Tag: David Hicks

6 players or recruits at Texas A&M with ties to the Oregon Ducks

Transfer Portal season is approaching. Here’s a look at the players on the Texas A&M roster with ties to the Oregon Ducks.

We are deep into the month of November, which means the coaching carousel in the world of college football has started to turn. One of the first big firings took place this past weekend with Jimbo Fisher being let go by the Texas A&M Aggies.

While many fans and media members quickly started to speculate about whether Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning would consider leaving Eugene for College Station, others started to question which players and former Lanning recruits the Ducks would try to pull to Oregon via the transfer portal.

Now that Lanning disavowed any rumors vehemently on Monday night, we can whole-heartedly look at players on the Aggies roster and their current recruiting class to see which guys have ties to Oregon. There’s absolutely no guarantee any of them decide to leave Texas A&M, but in today’s age of college football, it’s become almost commonplace that players start to look elsewhere when a coaching staff that recruited them is removed.

So which players at Texas A&M might start looking at the Ducks once again? Here’s a look:

Can the Oklahoma Sooners land another top five class in 2024?

The Sooners’ staff are working to get another top five class under their belt but can it be done?

[autotag]Oklahoma Sooners[/autotag] fans woke up Sunday morning with big smiles on their faces. The team closed on a five-star defensive lineman.

Now, people forget the staff signed Adeboju Adebawore last year, but if you ask Sooner fans, you’d think they can’t land anyone, and the coaches aren’t doing a good job.

People only remember the misses such as [autotag]David Hicks[/autotag] and [autotag]Williams Nwaneri[/autotag] (TBD). They forget the Sooners wouldn’t even be in those battles if it wasn’t for [autotag]Todd Bates[/autotag], [autotag]Miguel Chavis[/autotag], and, of course, [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag].

On Saturday night, they received the great news that five-star [autotag]David Stone[/autotag], the No. 6 player in the nation, is coming back home.

With the commitment of Stone, the Sooners vaulted to No. 10 in Rivals‘ team rankings, No. 13 in 247Sports‘ rankings and No. 14 in On3‘s team rankings. Can the Sooners land another top-five class two years in a row?

The answer isn’t one people will be satisfied with, but it is possible. A lot of things would have to go their way. Some notable commitments Sooner fans are waiting for are [autotag]Dominick McKinley[/autotag], [autotag]Nigel Smith II[/autotag], [autotag]Brayden Platt[/autotag], [autotag]Grant Brix[/autotag] and [autotag]Danny Okoye[/autotag].

Oklahoma is a finalist for McKinley and Platt, but neither appear heading the Sooners’ way. Now, Oklahoma has shocked people come decision day as recently as Jayden Jackson this summer.

If Oklahoma lands Smith II, Brix and Okoye without any other schools getting commitments, the Sooners would pass the Alabama Crimson Tide for fourth in 247Sports team rankings. That would solidify a top-five class. However, assuming Alabama or other schools in the top 10 don’t add players is unlikely with four months remaining until the early signing period.

The rankings will change throughout the fall. But Oklahoma has to close on those three to give it a chance at a top-five class.

Smith II plans to announce on Sept. 8 and is deciding between Oklahoma and the Texas A&M Aggies.

Brix hasn’t set a date, but it could happen any day. Oklahoma, the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Kansas State Wildcats are the final three.

Okoye hasn’t set a date yet either. Many think Oklahoma has a good chance of landing him. If I had to bet right now, I’d bet Oklahoma lands in that 7-9 range, which is still a really good class.

It’s no secret since coming to Norman, Brent Venables and his staff have shown you can recruit at a high level on both sides of the ball. No matter what a previous coach made you believe.

They now have to work to close a class that will be the first to play their entire career in the [autotag]SEC[/autotag].

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Uncommitted five-star prospects include three Sooners targets

Sooners are in the running for three of the top nine uncommitted players, can they close on them?

The [autotag]Oklahoma Sooners[/autotag] saw a red-hot July and early August for recruiting. But with the most recent loss of the No. 1 player in the country, [autotag]Williams Nwaneri[/autotag], Sooner faithful are on the edge of their seats on how the rest of this class will play out.

