of smash-mouth play on both sides of the ball and don’t care how many stars a recruit has. It hurts them some in the recruiting rankings, but it helps them win a lot of ball games.
What they're missing: BCS conference depth. Heading into their second season in the Big 12 after a 7-6 season, the biggest thing the Horned Frogs need to do is to build the roster to be able to compete year in and year out in the BCS conference.
Texas Tech Red Raiders
What they’re selling: The Red Raiders went through a transition that brought Kliff Kingsbury to Lubbock, and the early reception has been nothing short of positive.
What they're missing: The Red Raiders have never had issues putting up points on people, but under Tommy Tuberville and Mike Leach there was little defense being played.
West Virginia Mountaineers
What they’re selling: WVU is a force in the Atlantic region, can recruit well in Pennsylvania and is arguably one of the best schools at identifying offensive talent in the JC ranks.
What they're missing: The 2014 class will have to be all about rebuilding in Morgantown, as the needs are mounting while several impact players have moved on.
Baylor Bears
What they’re selling: The new 45,000-seat, $250-million on-campus stadium that will open in 2014. Recruiting is an arms race, and players like fancy stadiums and locker rooms, and Baylor’s upgrade puts them finally on the same level playing field as everybody else in the Big 12.
What they're missing: Help on defense -- specifically at defensive line and defensive back.
Iowa State Cyclones
What they’re selling: Paul Rhoads. He grew up miles from the campus and has helped turn around Iowa State with a physical and fundamentally sound style of football.
What they're missing: A true home-run threat at receiver.
Kansas Jayhawks
What they’re selling: Charlie Weis. He’s taken risks (juco infusion), repaired relationships with area high school coaches and widened KU’s recruiting pool.
What they're missing: Wins. When you’ve won only one conference game in three years, a little bit of everything is missing.
Kansas State Wildcats
What they’re selling: Bill Synder. The plan has worked for years in Manhattan. K-State doesn’t care how many stars a player has attached to his name, a player only earns an offer from K-State unless Snyder personally signs off on it after a lengthy review. It’s a plan that produced a No. 1 BCS ranking and a Big 12 championship in 2012.
What’s missing: I’ve been told by coaches for years that the most difficult position to recruit is defensive tackle. That’s why you often see even average defensive tackles rack up double-digit offers, and finding good depth at defensive tackle has been very difficult to do at K-State.
Oklahoma Sooners
What they’re selling: Oklahoma is proud of its football tradition, and few schools can match the Sooners’ track record for success, facilities and ability to prepare you for the next level.
What they're missing: A renewed focus on evaluating players. It’s what differentiated Bob Stoops’ staff when they started, and it’s how they found players like Sam Bradford, Josh Heupel, Juaquin Iglesias and Donald Stephenson. All at the time were considered to be three-star recruits but wound up being impact players for the Sooners.
Oklahoma State Cowboys
What they’re selling: Their ability to evaluate and develop offensive talent.
What they're missing: Elite players in the Lone Star State. With the best facilities in the conference, it might be just enough to get kids to visit.
Texas Longhorns
What they’re selling: Few in the nation can offer up the type of atmosphere, fan base, tradition and total student-athlete package like Texas can.
What they're missing: A true a difference-maker at quarterback. The last two Heisman Trophy winners have come from Texas high schools, and the Longhorns didn’t recruit one heavily and recruited the other as an athlete.
TCU Horned Frogs
What they’re selling: The Horned Frogs recruit to their style of smash-mouth play on both sides of the ball and don’t care how many stars a recruit has. It hurts them some in the recruiting rankings, but it helps them win a lot of ball games.
What they're missing: BCS conference depth. Heading into their second season in the Big 12 after a 7-6 season, the biggest thing the Horned Frogs need to do is to build the roster to be able to compete year in and year out in the BCS conference.
Texas Tech Red Raiders
What they’re selling: The Red Raiders went through a transition that brought Kliff Kingsbury to Lubbock, and the early reception has been nothing short of positive.
What they're missing: The Red Raiders have never had issues putting up points on people, but under Tommy Tuberville and Mike Leach there was little defense being played.
