Big 12 breakdown: Five recruiting battles to watch
With the first numerical class of 2018 rankings released last week, we thought it would be a good time to take a very early look at some of the top recruiting battles for the class in the Big 12.
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Cook is a hot commodity with offers from every Power Five conference in the country, but early on you have to feel that Big 12 teams will be involved here until the end. Baylor was in a good position before everything fell apart, and it will be interesting to see if it can remain in the mix. TCU is heavily involved and he has a good feel for the coaches. Oklahoma and Texas will be in this mix and emerge even more as time goes on. Georgia and LSU appear to be the biggest threats early outside of the Big 12.
Foster has been very quiet about favorites, but a great visit to Texas this summer has it in the driver’s seat in the minds of many. But as quiet as he is and with so many huge offers, this one could go for a long time and have many twists and turns. You can expect Oklahoma, a few West Coast schools, Ohio State and some SEC programs to be in this mix as well.
With his brother, Jordan Sterns, at Oklahoma State, many feel that the Cowboys will be the team to beat if he chooses a Big 12 program. But don't count out Oklahoma, based on a good recent visit, or Texas here as well. Texas Tech would be a long shot considering his friendship with 2017 Red Raiders commitment Xavier Martin. LSU appears to be the biggest threat to the Big 12 schools. His familiarity with Oklahoma State will help the Cowboys greatly, but he’s anything but a lock to become a legacy recruit.
The talented linebacker hasn’t proclaimed a leader and is being targeted heavily by Big 12 schools as well as the SEC, and a recent visit to Ohio State impressed him. However, he had a very good visit to Oklahoma and he got a lot of attention from Charlie Strong at one of the Longhorns' satellite camps. TCU is another school he appears very interested in, and he likes the staff there. I think he’s the kind of kid who will stick close to home and this could be a Texas-Oklahoma battle with Texas A&M perhaps the biggest threat outside of the Big 12.
This could be an SEC-Big 12 battle as Preston seems to be leaning early toward Texas A&M and Oklahoma, but don’t count out the many others that have offered. Confidence is very high in College Station on this one, but the season will play a large role for the Aggies as Kevin Sumlin needs a big year on the field.
