Stanvon Taylor finally commits to OU!

[OU_Sooners75]

Decided this evening. He called Jackie Shipp and pretty much told him he could not wait any longer and was committing to the Sooners.

Stanvon Taylor (http://rivals.yahoo.com/oklahoma/football/recruiting/player-Stanvon-Taylor-118771)

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

SCOUT Profile: http://oklahoma.scout.com/a.z?s=146&p=8&c=1&nid=5197007

RIVALS Profile: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Stanvon-Taylor-118771;_ylt=AtJvcve7cO5PYxdysgI05ZdIPZB4

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

He wasn't offered by orange aggy. Anyone know why?

[OU_Sooners75]

He wasn't offered by orange aggy. Anyone know why?

Probably because he grew up an OU fan and knew they would be wasting their time with him, especially since OU offered first.

Taylor, Johnson (arizona transfer), and Rodriguez in the last 24 hours. almost doubled our recruits.

[Herr Scholz]

Good pickup.

[OU_Sooners75]

Need to add Jalen Saunders to the list of commits as well.

Busy weekend for OU! went from 4 commits to 8!

Saunders is a Transfer from Fresno State

[PalmettoSooner]

Need to add Jalen Saunders to the list of commits as well.

Busy weekend for OU! went from 4 commits to 8!

Saunders is a Transfer from Fresno State


Soonerscoop is showing 6 commits...Bryant, Ford, Dimon, Taylor, Ward, and Rodriguez. Who are the other 2?

[OU_Sooners75]

Soonerscoop is showing 6 commits...Bryant, Ford, Dimon, Taylor, Ward, and Rodriguez. Who are the other 2?

Those will all be incoming freshmen for 2013.

The other two are D1 transfers:
Jalen Saunders transfer from Fresno State (Visited this weekend and committed to come to OU).
Cortez Johnson transfer from Arizona (wants to follow Mike Stoops to OU so he pledged his commitment to OU this weekend as well, after being granted his transfer).

The transfers will not be listed by soonerscoop.com since they are not high school or JUCO recruits.

[OU_Sooners75]

Couple of things to look at:

Excerpt:
Mike Stoops is often thought of as a tough guy to play for, but the reality that Cortez Johnson is following him to Norman says otherwise.


Link: SoonerScoop.com (http://oklahoma.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1362615)

Excerpt:

Best weekend of recruiting for OU in a long, long while. Saunders, Johnson, Taylor and Rodriquez

[PalmettoSooner]

Those will all be incoming freshmen for 2013.

The other two are D1 transfers:
Jalen Saunders transfer from Fresno State (Visited this weekend and committed to come to OU).
Cortez Johnson transfer from Arizona (wants to follow Mike Stoops to OU so he pledged his commitment to OU this weekend as well, after being granted his transfer).

The transfers will not be listed by soonerscoop.com since they are not high school or JUCO recruits.

Oh okay...I've been out of town this weekend and didn't know we picked up those two transfers. Good deal.

[PalmettoSooner]

Will Johnson and Saunders have to sit out for a year?

[OU_Sooners75]

Will Johnson and Saunders have to sit out for a year?

Saunders yes for sure. But Johnson maybe not. He will be filing for a waiver.

But even if Johnson does have to sit out one year, he was a true freshman last year so he will still have 3 years of eligibility.

Saunders will be a Junior when he takes the field again. He has not used a redshirt year, so he has 2 years of eligibility left.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Need to add Jalen Saunders to the list of commits as well.

Busy weekend for OU! went from 4 commits to 8!

Saunders is a Transfer from Fresno StateRIVALS: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Jalen-Saunders-98286

SCOUT: http://fresnostate.scout.com/a.z?s=164&p=8&c=1&nid=4162614

[Herr Scholz]

Found this quote interesting since UT was looking at him but hadn't offered yet.


