Something I've noticed about our recruiting...

[elmocarp]

I've said multiple times in other posts that OU is in fantastic shape regardless of whether or not we get a commit from one of the remaining high-profile guys (Jones or Lamb). I've said this based on the current makeup of the roster and the guys we've already got committed. TMG, Tiny, Bird, Fitz, T.J. and Cam are all big-time talented guys who are going to be fantastic going forward. Whether we get another stud or whether we just fill in with role players, the core of the program is in place and things look great regardless.

That said, I was thinking about the elite players that Capel has brought in and I started to notice something. Let's see if I am imagining something or not...

Blake Griffin - Moved from pre-summer RSCI #29 to #16 in final rankings. Only took one visit to OU. Other schools on his list were Baylor, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan State and OSU.

Willie Warren - Ranked #13 in RSCI's final rankings even though he was clearly in the same category with Brandon Jennings and Tyreke Evans. As far as I know, Willie only took visits to Baylor and OU (not even sure the Baylor visit was official). Other schools on his list were Cincinnati, UConn and Kansas.

Keith Gallon - Moved from pre-summer RSCI #40 to #10 in final rankings. Only took two visits, to OU and to Mississippi State. The other schools on his list were Mississippi State and Cal.

Tommie Mason-Griffin - Moved from pre-summer RSCI #56 to #30 in final rankings. TMG only took one visit, to OU, after de-committing from LSU. Other schools on his list were Baylor, Texas and Texas A&M.

Cameron Clark - Ranked #25 currently by RSCI, no previous rankings were available (at least to me). Cam only took one visit to OU. The other schools on his list were Marquette and OSU.

OK...so there are the 5 "elite" guys that Capel has signed. What do they all have in common? They are all guys who were from OK and Texas (I know Tiny was born in California and played at Oak Hill, but he is a Texas recruit as far as I'm concerned). So there is definitely a regional connection. Then you can also see that they are all guys that were either late bloomers in terms of exposure or guys who had perceived baggage (Willie's rep, Tiny's weight). Also, OU hasn't beaten a top program head-to-head for any of these guys. Kansas was supposedly in on Blake and Willie, but I'd question how seriously in each case.

So why point all this out? Mainly because I just found it interesting. But there is another reason too...How many times can Capel keep finding guys like this? I think that for the program to get where we all want it to go, we have to break through and sign one of these kids from out of the region who has been on the radar for a while. That's why I am really hoping we can get Terrence Jones or Doron Lamb. Just like Blake made it possible to show elite kids that OU is a good destination, getting a guy like Jones would show kids from out of the region the same thing.

I'm interested to hear what you guys think...

 

[DenverSooner]

Personally, I would contend that OU has signed lots of high profile players from outside of the Oklahoma and Texas region since the LNC renovations were completed. Just to name a few (and all are not Capel recruits):

Drew Lavender
Lawrence Mckensie
Scotting Reynolds
Ray Willis
Neysmith
Fitzgerald
Pledger

(you can actually toss in a few others like Longar Longar and Larry Turner that were not from Oklahoma or Texas).

Every kid on that list is Top 100 player and a major land for recruiting. Those are kids that pretty much can go anywhere they want.

Capel is essentially putting together his third class (the first one he was playing on a level field). He has landed 4 top 100 kids from outside the Okalhoma and Texas region. He has also gotten looks from some pretty high level guys. Step one is getting them to consider OU.

 

[TINY]

One player that I consider a big time recruit that you left off is Fitzgerald. OU went head to head with several top notch east coast teams like UConn and Syracuse among others. Signing a 4-star east coast big man is a pretty good indicator to me that Capel can recruit outside OK and TX. However, I still do not feel great about our chances with Lamb, Jones, etc, at the moment.

 

[elmocarp]

OK, I see what you guys are saying and I'm not dismissing how valuable those types of kids are, not at all. But my point was regarding elite guys...like top-30 guys. Top ten teams aren't built around guys in the 60-100 range.

