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FRISCO, Texas --Oklahoma State has been patiently waiting for another commitment in the class of 2021 since mid January and now have gained two in the past three days.

Jaden Nixon, a 5-10 170-pound running back has announced his commitment to the Cowboys via Twitter.

Nixon chose the Cowboys over Tulsa, North Texas, UTSA, Army, Navy, and 14 others but his commitment does not come as a surprise. He is an Oklahoma State legacy as his dad, Jeroid Johnson, spent his college career at Oklahoma State, lettering in 1994 and 1995.

While his dad was a Cowboy, his mom was a Cowgirl, running track for Oklahoma State in the mid 90's. 

When Oklahoma State offered Nixon in early February, they were already near the top of his list due to familiarity and the family connection but over the past month, they have convinced him why he should also spend his college career in Stillwater.

Nixon is a slashing style tailback that is very quick on his feet and lethal once in the open field. Most of Nixon’s carries are outside of the tackles so that he can utilize his speed and shiftiness but when he does go between the tackles, he does so with ultimate efficiency. Yards after contact are a frequency currency for Nixon.

One of the main attractions the Oklahoma State staff saw in Nixon was his speed, self-reporting a 4.37 40 yard dash and 10.6 100 meter dash, both of which are blazing times for any level.

A source in the Oklahoma State program said that the coaching staff is reminded of Tyreek Hill when watching film of Nixon.

Although Nixon was a key piece of the Lone Star offense, he was in the shadow of arguably one of the best receivers to ever play in Texas, Marvin Mims, who drew most of the attention and play calls.

Nixon was only handed the ball 90 times his junior season but did the absolute most with it. He totaled 821-rushing-yards, good for nine-yards a rush, a truly remarkable number even in high school. He had 14 touchdowns on the ground to go with this, meaning he scored every 6.4 touches, a level of efficiency not found often.

With Mims gone, Nixon is now in the spotlight, meaning he will get a heavy dose of touches both in the ground game and through the air. I fully expect him to put up ridiculously high numbers.

Lone Star is a frequent visitor of AT&T Stadium for Texas high school football semifinals and championships. Last year, Nixon helped lead Lone Star to a 14-1 record and Texas 5A D-I state semifinal berth. There is no reason to believe that Nixon and his Lone Star teammates won't do it again.

Last season was his first at Lone Star, which launched his recruitment, one he said he has enjoyed. 

"I've been thinking on my recruitment for a long time now and I've been praying to God and talking about it with my family", Nixon told me. A lot of really good schools have been talking to me but I've been raised around Oklahoma State my whole life, this was the best decision for me." 

While Nixon has been on campus and in the stands in Boone Pickens many times in his life he says he is looking forward "to finally putting on a uniform and playing on that field." 

The quarterback at Lone Star, Garret Rangel is also being recruited by Oklahoma State for the 2022 class, so this commitment could possibly lead to others. I spoke with Nixon about if he was going to recruit DFW area prospects to join him in Stillwater. 

"I'm gonna tell them how it is in Stillwater", Nixon said. "I'm gonna tell them how good we can be and if they want to join me, well then lets go, lets get it started." 

Nixon admitted that even though he has committed, he knows coaches will still come after him. "I appreciate them recruiting me but I made this decision for a reason. I'm straight Oklahoma State." 

This commitment is an especially important one for the Cowboys. After this season, the running backs room will dwindle down to only a couple of scholarship backs with Deondrick Glass being the youngest.

The staff did not take a running back in 2020, instead making it a priority for 2021 which means they will likely take at least two backs.

Nixon is the third commitment in the class of 2021, joining Metairie (LA) linebacker, Kolbe Fields and Muskogee (OK) safety, Ty Williams.

Oklahoma State is high on the list of a large number of high level recruits and it would not be surprising to see the commitment number grow especially when prospects can get back to making visits on campus.