ATH Stanvon Taylor may still be on the radar despite his commitment to OU on Friday. Quotes from him via 24/7:

“I feel like that (Oklahoma) is the school I want as of now,” Taylor told Hookem.com on Sunday. “But if more offers come in, I’ll check them out if I’m interested in them. I just think that, as of right now, with all the offers I have, Oklahoma is the place to be. At the time I had a gut feeling inside about OU and I couldn’t get rid of it this weekend, so I went with it.”

“I’ve always liked Texas,” Taylor said. “If they offered, I’d go check them out. I would want to see how it is and see how I feel about it. I’d look into it and see if it changes my feelings.”

[OU_Sooners75]

Found this quote interesting since UT was looking at him but hadn't offered yet.


ATH Stanvon Taylor may still be on the radar despite his commitment to OU on Friday. Quotes from him via 24/7:

“I feel like that (Oklahoma) is the school I want as of now,” Taylor told Hookem.com on Sunday. “But if more offers come in, I’ll check them out if I’m interested in them. I just think that, as of right now, with all the offers I have, Oklahoma is the place to be. At the time I had a gut feeling inside about OU and I couldn’t get rid of it this weekend, so I went with it.”

“I’ve always liked Texas,” Taylor said. “If they offered, I’d go check them out. I would want to see how it is and see how I feel about it. I’d look into it and see if it changes my feelings.”

As we all know verbal commitments mean very little. However, Stanvon Taylor will likely stick with this commitment to OU. If he doesn't, it would somewhat surprise me. Especially since it was rumored that his dad was a big time OSU fan and so was his mother. And he didn't take them up on their offer.

I do not see this kid going out of state at all. The only school I can see grabbing him away from OU is OSU.

And IMO, I think he was just trying to be respectful to the interviewer and Texas in general.

[Herr Scholz]

Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me. A lot of these kids tell a different story depending on who they're talking to. We were definitely interested in him but could never get him to visit. We invited him down a couple of times so it's not as if he didn't have the chance to check us out. Same with DJ Ward.

[OU_Sooners75]

Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me. A lot of these kids tell a different story depending on who they're talking to. We were definitely interested in him but could never get him to visit. We invited him down a couple of times so it's not as if he didn't have the chance to check us out. Same with DJ Ward.

I will put it this way. If OU pursues a instate talent and they really want that talent, it is hard for any school not inside the borders of Oklahoma to pull them away.

And this year, I am glad it seems OU (and even OSU to an extent so far) is locking up the top talent in this state. I havent seen OU go after so many of the top talent in the state for a few years. And I am liking where it is going.

OU has 7 national championships, and all of them have more Oklahoma High School kids starting on the team than any other state.

[Herr Scholz]

Yeah, weren't the high school coaches in your state starting to get angry about Stoops ignoring a lot of those in state players and going more national? Thought I read that somewhere. OK definitely has talented players for a smaller state. Same with Louisiana.

[OU_Sooners75]

Yeah, weren't the high school coaches in your state starting to get angry about Stoops ignoring a lot of those in state players and going more national? Thought I read that somewhere. OK definitely has talented players for a smaller state. Same with Louisiana.

They were getting upset that OU was slow playing the Oklahoma Kids. I think Stoops and company took their position as the flagship school here in Oklahoma for granted.

Even then, they took their sweet time to offer Taylor, Ward, and Rodriguez.

Also they have been taking their time offering Legacy kids as well, like Justin Manning.

Its going to bite Stoops in the *** if he doesn't keep the kids that want to be at OU happy and in front of him!

National kids, you definitely want to offer early, but there are no limits on how many offers you can send out.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Not able to quantify, of course, but it seems to me that on average, the kids we get from OK have an added motivation to give their best to perform well at OU, and it shows. Being a lifetime fan might be quite a motivater.

[8timechamps]

Part of the reason Oklahoma has had so much success under Stoops, is because he has been able to lock-up the best in-state talent consistently. Since Oklahoma is a much smaller pool to recruit from, OU is able to focus on those few kids that are D1 players. Whereas states like Texas, California and Florida just have too many recruits for any one team to lock-down.