 

[PeteHoops]

Kansas was definitely a player for Willie and Blake. Self was at many OCS games and especially when the played McGuiness. Self also says Willie is the most offensively gifted player he has EVER recruited so I would say that he was pretty interested in signing both of them. UConn was also in on Blake and I saw a lot of high major coaches at his games in the middle of the week so I'd say we beat out some big time programs head to head. I also admit that Blake recruitment to OU had some circumstances that cannot be ignored (Taylor), but we still got him. To my original point, Kansas was in on both guys very heavily. I agree with your other points for the most part though.

 

[MNsooner]

I think a positive to take away from this is that Capel has done the best job of scouting the region of anyone.

 

[gspence]

Not only did Kansas want Blake, but if he had not committed and signed with us early he absolutely could have went to UNC or Duke and just about anywhere else, that is a fact. I see your point to an extent but it is a process and a challenge for Capel to continue to improve the recruiting, he has done nothing but move up and up so I see no reason to worry about it. The rise in recruiting since he has been here is pretty amazing considering some of the guys we had to sign his first couple of years who are no longer here other than Orlando.

 

[CrimsonOberon]

Kansas was in the race for WWIII until the very end. I remember vividly the excitement on Lloyd Noble when Willie chose OU, and the disappointment from the Jayhawks following the decision.

Willie was and is a fantastic offensive talent - one that every major school in the country coveted.

In this case, OU went head-to-head with Kansas and managed to pull out the W.

 

[Seymore Cox]

Kansas was in the race for WWIII until the very end. I remember vividly the excitement on Lloyd Noble when Willie chose OU, and the disappointment from the Jayhawks following the decision.

Willie was and is a fantastic offensive talent - one that every major school in the country coveted.

In this case, OU went head-to-head with Kansas and managed to pull out the W.

If I remember correctly, WW skipped out on Latenight his senior year after being scheduled to go. This was right during the fallout with Rotnei Clarke who went to latenight, and right after the Oak Hill thing. At the end, it was a pretty safe bet that OU was going to get WW because of the connection with Oronde and the beginning bond of Capel and Willie.

As far as recruiting. I'm not as concerned about the Rankings of a players, but moreso the potential and immediate impact that player can make. OU is better off with Terrence Jones than Doron Lamb, not because Jone is a much better player, but because of what Jones adds to a team that has other pieces. Right now if you look at it, OU is as close to being a complete team as it has been in a long time. OU has a PG that's developing, has shooting in TMG and Pledger. Has starting post play for next year in Fitz and Gallon. So you bring in a guy like Cameron Clark who is extremely talented at the wing and has more pro potential than Lamb, Stacy Poole, Jelan Kendricks, Tony Mitchell, etc. But if you look at the game yesterday. We played a team that is similar to what OSU and Baylor puts on the floor. We couldn't use Fitzgerald because he didn't match up well with those guys. ULM's 6'4 forward gave us fits. If we were to play a Michigan State, Raymar Morgan would give us fits. Those are situations where we could use a Terrence Jones type or someone similar. Next year will be a top 12 team without Jones, if we get him, we'll be a top 6 to 8 team.

 

[tomkar98]

If I remember correctly, WW skipped out on Latenight his senior year after being scheduled to go. This was right during the fallout with Rotnei Clarke who went to latenight, and right after the Oak Hill thing. At the end, it was a pretty safe bet that OU was going to get WW because of the connection with Oronde and the beginning bond of Capel and Willie.

As far as recruiting. I'm not as concerned about the Rankings of a players, but moreso the potential and immediate impact that player can make. OU is better off with Terrence Jones than Doron Lamb, not because Jone is a much better player, but because of what Jones adds to a team that has other pieces. Right now if you look at it, OU is as close to being a complete team as it has been in a long time. OU has a PG that's developing, has shooting in TMG and Pledger. Has starting post play for next year in Fitz and Gallon. So you bring in a guy like Cameron Clark who is extremely talented at the wing and has more pro potential than Lamb, Stacy Poole, Jelan Kendricks, Tony Mitchell, etc. But if you look at the game yesterday. We played a team that is similar to what OSU and Baylor puts on the floor. We couldn't use Fitzgerald because he didn't match up well with those guys. ULM's 6'4 forward gave us fits. If we were to play a Michigan State, Raymar Morgan would give us fits. Those are situations where we could use a Terrence Jones type or someone similar. Next year will be a top 12 team without Jones, if we get him, we'll be a top 6 to 8 team.

