Take Two: Will Demond Demas stick with Texas A&M?
Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling an issue in the college football landscape. Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com national recruiting director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites or a regional analyst.
MORE TAKE TWO: What direction should Arkansas take with its search?
THE STORYLINE
Demond Demas is a five-star receiver who’s been committed to Texas A&M since September of his junior season.
The Houston (Texas) Tomball standout is ranked second nationally at receiver behind only Ohio State commit Julian Fleming. He’s big, athletic and special. Demas could be an immediate game-changer for the Aggies’ offense.
So it came as a little bit of a surprise this past weekend when Demas took a visit to Oklahoma, which is loaded at receiver, has one of the best offenses nationally and was one of the front-runners in Demas’ recruitment before he made his pledge.
Playing for Lincoln Riley could be attractive. Playing in that Oklahoma offense could be attractive. Playing for a team that is routinely in the hunt for the College Football Playoff could be attractive.
The five-star receiver has tweeted that he will be back in College Station this weekend, a good sign for A&M to keep Demas in this class.
Will Demas flip to Oklahoma or possibly another program, or will he stay in Texas A&M’s class as signing day gets closer?
FIRST TAKE: SAM SPIEGELMAN, TEXAS & LOUISIANA ANALYST
“The visit to Oklahoma is surprising, to a degree, because Demas has been locked in with Texas A&M for well over a year and consistently stands behind that commitment despite the ups and downs of the Aggies’ season, and hits and misses on the recruiting trail. In the spring, Demas confirmed how solid he is to the Aggies and insisted they will win a title when he’s there, but acknowledged he still talks with programs. At the time, it was Alabama and Ohio State.
“Oklahoma has had a ton of success recruiting players on the offensive side of the ball, and in particular, receivers. Just look at their haul in 2019. Demas explored Oklahoma and would be an obviously colossal get for Lincoln Riley, but I do not expect him to flip at all. But, wouldn’t it be very Demond Demas to shock the world with something before he signs?”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, NATIONAL RECRUITING DIRECTOR
“It’s hard to turn down Oklahoma but it wasn’t a great game as an example of what Demas could possibly do there. Trejan Bridges caught a touchdown and he sees the young wide receiver talent there so for a kid like that you don’t know if it’s, ‘Hey, I want to be a part of that or I don’t want to wait.’
“He’s going to go to Texas A&M. He’s been recruiting so hard for A&M for so long and he’s been promoting himself as an Aggie for so long that something would have to go really wrong with his relationship with the coaches. With Demas, you just don’t know, but my bet is he sticks with his commitment.”