Texas is able to usually get the best in-state talent in the same way OU does. The difference is that Texas (as a state) fields about 10 times the number of athletes that can play at the next level. So, that leaves a lot of players for other teams. Make sense? (not that this is news to anyone).

My only concern with this "national approach" is that we don't lose any ground with the local coaches/teams. We need to make sure to continually get the best Oklahoma kids in Norman.

[OU_Sooners75]

Stoops hasnt consistently locked down the best in Oklahoma.

[8timechamps]

Stoops hasnt consistently locked down the best in Oklahoma.

That's news to me. Given his tenure at Oklahoma, I'd say he has.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Stoops has certainly gotten most of the in-state players he wants. TN rockytops have gotten a few, as have orange aggy and the whorns got a couple, I believe, but I doubt Stoops has lost over 10 he has wanted in the 13 years he's been HC.

[8timechamps]

Stoops has certainly gotten most of the in-state players he wants. TN rockytops have gotten a few, as have orange aggy and the whorns got a couple, I believe, but I doubt Stoops has lost over 10 he has wanted in the 13 years he's been HC.

Agreed, and I'm not necessarily talking about the highest rated players. I'm talking about the guys they really wanted (i.e. Broyles, Bradford, etc). Has he landed every single recruit he's targeted in Oklahoma? No. That's why I said "consistently".

[badger]

Stoops has certainly gotten most of the in-state players he wants. TN rockytops have gotten a few, as have orange aggy and the whorns got a couple, I believe, but I doubt Stoops has lost over 10 he has wanted in the 13 years he's been HC.

I think Phil Fulmer recruiting Oklahoma more than whoever they have not... Coach Doofus? Oh wait, he went to USC :P DOOLEY! :D

Arkansas seems to be the state's biggest poacher of top talent from Oklahoma. For the lesser starred recruits, the Kansas schools are usually good second option if OU isn't calling

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

I think Phil Fulmer recruiting Oklahoma more than whoever they have not... Coach Doofus? Oh wait, he went to USC :P DOOLEY! :D

Arkansas seems to be the state's biggest poacher of top talent from Oklahoma. For the lesser starred recruits, the Kansas schools are usually good second option if OU isn't callingI can't recall anyone Soopigs got from OK that we wanted, but I just don't know. Any recruiting orange aggy does in-state OK is poaching, as far as I'm concerned.

Maybe Payne County is theirs..but no, they can't have that, either.

[8timechamps]

I think Phil Fulmer recruiting Oklahoma more than whoever they have not... Coach Doofus? Oh wait, he went to USC :P DOOLEY! :D

Arkansas seems to be the state's biggest poacher of top talent from Oklahoma. For the lesser starred recruits, the Kansas schools are usually good second option if OU isn't calling

Arkansas has been the biggest in-state competition for a long time. However, recent success has moved OSU right up the list.

I'm with RLIMC on this, I don't remember a recruit (other than maybe Nash from Edmond) that we really wanted that got away. I'm sure it has happened, I just don't remember any. Which again, is why I say Stoops/OU has consistently locked-down the top in-state kids.

[Widescreen]

I can't recall anyone Soopigs got from OK that we wanted, but I just don't know.

Jarrett Lake. Ask any Arkie fan and they'll tell you how they ripped him right away from Stoops. LOL.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Jarrett Lake. Ask any Arkie fan and they'll tell you how they ripped him right away from Stoops. LOL.What do you know and/or believe about him and his recruitment?

[Eielson]

Arkansas has been the biggest in-state competition for a long time. However, recent success has moved OSU right up the list.

I'm with RLIMC on this, I don't remember a recruit (other than maybe Nash from Edmond) that we really wanted that got away. I'm sure it has happened, I just don't remember any. Which again, is why I say Stoops/OU has consistently locked-down the top in-state kids.

