sys- A&M signed 5 players in 2009. Ray Turner and Hibbert (Dematha) are the only two I see being good players from that group. You can look at the other offers and see that the other three were not highly coveted.
For 2010, they have Alexander and Tobi O committed. I think Tobi O is a great prospect. Alexander may be also, but I have my doubts on him. Soft and doesn't show great hoops IQ is the report I have received.
For 2011, they have one of the top players in the nation committed- Branch. Now he is a stud. He will likely elevate them for the one or two years he is there. But as of now, I think their talent is 5th in the big 12 south. Losing Elonu is a big deal.
Davis, Sloan, Roland, Holmes and Loubeau are nice players. But they don't strike fear in you. I see an NIT or on the fringe of the NCAA year for them.
SouthTXCoach- agree with what you said except the crooked part. Baylor would probably be landing some of these big targets if they were "bidding"- Warren, Arthur, Wall. They lead for these guys early in the process and then lose out at the end. I'm not saying anything illegal went on from OU's perspective on Warren. But the stories around Arthur and Wall are interesting.
I think you are right about recruiting being #1, #2 and #3 in the formula for success. Lots of coaches were not considered good coaches until they started landing elite players. If you are considering recruiting success alone, you would say the shake-out in the conference will be:
Super Elite- KU, UT, OU
Elite- KSU, Baylor
Very Good- Oklahoma St, A&M
Good- Missouri
Coaching Change Coming- Iowa St, Colorado, Neb, Texas Tech
Now perhaps Colorado or Iowa State can turn that ship the right direction but you have to be skeptical based on current recruiting. Tech has a tough road to hoe with the 5 teams ahead of them in the South.