Teams moving on Taye Barber as top WR option

Cypress, Texas, athlete Taye Barber has seen his recruitment quickly pick up steam over the past few weeks - and with good reason.

This upcoming season he’ll be focused on playing wide receiver and safety for Cypress Springs and is expected to be a dynamic playmaker at both positions. Perhaps that’s why his stock has seen a rise as of late and he’s picked up recent offers from Minnesota and Iowa State.

Last Sunday in a scrimmage event with his Fast 7v7 team, Barber was one of the biggest standouts among the four teams participating in games - and looked every bit the part of a natural at wide receiver.

New offers aside, some more regional teams have played a more significant role in his recruitment. He said that TCU’s offer from the end of last month was a big one, and he’s interested in rekindling his relationship with Oklahoma State, who gave him his first offer.

“Both teams utilize their slot receivers a lot so I like that,” he said. “They put them in space and let them do what they do.”

On TCU

“I was just happy to get that offer,” he said. “They’ve stuck with me the whole time. (Paul Gonzales) has always kept it real with me. He said they were going to offer me and that’s what he did when I got up there.”

“The way they’ve recruited me so far has been very important,” he said. “Coaches just come and go, so I just want a coach that will keep it real with me through the whole process.”

On Oklahoma State

“That offer meant a lot to me because they were the first ones to believe in me and get everything jumping,” he said. “Coach (Marcus) Arroyo left for Oregon, so I just want to build a relationship with my next recruiting coach from Oklahoma State.”

“They’ve reached out to me - Coach (Kasey) Dunn and (Mike Yurcich) have,” he said. “They want me to stay with them, they still like me and they want me to go there real bad.”

On Houston

“They’ve been stressing to me to keep in touch with them,” he said. “They said they’re still going to stick out the process with me no matter what happens.”

“My relationship with Coach (Major) Applewhite is real good,” he said. “He tells me things are going to keep going, and they’re going to take things to another level. I’m just trying to see how things go with them next season and take this whole process slow.”

Even though it was just a scrimmage in a 7-on-7 setting, Barber put on an impressive show with his elusiveness, explosiveness, and ability to make catches downfield and occasionally in one-handed fashion. Defensively, he’ll share the secondary with four-star teammate Leon O’Neal next season, and the expectation of picking off a few passes is reasonable after seeing his natural ball-hawking abilities.

Now that he’s zeroed-in on a future at wide receiver and teams have seemingly done the same in regards to his recruitment, his finding a comfortable fit over the summer will weigh heavy as he said he’ll look to make a commitment sometime after next season starts.