Big 12 teams racing to the finish on final 2014 recruiting weekend
The Horned Frogs continued their 2014 surge.
The 2014 and 2014 recruiting classes for the Red Raiders received additions over the weekend, with the pledge of 2015 Port Arthur (Texas) Memorial running back Corey Dauphine the first in that cycle.
Walnut (Calif.) Mt. San Antonio Community College offensive lineman Shaquille Davis was the addition to the 2014 class. A left tackle in junior college, the 6’4, 320-pounder may be destined for the guard position in Lubbock, in the estimation of Viva the Matadors’ Seth C. Rivals is the only service that has Davis ranked, listing him as a three-star prospect. Other contenders for his services included Cal, Louisiana Tech, Purdue, and Cincinnati.
Unrated as of yet by the services, Dauphine is one of the more under-the-radar members of what is shaping up as an incredible 2015 running back class in the state of Texas, but he may not remain that way for long with the spring evaluation period rapidly approaching. A 5’10, 185-pounder, Dauphine has an impressive blend of quickness and toughness -- he is both a home-run threat and capable of getting behind his pads to pick up tough yardage and break tackles.
At one point in mid-January, the TCU recruiting class stood at 12 pledges. With the decommitment and recommitment of Dallas (Texas) Skyline offensive tackle Ty Barrett, fully half of the 2014 class for the Horned Frogs has pledged within the last month.
That recruiting momentum continued on Sunday after a big recruiting weekend for visits that included five-star Olathe (Kansas) Olathe South offensive lineman Braden Smith and a surprise visitor in four-star Austin (Texas) Lake Travis running back Varshaun Nixon, currently pledged to the Texas A&M Aggies.
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Smith is down to Auburn, TCU, and Texas A&M with an announcement set for Signing Day. The No. 63 player in the 247Sports Composite rankings, Smith has long been thought to be a TCU lean, but all the recent predictions in the 247Sports Crystal Ball have Auburn as the destination for the immensely strong and talented offensive lineman.
A slightly better bet at this point to end up as a member of the class is Nixon, whose visit was rather unexpected. Committed to the Aggies since late November of 2012, the 5’9, 185-pound all-purpose back had not appeared to be wavering with his pledge until tripping to Fort Worth.
The switch hasn’t happened yet, but the industry expects Nixon to sign with TCU instead of Texas A&M, at which point he would become the first consensus four-star prospect to join the class, though Smith could potentially beat Nixon to the punch with his announcement set for 7 a.m. CT on ESPN.
Two prospects did take the opportunity to give their commitments to head coach Gary Patterson and his staff over the weekend.
High school teammates Corey McBride and Torrance Mosley both ended their respective recruitments on Sunday, as the Geismar (La.) Dutchtown pair added their names to the class. Both had been committed to Arkansas before having their scholarship offers pulled by head coach Bret Bielema. The 6’0, 175-pound McBride is a consensus three-star prospect ranked as the No. 104 wide receiver nationally and the 5’10, 170-pound Mosely a consensus three-star prospect ranked as the No. 79 athlete nationally.
Texas Longhorns
A surprise unofficial visitor showed up in Austin over the weekend -- San Antonio (Texas) Roosevelt cornerback Arrion Springs, a longtime Oregon commit who has taken over official visits, though he’s expected to stick with his pledge to the Ducks, making Colorado offensive tackle commit Elijah Rodriguez the biggest visitor of the weekend.
The 6’6, 285-pound Rodriguez may be rated as a consensus three-star prospect, but he has four-star value to the Longhorns because there is not currently an offensive tackle committed in the 2014 class. He’s expected to make his decision between the Horns and Buffaloes on Monday evening.
But there were also some important committed visitors, too -- Abilene (Texas) Cooper wide receiver Lorenzoe Joe and Houston (Texas) Lamar safety John Bonney, both of whom had taken recent visits to other schools, Joe to TCU last weekend and Bonney to Auburn and Baylor, respectively. Both appear to have re-affirmed their commitments, with Joe doing so on Twitter and Bonney telling another Texas commit in Austin that he will remain a part of the class, according to Orangebloods.
Oklahoma State Cowboys
Not all of the recruiting news has been positive for the Horned Frogs, however, as Palestine (Texas) athlete Jarrell Owens flipped from TCU to Oklahoma State on Sunday. Ranked as a four-star prospect by Scout, the 6’3, 235-pounder played running back in high school, but will likely transition to the defensive side of the ball in college, where his athleticism should translate well to the defensive end position, though the coaching staff for the Cowboys will have to hone his technique, a process that could take some time.
Oklahoma State is also in the mix for New Orleans (La.) John Curtis linebacker Kenny Young, a 2014 US Army All-American and consensus four-star prospect. However, Young told 247Sports that he has not definitively decided to include a Cowboys hat ($) when he makes his final decision on National Signing Day -- UCLA is the destination in the best guess of the industry, though Young has been thinking more and more about the proximity of Texas A&M and LSU, the other two serious contenders for his services.
In other words, with the addition of Owens, the current class for Oklahoma State is probably complete barring a surprise.
The Mountaineers remain in the hunt for several prospects, thought the visit weekend was not a particularly big one for head coach Dana Hologrsen and his staff.
There was an uncommitted visitor on campus, however -- consensus three-star safety D’Cota Dixon, a 5’10, 180-pounder from New Smyrna Beach (Fla.). Industry consensus still has Dixon headed to Wisconsin, which he officially visited two weeks ago.
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The big remaining target is Durham (N.C.) Hillside running back Donte Thomas-Williams. The 6’0, 220-pound back will make his decision public on National Signing Day and has been thought to be a West Virginia lean since the fall, a belief that was supported several days ago when he announced the Mountaineers as his leader. Rated as the No. 12 running back nationally in the Composite rankings, Thomas-Williams holds offers from Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Notre Dame, and a handful of others.
If Thomas-Williams joins the class, as expected, he will be the second highest-rated prospect in the 2014 class for the Mountaineers, which currently ranks No. 39 nationally and No. 6 in the Big 12, according to the 247Sports Composite team rankings.
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