This year has seen no shortage of surprises, and they have not subsided with the dawn of the fall season. From surprise commitments to class changes and the impact of COVID-19, recruiting in the South-Central region has continued to see news develop this fall. Here are some of the memorable surprises so far.
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Oklahoma becomes the destination for Billy Bowman
Billy Bowman backed off a 15-month-long commitment to the Longhorns on Oct. 7 and found a home at Oklahoma within a month’s time. Lincoln Riley and his staff scooped up the nation’s No. 1-ranked athlete and inserted him into the Big 12’s top recruiting class, which is beginning to have the makings of a top-five haul in 2021.
Bowman was a key reason for optimism in Austin. He committed to Texas around the same time as fellow Rivals100 prospect and Denton Ryan teammate Ja’Tavion Sanders and quarterback Jalen Milroe. Bowman is now locked in with the Sooners and Milroe has since flipped to Alabama. Now, the future is undoubtedly murky for Texas as signature pieces of both the 2021 and 2022 recruiting classes have departed for rival programs.
Riley played a big role in courting Bowman as a three-way player who could contribute as a gadget player on Oklahoma’s high-scoring offense and have a chance to return kickoffs and punts. However, we project Bowman to carve out a role in the Sooners’ secondary. He’s an explosive athlete with game-breaking abilities. He should be a difference-maker before long in Norman.
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Tunmise Adeleye backs off his Ohio State pledge
Tunmise Adeleye has created a few splashes during an unconventional year. The first came in April when the newly minted five-star defensive end pledged to Ohio State over Florida and Alabama. The other surprise came a few months later when Adeleye backed off his Ohio State commitment and emerged as a priority target for a trio of SEC teams trying to close out their 2021 classes.
When Adeleye committed to Ohio State, he said he was fulfilling a vision that he had for years. Now, considering Alabama, Florida and Texas A&M, Adeleye is weighing factors like statewide and national recruiting, opportunities to compete for conference and national championships and comparing and contrasting different relationships with three coaching staffs.
Adeleye has a chance to gift-wrap Alabama the No. 1 recruiting class in the country or possibly lift Florida or the Aggies into the top five or 10, respectively. All eyes will be on the Katy, Texas, native as the Early Signing Period approaches.
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Kendal Daniels chooses Aggies, not Sooners
Very rarely do the Sooners miss on the home state’s top prospect. For context, it has happened only five times over the past 15-plus years - and only once under Lincoln Riley’s watch. However, should all commitments hold up through the Early Signing Period, Kendal Daniels is another Oklahoma native set to buck the trend.
Daniels made a commitment to Texas A&M over Oklahoma in the midst of this offseason plagued by COVID-19. Sources indicated Daniels made a trip from Beggs, Okla., down to College Station, Tex., to get a closer look at the schools and his mind was made up just a few weeks later. Clemson and LSU were also contenders, but neither program was able to get the Rivals250 safety on campus in the current climate.
Daniels is on track to join the likes of Dax Hill, Josh Wariboko, Josh Turner, Calvin Barnett and Robert Meachem (to name a throwback) as Oklahoma’s top-ranked prospects to head out of state. Daniels is a hybrid safety/linebacker that can cover, and he brings a ton of physicality to the defensive side of the ball.
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Mike Leach plucks talent out of Texas and The Boot
Three-star Lucedale (Miss.) George County athlete MJ Daniels is one of eight in-state commitments for Mike Leach as he pieces together his first full recruiting cycle as the head coach of Mississippi State. While we anticipated a good helping of talent from Mississippi to be included, perhaps we overlooked Leach’s overall presence across the Mid-South.
Leach, who made a name for himself as the architect of those legendary Texas Tech offenses, has a ton of ties to Texas and he capitalized on that with three commitments from the Lone Star State in this 2021 class. That includes a pair of quarterbacks, including Rivals250 two-sport standout Sawyer Robertson, in addition to Rivals250 wide receiver Theodore Knox, who picked the Bulldogs over Texas, Texas A&M, TCU and Baylor.
Leach wasn’t done there, either. Mississippi State also held off LSU for four-star Louisiana wide receiver Malik Nabers, who picked State over Kentucky and Georgia in the summer. Many felt an offer from the in-state Tigers would sway Nabers to go in another direction, but credit Leach and ace assistant Mason Smith for keeping the wideout in the fold.
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David Abiara is still committed … to Notre Dame?
Believe it or not, but David Abiara - who committed to Notre Dame on March 27 - remains a part of the Irish’s 2021 recruiting class as Thanksgiving quickly approaches.
Originally, in the spring, Abiara flirted with the idea of committing to Oklahoma or Texas before ultimately picking the Irish. Over the course of a long offseason, rumors popped up connecting the three-star Mansfield (Texas) Legacy defensive end to Oklahoma, Texas and even SMU. However, against all odds, Abiara never strayed away from his commitment and it’s becoming more and more likely that Notre Dame signs the 6-foot-4, 250-pounder as early as next month.
There’s still time left in this 2021 cycle, and based on the reports out of north Texas other options remain in play. For a prospect that doesn’t do many interviews and isn’t too active on social media, the rumor mill was swirling - and it appeared to be much ado about nothing.