With Big 12 recruiting power Texas sending only two pledges to The Opening and Oklahoma no longer able to land as many top-flight prospects as in the past, the league known for high-flying offenses is sending only four players committed to the 10 conference schools out to Oregon for the prestigious Nike event.
Four players representing the Big 12 at The Opening
The Big 12 will have the fewest representatives of the five major conferences.
Iowa State
WR Allen Lazard, Urbandale, Iowa: Lazard is rated as the No. 1 receiver in the country by Rivals.com and the No. 25 prospect overall. The tall receiver, who was a Class 4A All-State honoree as a junior, has committed to Iowa State over Iowa, Nebraska, Stanford, and Cal and will play in the 2014 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. The 6’5, 210-pounder caught 40 passes for 930 yard and 11 touchdowns in 2012. Find him on Twitter @AllenLazard and suited up for the Land Sharks.
Kansas
OL Jacob Bragg, Nacogdoches, Texas: The 6'4, 310-pound Bragg opened eyes with his OL MVP performance at the stacked Dallas NFTC. A good athlete, he laid down a 97.71 SPARQ rating at the Dallas Nike Combine the day before when he ran a 5.42 in the 40, a 4.83 shuttle, posted a 27.7-inch vertical jump, and 41.5-foot power ball toss. He committed to Kansas over offers from Oregon State and Louisiana Tech. Follow him on Twitter @bigtexasjake.
Texas
QB Jerrod Heard, Denton (Texas) Guyer: The 6’2, 195-pound Heard is one of the highest-rated dual-threat quarterback recruits entering the event, carrying a consensus four-star tag. Heard rand for 2,138 yards with 35 TDs on the ground and added over 2,000 more yards through the air. He was the District 5-4A MVP. A Texas commit, he also had offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, LSU, Nebraska and Ohio State. Heard earned his offer after a strong performance at the Dallas event. Heard is on Twitter @JHeard2, and his highlights are available here.
WR Lorenzo Joe, Abilene (Texas) Cooper: Joe was the Wide Receiver MVP at the Dallas NFTC and also shined on the football field as a junior when he earned All-District 2-5A honors after rushing for 879 yards and passing for another 1,988 while playing quarterback. Because of his athletic and pass-catching abilities, he's projected to be a receiver at Texas where he committed early over Texas Tech. It was a position he played as a sophomore when he had nearly 800 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. A consensus four-star prospect, the 247Sports composite rankings have him as the No. 188 prospect overall nationally and the No. 29 wide receiver. The 6'3, 195-pounder is on Twitter @LoJoe12and will compete for team Vapor Carbon.