T Jones is a huge piece to the puzzle, IMO. With him, we are a title contender. He would be a great get for Capel. I hope T Jones is smart, and does the right thing!

 

[chico got game]

We will get jones,it dont matter what state u recruit in if a kid want to go too a school their going to go.In my opinion if a D1 school offer you a scholarship you are a highprofile guy at one time are another,i think the decision makers get caught up in the word highprofile 2 names come to mind (Sam Bowie)and(Michael Jordan) woops i bet the team that passed on Jorden is still kicking themselves.Most of your so called lower ranked kids are ranked low is because of the AAu team they played for was not a nationally known team.Cameron was playing with DFW elite for 3season it was a good team but did not play the well know tournaments,but played his last year with team texas and blew up like bubble gum,just think if he would have played with temtexas from the start.Ricky Scott only played one season of AAu ball with Full court Athletes,and he got a full ride to Arkansas,Tj taylor never played a full season of AAu ball.what im saying is that we need to stop worrying about how high a kid is ranked and rank him how he perform on the hardwood.Remember clark was ranked #18 at one time this kid had schlarship offers from texas,memphis,kansas,kentucky,ucla,arizona,arizona state,to name a few now you talk about highprofile.Coach Capel is doing a great job but he is not recruiting by himself,his assistant Mark Cline, recruited Cam and TJ.WE will get Jones be patient.

 

[AdaSooner]

chico, I love your confidence about signing Jones in April. Sure hope you're right!

 

[playmakr]

Thanks for post, Chico. Hope you're right about Jones.

 

[gracefor24]

With WW I think it was more the case that he wasn't interested in KU. I know Self wanted him badly but saw that they were on the outside looking in so he didn't spend as much time as he would have.

With Blake I honestly think Blake might have gone to KU if he didn't sign with OU. I have heard that he really liked KU and Self. If Sampson had stayed it might have been interesting!

It's an interesting point but the bottom line is Capel and OU will be fine as long as they recruit OK and TX well (more TX than OK). Capel has really hurt OSU who had a great pipeline in Houston before he started kicking butt down there.

 

[ousooners1baby]

We can always count on your unbiased opinion Grace.

 

[gracefor24]

We can always count on your unbiased opinion Grace.

Thanks.

 

[MNsooner]

A lot of credit needs to go to Mark Cline. He is really doing a great job. He recruited TJ and Cam and has us in on Jones.

 

[BoulderSooner]

With WW I think it was more the case that he wasn't interested in KU. I know Self wanted him badly but saw that they were on the outside looking in so he didn't spend as much time as he would have.

With Blake I honestly think Blake might have gone to KU if he didn't sign with OU. I have heard that he really liked KU and Self. If Sampson had stayed it might have been interesting!

It's an interesting point but the bottom line is Capel and OU will be fine as long as they recruit OK and TX well (more TX than OK). Capel has really hurt OSU who had a great pipeline in Houston before he started kicking butt down there.

if sampson stayed 99% blake doesn't go to OU

 

[Seymore Cox]

With WW I think it was more the case that he wasn't interested in KU. I know Self wanted him badly but saw that they were on the outside looking in so he didn't spend as much time as he would have.

With Blake I honestly think Blake might have gone to KU if he didn't sign with OU. I have heard that he really liked KU and Self. If Sampson had stayed it might have been interesting!

It's an interesting point but the bottom line is Capel and OU will be fine as long as they recruit OK and TX well (more TX than OK). Capel has really hurt OSU who had a great pipeline in Houston before he started kicking butt down there.

WW was a done deal when OU got Oronde. As for Blake, the recruitment of Blake wasn't as imprortant as the recruitment of Taylor. For Jeff Capel to keep Taylor from transfering was huge.

 

[BigTime]

if sampson stayed 99% blake doesn't go to OU

I don't know about 99, but yeah, it would have not looked good for the Sooners. Would be interesting to see what would have happened with Taylor and Longar.