Big 12 Spotlight: Grading the 2023 class
The Early Signing Period has concluded which means recruiting classes across the country are mostly complete aside from a few finishing touches going into the February signing period.
For the Big 12 teams, first-year staffs and developed classes made up the conference ranks as each program signed key components for their respective futures. Here is how each team in the conference fared in the Early Signing Period.
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NSD COACH INTERVIEWS: Stanford's Troy Taylor | Rutgers' Greg Schiano | Maryland's Mike Locksley | Florida State's Mike Norvell | USF's Alex Golesh | Michigan State's Mel Tucker | Louisville's Jeff Brohm | Illinois' Bret Bielema | Virginia Tech's Brent Pry | Wisconsin's Luke Fickell | Clemson's Dabo Swinney | Georgia Tech's Brent Key | Cal's Justin Wilcox | Nebraska's Matt Rhule | Indiana's Tom Allen | Penn State's James Franklin | Texas Tech's Joey McGuire | Arizona's Jedd Fisch | Virginia's Tony Elliott | Florida's Billy Napier | Kansas' Lance Leipold | Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham | Vanderbilt's Clark Lea
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MORE NSD: Latest on the unsigned stars | The Gorney Awards | Team rankings breakdown | National Signing Day Live | Studio Show | Five teams with work left | Top storylines for Late Signing Period | Grading the new P5 coaching hires | Biggest surprises | Southeast roundtable | Best available offensive players | Best available defensive players
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BAYLOR (No. 5 Big 12, No. 26 overall)
Baylor's stuttering performance on the field in 2022 almost directly mirrored how it went for the Bears on the recruiting trail as there were big wins and big losses scattered throughout the recruiting cycle for Dave Aranda and his staff.
The biggest headline would have to be keeping Dripping Springs (Texas) four-star quarterback Austin Novosad in the fold over the summer despite heavy pressure from Notre Dame, Ohio State and Texas A&M only to lose Novosad to Oregon on National Signing Day in one of the week's biggest flips.
The potential is still strong in the class with multiple four-star prospects such as Arlington (Texas) Lamar offensive tackle Isaiah Robinson, but you can't help but see the potential that was not reached in looking back at the cycle.
Grade: C+
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IOWA STATE (No. 8 Big 12, No. 38 overall)
While Iowa State has had stronger performances on the recruiting trail in previous cycles under Matt Campbell, a major victory struck this cycle by keeping Ankeny (Iowa) four-star quarterback JJ Kohl within state borders to play for the Cyclones.
Looking deeper into the class, in-state talents Kai Black and Jamison Patton make up the high three-star talents, but the potential further into the ranks makes it harder to give Iowa State a strong grade coming out of the cycle.
Grade: C
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KANSAS (No. 10 Big 12, No. 80 overall)
Judging by how the 2023 cycle went for Kansas, it's clear that the Jayhawks will be hitting the transfer portal hard this offseason to shape its 2023 squad, but there are still a couple of bright spots to look at from the recruiting class put together by Lance Leipold and his staff.
Eudora (Kan.) tight end Jaden Hamm will provide a big presence both in the run blocking game and as a big body in the pass catching game. Austin (Texas) Westlake wide receiver Keaton Kubecka comes from a program that won three state championships in Texas' highest classification during his time as a high school prospect with Kubecka being major contributors in each deep run.
Grade: D
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KANSAS STATE (No. 6 Big 12, No. 29 overall)
On the heels of a Big 12 Championship, Kansas State signed a top 30 class that featured some of the state of Kansas' top talent. It starts up top with Maize (Kan.) four-star quarterback Avery Johnson who the Wildcats fought Notre Dame and Oregon off for over the summer.
Looking deeper into the class, Kansas State spread the wealth from coast-to-coast with pledges from prospects across 13 states while also signing high-level athletes. Despite only one four-star pledge, Kansas State exceeded expectations both on and off the field.
Grade: B
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OKLAHOMA (No. 2 Big 12, No. 7 overall)
Despite a 6-6 season on the field in 2022, Oklahoma's first-year staff under Brent Venables landed some major wins on the recruiting trail including weathering an Early Signing Period fiasco in Denton (Texas) Guyer five-star safety Peyton Bowen's recruitment.
While there were some losses along the way, Oklahoma still signed a top ten class that featured two five-stars including locking in the Sooners' quarterback of the future in Jackson Arnold.
Grade: A-
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OKLAHOMA STATE (No. 9 Big 12, No. 61 overall)
OKLAHOMA STATE COMMITMENT LIST
After signing a strong class in 2022 that featured 20 commitments, Oklahoma State went into the 2023 cycle with limited spots that the Cowboys were going to be very selective in filling. However, as the season and cycle went on, Oklahoma State had to fill some spots late that were unexpected.
Overall, Oklahoma State failed to sign a four-star prospect, but Oak Grove (La.) athlete Kamryn Franklin has the potential to earn that status going into the latter stages of the cycle.
Grade: D
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TCU (No. 3 Big 12, No. 19 overall)
The success that TCU had on the field in 2022 more than translated onto the recruiting trail as the Horned Frogs finished the Early Signing Period off strong with major wins over Power Five programs for prospects such as Markis Deal, Warren Roberson and Randon Fontenette.
The potential is still growing moving forward for TCU as the Frogs remain thick in the race for Temple (Texas) four-star wide receiver Mikal Harrison-Pilot and Waco (Texas) Connally four-star athlete Jelani McDonald.
Although the TCU class would've been complete with a signature at the quarterback position, the Horned Frogs more than exceeded expectations in Sonny Dykes' first year at the helm.
Grade: A
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TEXAS (No. 1 Big 12, No. 3 overall)
Texas came into the 2023 recruiting cycle with a major target in mind on each side of the ball, five-star quarterback Arch Manning and five-star linebacker Anthony Hill, and the Longhorns signed each of them along with a large group of difference makers as their surrounding cast.
It's hard to find many major misses for Texas in 2023, especially after landing commitments from two four-star west coast prospects during the Early Signing Period, but the defensive line room could use a little bit of help from the transfer portal moving forward.
Grade: A+
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TEXAS TECH (No. 4 Big 12, No. 23 overall)
Joey McGuire and his new staff at Texas Tech arrived in Lubbock in November 2021 and immediately went to work on constructing its 2023 class with prospects across the state that had verified athleticism either in track or camp settings.
Their goal was achieved, and rather early on as Texas Tech filled its class with over 20 commitments in the spring ahead of the summer visit period. While there were some major programs that took some of the Texas Tech commits along the way, the Red Raiders staff still showed an ability to identify talent early on. Moving forward, the staff would benefit from holding onto that talent when programs such as Ohio State and Notre Dame come calling.
But with the program already showing an ability to win under its new regime, that will only get easier as time goes on.
Grade: B+
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WEST VIRGINIA (No. 7 Big 12, No. 34 overall)
Despite a lackluster season on the field in Morgantown, Neal Brown and his staff at West Virginia were still able to crack the top 40 in the team recruiting rankings behind strong recruiting efforts in the northeast.
West Virginia's class is headlined by Uniontown (Penn.) Laurel Highlands four-star wide receiver Rodney Gallagher who is one of three four-stars signed to the Mountaineers, all from the northeast.
The Mountaineers suffered some losses along the way which caused them to sign developmental prospects at positions of need, but the results still exceed what was exhibited on the field in 2022.
Grade: B-