Fact or Fiction: Ryan Wingo to Texas is the biggest surprise of the cycle
Rivals national recruiting analyst Cole Patterson is joined by national recruiting analyst Clint Cosgrove, Paul Strelow of TigerIllustrated.com and Parker Thune of OUInsider.com to determine whether or not three Mid-South recruiting topics are FACT or FICTION.
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1. Bryant Wesco reaffirming his commitment is Clemson’s biggest win this cycle.
Patterson: FACT. Bryant Wesco is one of the top-ranked wide receiver prospects in the nation with instant impact ability on the next level. The playmaking pass catcher out of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is a track athlete with great leaping ability to pair with his ball skills and yards after catch abilities. Programs like Oklahoma and Colorado were rumored to be making pushes for Wesco with the Tigers having a down season on the field. But Wesco reaffirming his pledge to Dabo Swinney and company is a significant win for Clemson, especially considering how well the staff has recruited the state of Texas.
Strelow: FACT. OK, I could dispute the contention on legalities. Winning the Wesco commitment was bigger because it illuminated that he valued what Clemson espouses, which is why the Tigers typically have such recruiting stability; a few losses doesn't change why their commitments picked the program. Winning matters certainly, but so do the staff relationships and holistic approach. I also don't know that Wesco was actually even looking around rather than politely listening when the vultures first started circling.
But Wesco has long ranked for me as the most important pledge of their bunch because he's a difference-maker at a position of dire need. It's been several years since the Tigers had a sleek perimeter receiver with some size who could also rack up yards-after-catch, and here's contending Wesco is the closest Clemson has come to getting its next Tee Higgins or Justyn Ross a handful of cycles later.
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2. Oklahoma will finish with the top class in the current Big 12 recruiting rankings during its final cycle in the conference
Patterson: FICTION. I lean fiction because Texas is right there with a top-10 class that featured a pair of legitimate five-star prospects in Colin Simmons and Ryan Wingo. But Oklahoma has a realistic chance to take that crown with its own class that is headlined by five-star defensive tackle David Stone. What happens in the recruitment of Kobe Black and whether or not the Sooners can successfully flip Williams Nwaneri from Missouri will ultimately play major factors in how everything ultimately shakes out in this race.
Thune: FACT. A couple of months ago, I would likely have leaned Texas as the team that would pace the Big 12 in the 2024 recruiting rankings, but the Sooners (No. 6 nationally) still maintain the slight edge on the Longhorns (No. 8) and have two top uncommitted targets left on their board. National top-100 OL targets Eddy Pierre-Louis and Grant Brix have yet to finalize timetables for their respective decisions, but Oklahoma is considered the leader for both prospects. I don’t think the Sooners necessarily have to go 2-for-2 in order to stay a step ahead of Texas, which is obviously still waiting out Kobe Black and pushing to flip Dominick McKinley. And if Brent Venables’ staff can coax five-star defensive end Williams Nwaneri out of his Missouri pledge, that would be the killshot that gives Oklahoma the runaway No. 1 class in the conference.
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3. Ryan Wingo committing to Texas over Missouri is the biggest surprise of the cycle thus far.
Patterson: FACT. I think it’s safe to categorize Ryan Wingo committing to Texas after it seemed as if Missouri had him in the bag as the biggest surprise to this point in the 2024 recruiting cycle. It’s not necessarily that Wingo chose the Longhorns but more so of how it all went down.
Texas made a late surge after being the leader one summer to overcome the momentum that the Tigers built in the weeks leading up to the commitment. Ole Miss beating out Auburn for Kamarion Franklin is another recruitment in the region worth mentioning.
Cosgrove: FICTION. Had I not been so dialed in with the Wingo recruitment, and didn't see the tides potentially turning in the final hours, then I would have gone FACT here. However, had he made his decision public a week earlier and picked Texas over Missouri - then it would have undoubtedly been the biggest recruiting surprise of the 2024 class for me. Texas was always a major player in Wingo's recruitment and even though I thought he may still choose Missouri when it came time to announce, the leadup made it a little less of a surprise.