Meachem is a big one that comes to mind, and really BTW as a whole. Considering BTW is the premiere school for football talent in the state, it's certainly a troubling problem, but we're not losing them to other Big XII schools at least. They go SEC. I talked to one of BTW's coaches (he's since left) and he didn't know why they preferred the SEC, but he confirmed that they certainly did.

[8timechamps]

Meachem is a big one that comes to mind, and really BTW as a whole. Considering BTW is the premiere school for football talent in the state, it's certainly a troubling problem, but we're not losing them to other Big XII schools at least. They go SEC. I talked to one of BTW's coaches (he's since left) and he didn't know why they preferred the SEC, but he confirmed that they certainly did.

Yeah, Meachem would be one that got away, but then again, I don't know how much we recruited him (before I really got into recruiting). If there is a propensity for kids from a school (like BTW) to go SEC, the only thing I can think is that it's because of the SEC championship run. Hopefully that'll end soon.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Who knows what about ArkPig and the recruitment of Jarrett Lake?

[OU_Sooners75]

Don't leave out Bill Snyder.

He recruits Oklahoma pretty well.

[Salt City Sooner]

I can think of 4 off the top of my head that the 'horns have snagged: Doiron, Pickryl, Cobbs, & Turner (not that we were ever getting him).

[8timechamps]

Okay, since some of you are arguing that Stoops has not consistently locked down the top in-state talent, I thought I'd let the facts speak for themselves:

According to Rivals post-season state rankings (Top 3 in-state recruits), here are the number of top three Oklahoma recruits that signed:

2012: 2 of the top 3
2011: 2 of the top 3
2010: 1 of the top 3 (2 of the top 4)
2009: 2 of the top 3
2008: 2 of the top 3
2007: 1 of the top 3 (2 of the top 4)
2006: 2 of the top 3
2005: 2 of the top 3
2004: 2 of the top 3
2003: 1 of the top 3 (2 of the top 4)

That's the past decade. Now, maybe some of you have a different definition of "consistently", or "top in-state talent"...but I think you get the idea.

Now, someone please explain to me how Stoops hasn't consistently locked down the top instate talent?

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

20 gets, and 13 misses. Pretty good, but there's def room for improvement. (Of course, of the 13 we didn't get, Bob might have not wanted some of them, for one reason or another).

[Eielson]

That's the past decade. Now, maybe some of you have a different definition of "consistently", or "top in-state talent"...but I think you get the idea.

Now, someone please explain to me how Stoops hasn't consistently locked down the top instate talent?

I think what's getting you in trouble is that you're including the entire state. I'm in complete agreement with you for the schools that are around Norman (Norman, OKC, Moore, Edmond, etc.), but it's a bit shaky around Tulsa. The only school that I feel OU consistently recruits well in that area is Jenks. Obviously that's a good one, but there is a lot of talent coming out of that Tulsa area.

[8timechamps]

I think what's getting you in trouble is that you're including the entire state. I'm in complete agreement with you for the schools that are around Norman (Norman, OKC, Moore, Edmond, etc.), but it's a bit shaky around Tulsa. The only school that I feel OU consistently recruits well in that area is Jenks. Obviously that's a good one, but there is a lot of talent coming out of that Tulsa area.

I am including the entire state. I've based my argument on three things:

1) Rivals historical rankings/Top 3 in state recruits. - As you can see above, that's been consistent.
2) How hard we pursued a recruit - See #3
3) What was our need in that year - We've lost out on some kids, but that sometimes has to do with what we're looking for. While I think that Stoops would still pursue a top instate kid for a position that we may already have depth, I don't know that we would put the hard press on that recruit.

If I were to break it down regionally, then I'm sure there would be certain areas of the state (as you mentioned) that would be much weaker than others. But, the state as a whole has been consistently Sooner commits.

[8timechamps]

20 gets, and 13 misses. Pretty good, but there's def room for improvement. (Of course, of the 13 we didn't get, Bob might have not wanted some of them, for one reason or another).

