Should Cowboy Fans Be Worried About Arkansas Recruiting Haul in Oklahoma?
STILLWATER -- We are closing in on being four months away from the National Signing Day in December and Oklahoma State has 13 commitments in their 2021 football recruiting class and six of those pledges are in-state commitments. The University of Arkansas has 17 commitments in their class and six of those are out-of-state pledges from Oklahoma. What's wrong with that picture. In recent years it has been Oklahoma State going across the border and picking up a contributor from the "Natural State."
Defensive tackle Cameron Murray has developed into a two-year starter out of Bryant, Ark. Sean Michael Flanagan is a 6-1, 197-pound redshirt sophomore set to make noise on defense this season.
Most recently, defensive tackle Collin Clay, a four-star rated recruit out of Putnam City that signed with Arkansas and played in 11-of-12 games as a freshman for the Razorbacks, transferred back to his home state and the Cowboys.
The mysterious aspect of this is Arkansas, with a new staff headed up by first-time head coach Sam Pittman, is rebuilding a program that went 2-10 the past two seasons and has not won an SEC game since winning at Ole Miss 38-37 in 2017.
Sam Pittman, shown at a basketball game being introduced to the crowd, knows recruiting in the SEC and in Oklahoma from being on the late John Blake's staff at OU.
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Pittman has had success and has coached at LSU and Georgia among other stops as an offensive line builder. He has always had a reputation as a good recruiter and has done well in wild recruiting atmosphere of the Southeastern Conference.
| Arkansas Commitment Name | Position | Height | Weight | Town/High School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Keuan Parker | DB | 5-11 | 175 | Tulsa/Booker T. Washington |
Javion Hunt | RB | 6-0 | 205 | Midwest City/Carl Albert |
A.J. Green | RB | 5-11 | 195 | Tulsa/Union |
Solomon Wright | DT | 6-0 | 270 | Vian |
Cameron Little | P/K | 6-2 | 170 | Moore/Southmoore |
Bryce Stephens | Ath. | 6-0 | 165 | Oklahoma City/John Marshall |
Some of those recruits are big wins for Arkansas. A few can be explained. Let's start with Keaun Parker, Javion Hunt and Solomon Wright. All three are good players, but Oklahoma State did not offer Parker. The Cowboys also never recruited or offered Hunt. Oklahoma State initially offered Wright, the son of Oklahoma State standout and NFL linebacker Kenyatta Wright, but then pulled the offer later as they had few defensive line spots in the class and current commitment Aden Kelley was the inside defensive lineman that they focused in on.
A.J. Green, the running back out of Tulsa Union, was interesting as the Cowboys recruited him as a running back all the way, which is what he wanted. Oklahoma, his childhood favorite recruited him as a cornerback. In the end, sources close to Green say he couldn't picture himself playing against OU and opted for Arkansas. The question is, what if Oklahoma changes their mind and offers the speedster as a running back. Would Green go with the Sooners?
The last two commitments for the Hogs from Oklahoma are two where Arkansas got into Oklahoma State's wish list, but with one of those commitments there was an extenuating circumstance.
Bryce Stephens has been a long-time Oklahoma State offer and the John Marshall two-way speed threat is talented and has plenty of potential at the Division I level. We saw him at the i4Football Camp in July and he was legit in running a pair of 4.38 clockings in the forty.
The extenuating circumstance is that Oklahoma State wanted Stephens at corner and he wanted to play wide receiver. I really believe that if OSU had told him receiver that he would have ended up there. It is to their credit that they were honest with him.
Now, Oklahoma State has a similar player on their commitment list in Jaden Nixon from powerhouse Frisco Lone Star in Texas. Oklahoma State recruited Nixon as an offensive skill player, some back and some slot. I see him similar to former Cowboys Josh Stewart, only faster. Stephens would have fit that mold, but the Cowboys already had Nixon.
The Cowboys were the first Power Five offer for punter and kicker Cameron Little of Southmoore and with his mom being an Oklahoma State grad you had to feel good. Dad is an OU graduate, so Cameron may have decided to just go his own way. This oddly is the one that got away.
Mike Gundy has never shied away from recruiting out of state. He believes in Oklahoma kids first, but he believes in getting the best kids that want to be at OSU.
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Mike Gundy has a philosophy when in-state talent gets away.
"We always want to get Oklahoma kids that want to be Cowboys. I'm a product of and grew up on Oklahoma high school football," Gundy has said. "But if they don't and choose to go elsewhere then our job is to go somewhere else, usually south of the Red River and find some better."
So, the answer is that one of the Arkansas commits is bothersome; another the Cowboys loved, but not at the position Stephens wanted to play; and on two-thirds of them not so much.