West Virginia Mountaineers
What they’re selling: WVU is a force in the Atlantic region, can recruit well in Pennsylvania and is arguably one of the best schools at identifying offensive talent in the JC ranks.
What they're missing: The 2014 class will have to be all about rebuilding in Morgantown, as the needs are mounting while several impact players have moved on.
Over the last few months, ESPN Watch List receiver Armanti Foreman has taken visits to schools, even while committed to Oklahoma.
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Russell makes choice, signs with Sooners
December, 19, 2012
12/19/12
11:42
AM ET
By
Bob Przybylo | ESPN.com
(Update: Russell has now signed his letter of intent to play at Oklahoma.)
Last week Oklahoma was in dire need of defensive tackles. Today, the Sooners got stronger up front.
Three-star junior college prospect Quincy Russell (Athens, Texas/Trinity Valley) signed with Oklahoma on Wednesday, choosing the Sooners over Nebraska.
For the last month or so, it looked like the Cornhuskers were the leader for Russell, who is 6-foot-4 and 308 pounds. But OU coaches Bob Stoops and Jackie Shipp went to work on the defensive tackle, visiting him at Trinity Valley and taking in-home visits with Russell’s parents in San Antonio.
Russell, who is ranked No. 51 in the ESPN Junior College 100, made an official visit to OU for Bedlam and is now going to be on the other side of the Red River Rivalry. Russell was initially a four-star prospect signed for Texas’ 2011 class, but he failed to academically qualify.
Now Russell hopes to be a part of a couple of OU teams that take care of the Longhorns in October in Dallas.
Russell is the second defensive tackle pickup for OU in the last week. The Sooners flipped the commitment of three-star tackle Kerrick Huggins (Dallas/Skyline) from Texas A&M last Friday.
OU is gunning for three defensive tackle commits for the class. And that sense of desperation some fans had seven days ago is long gone at the position.
Last week Oklahoma was in dire need of defensive tackles. Today, the Sooners got stronger up front.
Three-star junior college prospect Quincy Russell (Athens, Texas/Trinity Valley) signed with Oklahoma on Wednesday, choosing the Sooners over Nebraska.
- Quincy Russell
- Defensive tackle (JC)
- 2013
- Signed: Oklahoma
| Pos Rk | Stars | Grade | Hometown |
| 8 | | 79 | San Antonio, TX |
Russell, who is ranked No. 51 in the ESPN Junior College 100, made an official visit to OU for Bedlam and is now going to be on the other side of the Red River Rivalry. Russell was initially a four-star prospect signed for Texas’ 2011 class, but he failed to academically qualify.
Now Russell hopes to be a part of a couple of OU teams that take care of the Longhorns in October in Dallas.
Russell is the second defensive tackle pickup for OU in the last week. The Sooners flipped the commitment of three-star tackle Kerrick Huggins (Dallas/Skyline) from Texas A&M last Friday.
OU is gunning for three defensive tackle commits for the class. And that sense of desperation some fans had seven days ago is long gone at the position.
2014 safety John Bonney on the rise 
October, 10, 2012
10/10/12
1:15
PM ET
By
Sam Khan Jr. | ESPN.com
For Houston Lamar safety John Bonney, this year has been a little bit of an adjustment.
The 2014 prospect, who traditionally plays safety, has spent a lot of time at cornerback this year. The transition hasn't been much trouble for the 6-foot, 175-pound prospect -- he has three interceptions in the Redskins' first five games.
"This year is the first year that I've played corner as much as I have," Bonney said. "I've been playing about 60 percent corner and 40 percent safety. I like it. They're putting me on the best guy who is the biggest threat. They'll put me on him and have me be aggressive and go one-on-one."
The 2014 prospect, who traditionally plays safety, has spent a lot of time at cornerback this year. The transition hasn't been much trouble for the 6-foot, 175-pound prospect -- he has three interceptions in the Redskins' first five games.
"This year is the first year that I've played corner as much as I have," Bonney said. "I've been playing about 60 percent corner and 40 percent safety. I like it. They're putting me on the best guy who is the biggest threat. They'll put me on him and have me be aggressive and go one-on-one."
