Which Big 12 teams will be most impacted by dead period?
The ongoing NCAA recruiting dead period has eliminated in-person contact and campus visits for college coaches and prospective student-athletes, and it’s ramifications are hitting college football programs across the country.
To be fair, the dead period is hurting some schools more than others. We examine the landscape of college football recruiting in the Big 12 and which teams are being hit the most and the least by this shutdown.
MORE: What Big Ten teams will be most affected? | SEC? | Pac-12
MOST IMPACTED
KANSAS
Kansas made the most of a difficult situation as the recruiting staff quickly used technology and social media to host a virtual junior day for its top-25 prospects that would have normally made plans to be in Lawrence for the weekend. The event featured TikTok and video chats with members of the coaching staff, including Les Miles, as well as campus tours and close-up looks at some of the campuses’ lesser-known features. That’s already translated to a commitment from the state’s top running back, Devin Neal, who credited the virtual junior day for compelling him to make that call.
OKLAHOMA STATE
Oklahoma State was one of a handful of teams generating some buzz during February’s RCS stop in Houston. The Cowboys were one of the talks of the town as several prospects were anxiously awaiting visits this spring to get better acquainted with the coaches and the campus after receiving offers following their junior campaigns.
Some of the prospects impacted were three-star Oklahoma athlete Rejhan Tatum and Texas three-stars Jonathon Brooks and Ben Postma all mentioned possible visits to Oklahoma State at some point in the spring, but because of the coronavirus recruiting shutdown, those are opportunities indefinitely put on hold.
IOWA STATE
Iowa State was able to scoop up a commitment from its quarterback of the future in Austin’s Charles Wright right before this dead period, but the team has been less lucky with its recruiting efforts elsewhere. The Cyclones have been able to get a handful of targets on campus, but more pressing is the bevy of prospects across the region had spring visits planned to Ames, a group that includes three-star Missouri defensive lineman Howard Brown set to visit April 11-12; Illinois outside linebacker Tyler McLaurin on March 27-28 and Chicago three-star safety Benjamin Perry, who was inching closer to a decision.
LEAST IMPACTED
TEXAS
Tom Herman already has one of the best 2021 classes in the works at Texas, a crop headlined by Rivals100 talents like Billy Bowman Jr., Ja’Tavion Sanders and Jalen Milroe — all of whom hail from the Lone Star State. There’s no shortage of elite talent in Texas for the 2021 class and the Longhorns are heavily in the mix for the majority of said prospects. That’s a testament to the staff’s ability to get a slew of players on-campus already this spring.
Milroe returned to meet with new offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. Five-stars Bryce Foster and Camar Wheaton made a visit to Austin earlier this spring and Rivals100 running back LJ Johnson stopped by in January. Rivals250 receivers Latrell Neville and JoJo Earle were each on campus and so were highly touted in-state defensive linemen like Landon Jackson, Shemar Turner, Marcus Burris and Jordon Thomas.
Others like tight end Landen King, Elijah Arroyo, Hayden Conner, Matt Wykoff, Derrick Harris Jr., Terrence Cooks, Hunter Washington, Ishmael Ibraheem, JD Coffey and Isaiah Nwokobia have also been through for visits.
OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma is one of the national powers that had a bit of success getting elite talent on campus before the coronavirus shutdown. Foster and Wheaton have both been on campus — Foster on two separate occasions — as well as Rivals100 cornerback Latrell McCutchin, Rivals250 offensive tackle Reueben Fatheree and three-stars Andrew Mukubua and Terrence Cooks. More interesting to note is that McCutchin backed off his longtime Alabama commitment while in Norman.
Adding a cherry on, Lincoln Riley and co. threw up the Bat Signal on March 22, signaling a new commitment for the Sooners. While it has yet to go public, there’s some reason to believe it could be good news involving a certain five-star quarterback.
TCU
TCU has remained in the headlines even after during the dead period. While there hasn’t been a flurry of commitments, Gary Patterson’s squad has received some positive headlines with some in-state prospects like Rivals250 running back Brandon Campbell, who named the Horned Frogs as a finalist, and three-star linebacker D’Marion Alexander, who included TCU in his top four.
Additionally, the TCU coaching staff has plenty of important shoes to fill as they look to improve the depth behind center in the coming years. One of those options is German quarterback commitment Alexander Honig, who made his way to the States and to Fort Worth at the beginning of the month to affirm his pledge before taking home QB MVP honors at RCS New Orleans.