Good List by The Oklahoman, but One Glaring Omission in McEndoo

Recruiting is "beauty in the eye of the beholder," but you have to do more than scratch the surface for a near perfect list. Stillwater's Luke McEndoo belongs, but you have to dig deeper.

STILLWATER -- It was the showdown game of the season in Oklahoma Class 6A-2 District 1 as unbeaten Stillwater was hosting district unbeaten Del City, winner claims top spot. The field had a number of college coaches around it checking out prospects in the 2020 and 2021 classes. Stillwater quarterback Gunnar Gundy was the headliner. His dad, Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy, was upstairs watching. The Pioneers won the game 48-23, but it was a contest for awhile. The player pushing the Pioneers as much as any, and on both sides of the ball was another coach's son. 

"The fullback and defensive end kid, Coach McEndoo's son is the best player on the field tonight," one college coach said during the fourth quarter.

"I'd recruit the kid, if I thought he was going anywhere other than Oklahoma State, said another college coach. "I heard he is going to Arkansas for their game tomorrow."

That much was true as McEndoo did go to Arkansas for their game, however that staff was fired before they could extend a scholarship offer. 

"Luke's a good player, for sure," Gundy said at halftime of that Del City game of his son's teammate and one of his assistant coaches' son. 

McEndoo finished that Del City game with 12 tackles, a tackle for loss against the Eagles' option attack, three receptions for 43-yards and a touchdown, and countless blocks throughout the game playing fullback and h-back in the Pioneers offense. 

The Oklahoman just put out their first 2021 Super 30 recruiting rankings and it is a good list. Congratulations to Cameron Jourdan, Nick Sardis, and James D. Jackson for a really solid list. Especially when it came to players head-to-head at the same position, they, in my opinion, did a better job and had a much better list than any other state rankings that I've seen out there. They also had recent Oklahoma State commitment and Edmond Santa Fe linebacker Collin Oliver ranked appropriately. A good reason for that is they see the players and the other rankings are done by observers that haven't seen these kids play in person or probably much on tape. 

The Oklahoman did have one omission. It's Luke McEndoo! The son of Oklahoma State Cowboy backs coach Jason McEndoo, Luke (6-2, 238) should be on that list. 

Last year Stillwater quarterback Gunnar Gundy made The Oklahoman Top 30 list. Heck, he was the All-State quarterback in The Oklahoman. He should have been because his performance dictated it. The eyes told you that despite Gundy having a thin recruiting offer list, that his talent and potential was Division I. Many recruiting analysts said as much. One Big 12 coordinator told me that Gundy was "the best quarterback I've seen in May (evaluation month) than I've seen in 10-years." That was a defensive coordinator, but who should know better. That coordinator told his head coach, and that coach called Gundy and asked about recruiting him. I was told Gundy told him that he should, but the school barely contacted Gunnar. It turns out Gunnar Gundy has a plan to play at Oklahoma State starting in January. 

Luke McEndoo has an offer from Montana State and he attended games or camps at Arkansas, Kansas State, North Texas, Washington State, and more.

His season numbers included two carries for 12-yards, 16 receptions for 161-yards and four touchdowns, and on defense he had 75 tackles with three tackles for loss and two sacks. He also forced a pair of fumbles. 

McEndoo has shown on the field what kind of player he is. He also has been to his share of combines and camps. I love watching him because, for instance, at the Under Armour North Texas combine last season I caught him counting in line and lining up not with easier opponents, but looking for the five-star linemen in the class ahead of him so he could go against them. 

Last spring in St. Louis at The Opening Regional there he ran  5.0 in the forty on electronic timer. This past January he was an invitee to the U.S. Army All-American Combine in San Antonio and ran a 5.3, again on a laser timer. His agility (5-10-5) was a 4.55 and he had a 7.55 on the 60-yard shuttle. 

Updated numbers after working on his own, in his home-built gym on the family's property in Stillwater has him with a 4.93 in the forty, the shuttle (5-10-5) improved to 4.2. He has a 26-inch vertical.

McEndoo is very strong. He also has wrestled varsity at Stillwater, which is great for his football. His bench press max is currently 345-pounds and his squat max is 500-pounds. 

The other physical aspect for him is his size 14 feet, which lead you to believe he will grow some more. I think he'll end up at 6-4, 250 pounds plus.  

I'll predict in future updated Super 30 lists in The Oklahoman that McEndoo will make the top half of that list.