There is no doubt that there is room for improvement. Of the 13 misses, I didn't look to see who they were each year and what our recruiting focus was for that season. But, I'd venture a guess that you are correct in that Stoops may not have 'needed' some of those kids.

Also, and this may be the part that is missing, I look at the players Stoops has recruited that may not have been considered elite in the state, but ended up being a good fit at OU.

I will concede that recruiting is still fairly subjective, but to say (I'm looking at you Sooner_75) "Stoops hasn't consistently landed the top instate talent" is just incorrect. There is a difference between "consistently and always".

[Eielson]

Tulsa 6/13
OKC 11/15

I looked over the last ten years, and this is what I've found. I looked pretty quickly, so I may have made some mistakes, but this should be pretty close. The trend was pretty clear as is, and most of the guys I noticed just outside the top 3 (Broyles - Norman, Lowe - Tulsa EC, Felix Jones - BTW, etc.) made it even more convincing.

I didn't list Box (not sure what to list Enid as) or Lewis (WTF is Dewar?).

[OU_Sooners75]

Okay, since some of you are arguing that Stoops has not consistently locked down the top in-state talent, I thought I'd let the facts speak for themselves:

According to Rivals post-season state rankings (Top 3 in-state recruits), here are the number of top three Oklahoma recruits that signed:

2012: 2 of the top 3
2011: 2 of the top 3
2010: 1 of the top 3 (2 of the top 4)
2009: 2 of the top 3
2008: 2 of the top 3
2007: 1 of the top 3 (2 of the top 4)
2006: 2 of the top 3
2005: 2 of the top 3
2004: 2 of the top 3
2003: 1 of the top 3 (2 of the top 4)

That's the past decade. Now, maybe some of you have a different definition of "consistently", or "top in-state talent"...but I think you get the idea.

Now, someone please explain to me how Stoops hasn't consistently locked down the top instate talent?

Look at how many go to OSU.
Look at how many go to Kansas State.
Look at how many go to Kansas.
Look at how many end up going out of state.

Oklahoma gets more kids in D1 than a lot of people think. Not the hotbed of Florida or Texas, but per capita, we match anyone in the country in talent coming out of Oklahoma.

That said, quite a few do not end up at OU....hence Stoops does not consistently lock down Oklahoma...this expands further than just the top 3 or 4 players coming out of the state.

[OU_Sooners75]

Yeah, Meachem would be one that got away, but then again, I don't know how much we recruited him (before I really got into recruiting). If there is a propensity for kids from a school (like BTW) to go SEC, the only thing I can think is that it's because of the SEC championship run. Hopefully that'll end soon.

Jeremy Shockey ring a bell? There is another.

[8timechamps]

Look at how many go to OSU.
Look at how many go to Kansas State.
Look at how many go to Kansas.
Look at how many end up going out of state.

Oklahoma gets more kids in D1 than a lot of people think. Not the hotbed of Florida or Texas, but per capita, we match anyone in the country in talent coming out of Oklahoma.

That said, quite a few do not end up at OU....hence Stoops does not consistently lock down Oklahoma...this expands further than just the top 3 or 4 players coming out of the state.

I spent way too much time researching this, but nonetheless, here are the results over the past 10 years:

(Data via Rivals.com)

From 1993-2012 (Top ten player commits per school)

Oklahoma: 33
Oklahoma State: 17
Arkansas: 8
Texas Tech: 6
Missouri: 5
Arizona: 4
Tennessee: 4
Tulsa: 3
Nebraska: 3
Kansas State: 3
Texas: 2
Stanford: 2
Oregon State: 2
TCU: 1
Texas A&M: 1
Notre Dame: 1
Kansas: 1
New Mexico State: 1
Colorado State: 1

Again, I'm not sure what your definition of "consistent" or "top talent" is, but by my definition (of both), Stoops and OU have been consistent in locking down top in-state talent. A few facts to back that up:

OU/Stoops has averaged 2 (2.4) top five recruits from Oklahoma each year.
OU/Stoops has signed more in-state top ten recruits than any other program in the country (double the next school; OSU)
Whether gauging based on the top 5 or top 10, OU/Stoops has consistently led all schools in recruits committed.