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Junior college defensive tackle Toby Johnson (Hutchinson, Kan./Hutchinson CC) had no intentions of verbally committing to Oklahoma on Wednesday during his unofficial visit. But the Sooners gave him something to think about.
“Oh, they just made it even more interesting,” Johnson said. “They were already in the race, but now they’re really in there. I had a great time.”
At this point, there is no way of knowing who exactly is joining OU in the race. Johnson said he doesn’t have a list of favorites. He did, however, have a good visit to Nebraska last weekend and has also seen Arkansas and Tennessee this summer.
“Oh, they just made it even more interesting,” Johnson said. “They were already in the race, but now they’re really in there. I had a great time.”
At this point, there is no way of knowing who exactly is joining OU in the race. Johnson said he doesn’t have a list of favorites. He did, however, have a good visit to Nebraska last weekend and has also seen Arkansas and Tennessee this summer.
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The last couple of months have seen interest pick up dramatically for four-star athlete Stanvon Taylor (Tulsa, Okla./East Central). But in the last week, things have hit an all-time high.
It began Monday with a scholarship offer from the Oklahoma Sooners. And it ended with a better than expected experience in Manhattan, Kan., for the Kansas State spring game.
“This last week has definitely been a lot different than some of the other weeks,” Taylor said. “It has been real exciting, and I’m having a lot of fun.”
It began Monday with a scholarship offer from the Oklahoma Sooners. And it ended with a better than expected experience in Manhattan, Kan., for the Kansas State spring game.
“This last week has definitely been a lot different than some of the other weeks,” Taylor said. “It has been real exciting, and I’m having a lot of fun.”
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Stanvon Taylor earns coveted OU offer
April, 25, 2012
4/25/12
11:00
AM ET
By
Bob Przybylo | ESPN.com
Cornerback Stanvon Taylor (Tulsa, Okla./East Central) didn't take it personally when the Oklahoma coaches elected not to offer him at their junior day in February.
A four-star athlete, Taylor has been picking up offers on a weekly basis since then from schools such as Houston, Arizona State and Kansas State, among others, but, until recently, there had been minimal contact from the Sooners.
On Monday afternoon, however, Taylor couldn't hide his elation after Oklahoma finally extended him the offer he had coveted.
A four-star athlete, Taylor has been picking up offers on a weekly basis since then from schools such as Houston, Arizona State and Kansas State, among others, but, until recently, there had been minimal contact from the Sooners.
On Monday afternoon, however, Taylor couldn't hide his elation after Oklahoma finally extended him the offer he had coveted.
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Neal: I'd 'have left had Coach Norvell left'
January, 7, 2012
1/07/12
2:13
PM ET
By
Bob Przybylo | ESPN.com
All week at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, Oklahoma wide receiver verbal commit Durron Neal (St. Louis/De Smet Jesuit) has been trying to recruit fellow Missouri product, receiver Dorial Green-Beckham (Springfield, Mo./Hillcrest), to join him with the Sooners.
But for a short period of time on Thursday, Neal wasn’t even sure if he was going to stay committed to Oklahoma. There were reports that OU wide receivers coach Jay Norvell was talking to Wisconsin about becoming its offensive coordinator.
Norvell, however, has decided to stay at OU. And now Neal said he is solid once again with the Sooners.
But for a short period of time on Thursday, Neal wasn’t even sure if he was going to stay committed to Oklahoma. There were reports that OU wide receivers coach Jay Norvell was talking to Wisconsin about becoming its offensive coordinator.
Norvell, however, has decided to stay at OU. And now Neal said he is solid once again with the Sooners.
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RECRUITING NATION MIDLANDS COVERAGE
The Midlands Region consists of the states of Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and
Texas and is where Big 12 programs make a living recruiting. However, with the deep talent pool in the Lone Star State, teams from all over the country flock to the Midlands to find players.
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MIDLANDS RECRUITING CONTRIBUTORS
Sam KhanESPN Archive |
Max OlsonESPN Archive |
Bob PrzybyloESPN Archive |
Damon SaylesESPN Archive |
Mitch ShermanESPN Archive |
William WilkersonESPN Archive |
