TCU recruiting takes hit as Oklahoma expected to sign 15 players from Texas

By Jaime Aron
Associated Press

A few years after Mack Brown revived Darrell Royal’s roundup style of recruiting at Texas, Bob Stoops is reaching into Oklahoma’s past and pulling off the Lone Star State talent raids last seen by Barry Switzer.

The Sooners’ undefeated, national championship season was the perfect boost to help Stoops cross the Red River and go back home with verbal commitments from several top-caliber Texans.

Those promises will become official Wednesday when high school seniors sign letters of intent and fax them to the college of their choice. Oklahoma is expected to sign 15 players from Texas, nearly double its total from last year.

“Stoops has re-established Texas as a primary recruiting ground,” said analyst Bobby Burton of Rivals100.com. “He did extremely well with the top-level guys, but if he takes more strides on the field next year he could get even bigger numbers from Texas.”

The Sooners were hoping to have two more this year, but lost out to the Longhorns on all-around star Quan Cosby of Mart and Waco linebacker Derrick Johnson.

That pair pumped up Texas’ already state-best haul and put Texas either even with or ahead of Oklahoma in the mythical national recruiting race. The consensus among analysts is that the classes signed by the Longhorns and Sooners will rank among the top six in the country.

“Both teams are going to be real happy,” said analyst Allen Wallace of SuperPrep.

Texas A&M is likely to be second-best in the state, followed by Texas Tech, Houston and TCU.

The Cougars are the surprise team of 2001. Coach Dana Dimmel’s intense efforts in the Houston area and throughout the state have paid off as 21 of his 23 expected signees are from Texas.

TCU was a major player last year as it was cruising out of a great season and heading into another. This time, the defection of coach Dennis Franchione and the graduation of star running back LaDainian Tomlinson appears to have triggered a dropoff.

“It’s not so much because they think (new coach) Gary Patterson or his staff is not capable, it’s the timing of the situation,” Burton said. “You look at it, and you notice they lost some kids who they probably would’ve gotten.”

The Sooners’ biggest prizes from Texas include running back Donta Hickson of McKinney, receiver Brandon Jones of Texarkana Liberty-Eylau and defensive linemen Tommie Harris of Killeen Ellison and Brett Rayl of Lewisville.

Oklahoma’s Lone Star crop is well-rounded, too, featuring eight defenders and seven offensive players, counting a kicker. Eight of the 22 Oklahoma signees were from Texas last year.

Wallace credited it all to Stoops, whom he said is “the most popular college coach in America” thanks to a combination of on-field smarts and warm demeanor off the field.

“Recruits view him as being fun to play for,” Wallace said.

While playing for the national champion is a natural draw, Wallace said the hurdles Oklahoma crossed to get there were just as important in the recruiting wars..