I understand that not every top player in the state of Oklahoma goes to OU. That was never my argument. I also understand that there are areas of the state that Stoops/OU have not fared as well. My argument, which (I think) is backed up statistically/historically is that Stoops/OU have consistently landed the top talent in Oklahoma. If you want to argue that, then I would ask, if not OU, then who? And by what measure?

As you noted, Oklahoma is not a hotbed of D1 talent, but does better than the average fan realizes. However, of the D1 talent Oklahoma does produce, OU (by a measure of 2 to 1 to the next closest competition; OSU) consistently lands the top talent.

[Herr Scholz]

UT has plucked a couple of good ones out of OK recently: JR Demarco Cobbs and SO Josh Turner. Cobbs will be starting for us this year at OLB and Turner will also get some PT in the secondary. And we were looking at DJ Ward and Stanvon Taylor this year, just couldn't get them to visit. There are some good players up there, albeit in smaller numbers.

[starclassic tama]

people like to flip out when they see a player from oklahoma succeed anywhere else besides OU. but as 8time pointed out, we get the vast majority of the best players from oklahoma. a lot of kids play football in this state, so you are going to see some go other places and succeed. no college in the country gets every single of the good players from their state every year.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

What I, and I assume others, want to know is how many(and whom) of the OK players since Bob became HC at OU, did he definitely want to get that he wasn't able to sign. Of course, only Bob and a couple other folks would know that complete list. Somebody ask him, please.

[8timechamps]

What I, and I assume others, want to know is how many(and whom) of the OK players since Bob became HC at OU, did he definitely want to get that he wasn't able to sign. Of course, only Bob and a couple other folks would know that complete list. Somebody ask him, please.

That's the unknown question. Something, like this topic, is hard to pin down because we don't have an insight to what the coaches are really focused on year in and year out. It would be nice to see a list from Stoops, but I'm pretty sure that's never going to happen.

[8timechamps]

people like to flip out when they see a player from oklahoma succeed anywhere else besides OU. but as 8time pointed out, we get the vast majority of the best players from oklahoma. a lot of kids play football in this state, so you are going to see some go other places and succeed. no college in the country gets every single of the good players from their state every year.

That's been my point all along. I know that good Oklahoma players go to other schools and succeed. No question about that. But it's good to know that the majority of them go to OU.

[OU_Sooners75]

That's been my point all along. I know that good Oklahoma players go to other schools and succeed. No question about that. But it's good to know that the majority of them go to OU.

OU gets the vast majority, but there are consistently very good ones they either ignore or over look and do not go after.

That is my point.

IMHO, it doesnt matter if you have a need for the player or not, if there is a very good player from your home state that is something special, then you go after him and get him, or at least make a valiant effort in going after him.

[8timechamps]

OU gets the vast majority, but there are consistently very good ones they either ignore or over look and do not go after.

That is my point.

IMHO, it doesnt matter if you have a need for the player or not, if there is a very good player from your home state that is something special, then you go after him and get him, or at least make a valiant effort in going after him.

That's a fair enough statement. And as I've said all along, I know that good players leave the state. It happens in every state in the country.

I'm sure there have been guys that got away that Stoops wishes he would have made a harder push for, but then again, you never know how a kid is going to end up. In 2005, Austin English was ranked #53 in the state of Texas, with 3 other DEs ranked ahead of him. Texas didn't even offer him. I don't think it was because Brown thought he wasn't good enough to play at Texas, I think it was because he thought Aaron Lewis (the DE they did sign) was better. Brown ended up being wrong...it happens a lot, but I wouldn't say that Texas doesn't consistently lock down top instate talent.

The record books are full of recruits that were highly ranked and floundered and with recruits that were under-ranked and flourished. In a lot of ways, it's still a crap shoot.