Big 12: Winners and losers from the 2020 recruiting cycle
After two signing periods, the 2020 recruiting class is officially behind us. The February version of National Signing Day provided us with drama, some unprecedented surprises and, of course, some ongoing storylines.
In the Big 12, Texas overtook Oklahoma with the top recruiting haul in the conference. The Longhorns finished No. 13, two spots ahead of the Sooners. That’s due to a strong finish for Texas, which was one of our winners in the 2020 class.
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CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
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WINNERS
Texas
Those on The Forty Acres got their first taste of good news on National Signing Day eve when three-star East Texas athlete Kelvontay Dixon pledged to the Longhorns. Dixon had been a major Texas lean ever since backing off his Arkansas commitment in the fall; landing him gives Tom Herman and first-year offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich an exceptional talent to plug into the offense for the 2020 season. That momentum continued into Wednesday when the Longhorns secured a signature from Rivals250 defensive lineman Alfred Collins over rival Oklahoma and Alabama. That’s some serious talent on the way to Austin.
TCU
National Signing Day was rather quiet in Fort Worth, but Gary Patterson added yet another talented receiver to his roster in the form of Texas three-star Savion Williams, who signed with the Horned Frogs over Texas, SMU and Arkansas. Add Williams to a 2020 haul that also features Rivals100 pass-catcher Quentin Johnston and there is plenty of excitement as we look ahead to the TCU offense next fall.
West Virginia
There were some fireworks in Morgantown on National Signing Day when the Mountaineers edged out Missouri to land a commitment from three-star Alabama defensive end Eddie Watkins. West Virginia added another talented piece to its defensive line haul in 2020 with Watkins on board. That allowed West Virginia to finish right behind Texas and Oklahoma with the No. 28-ranked recruiting class for 2020.
Kansas
Anytime we can celebrate Les Miles, we should. The Mad Hatter was ecstatic to win a very hard-fought battle on the recruiting trail for Texas three-star defensive end Clinton Anokwuru, a one-time Texas Tech commitment that was also considering Virginia Tech. Anokwuru had a great senior campaign and should be a solid upgrade for the Kansas roster. The Jayhawks also signed longtime commitment JaCobee Bryant, one of the highest-ranked signees in the entire class.
LOSERS
Baylor
In the hours leading into National Signing Day, there was growing optimism in Waco that the Bears would wind up signing in-state four-star defensive end Princely Umanmielen, who of course wound up committing to and signing with Florida in one of the biggest signing day surprises nationwide. Baylor also came up short in the Donovan Kaufman sweepstakes, as the Rivals250 safety opted to stick to his longtime Vanderbilt commitment instead. While Baylor missed on two top defensive targets, it managed to sign quarterback Blake Shapen out of The Boot as the Dave Aranda era is set to get underway.
People Expecting Drama on National Signing Day
Anyone paying close attention to the second signing day in February with the hopes of juicy subplots and surprise announcements would have been drastically underwhelmed by the fireworks — or lack thereof — on Feb. 5.
Texas, TCU, West Virginia and Kansas came out on top with some late signees, but it was all quiet on the Oklahoma front. That was a theme for the majority of Big 12 teams, who signed the vast majority of their 2020 classes before Christmas. That left maybe two or three prospects to monitor by the time the second signing period rolled away.