The Sooners are currently in play for three of On3’s top nine five-star uncommitted players. Those players are [autotag]Terry Bussey[/autotag], [autotag]David Stone[/autotag], and [autotag]Dominick McKinley[/autotag].

Stone is the first one of the trio that is set to make his announcement. He’s long been thought to be an Oklahoma lean, but lately, the [autotag]Miami Hurricanes[/autotag] are making a push.

After losing Nwaneri and [autotag]David Hicks[/autotag] the year before, the Sooners are still looking for their first five-star defensive linemen win with the new regime. But it’s not just the Hurricanes the Sooners are fighting off.

Many have penciled in David Stone to Oklahoma’s 2024 recruiting class for about two years. The Sooners could still be that choice, but others have asserted themselves in this race as contenders. A decision is coming on Aug. 26, live on ESPN during IMG Academy’s game against St. Joseph’s Prep (Pa.) and it is coming down to Miami, Michigan State and Oklahoma. There is still some level of confidence in each office, but Miami may be the biggest competition for Oklahoma less than two weeks out. There was a time (or two) that Stone was close to committing to the Spartans too, so you cannot rule Mel Tucker‘s program out just yet. – Chad Simmons, On3

It’ll be an interesting week, and it just feels like Oklahoma really needs a win here.

Next up is [autotag]Dominick McKinley[/autotag]. He’s another five-star defensive lineman who has long felt like a long shot for Oklahoma.

Then things started surfacing that it might be down to Oklahoma and the Texas Longhorns. But now it seems like Texas has stopped any strides Oklahoma has made.

Dominick McKinley continues to keeps his contenders close to the vest. In and around McKinley’s circle, much of the conversation has continued to center around three teams: Texas, LSU, and Oklahoma. But Ohio State remains a legitimate dark horse contender for the elite big man. He has maintained lines of communication with each of his finalists, including Texas A&M. LSU got him on campus at the end of July for a visit, and they continue to push for the No. 1 player in the state. But Oklahoma and Texas both check a lot of boxes and the most buzz around their names right now. With exactly two weeks to go, a lot can still play out with this one. – Simmons, On3

McKinley is someone Oklahoma fans shouldn’t get their hopes up for. He’s set to commit on Sept. 1, 2023.

Someone who is also in that same boat is Bussey. Bussey enjoyed his visit to Oklahoma in June but has long been thought to be a Texas A&M Aggies lean.

Terry Bussey, the do-it-all playmaker from Timpson (Texas) High will choose from LSU, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Texas and Alabama on September 28. The Aggies have been trending on the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine for a good chunk of the past year, and there was a sense that the team could close with the state’s No. 5 overall recruit and top priority target in this cycle after his visit back to campus last month. LSU and Alabama have come on strong this summer though, and Bussey will take official visits to both programs before his late-September decision. If there is a team poised to give Texas A&M some run it might just be LSU. – Simmons, On3

Bussey cancelled his most recent trip to Oklahoma which seemed to end any momentum Oklahoma gained. But Oklahoma did make his top five before his commitment date. So, as Lloyd Christmas once said, “so, you’re telling me there’s a chance.”

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In new era of the transfer portal, Dan Lanning knows that relationships are king

In this new world of the transfer portal, building and maintaining relationships can pay off down the road. Nobody knows that as well as Dan Lanning.

By almost any measure, the Oregon Ducks had an incredibly successfully year when it comes to recruiting in the 2023 cycle. They finished with the No. 8 class in the nation, the second-highest-rated class the school has ever seen, and they had the top-ranked class in the Pac-12 for the fifth consecutive year.. Considering that this all took place in Dan Lanning’s first full year on the job, that’s pretty impressive.

And to be completely honest, it could have been a lot better as well.

The Ducks signed one 5-star player in 2023 — WR Jurrion Dickey — but they were incredibly close to landing a handful of others. Take QB Dante Moore, or DL David Hicks, for example. Or look at ATH Nyckoles Harbor, or S Peyton Bowen, or RB Richard Young. All of those teams had the Ducks among their top 2 or 3 schools before making a decision. Moore flipped to UCLA; Hicks chose Texas A&M; Harbor committed to South Carolina. Bowen actually chose the Ducks, but hours later changed his mind and flipped to Oklahoma.

The point is that Lanning and his team were in the hunt for a lot of these players, but couldn’t quite close down the stretch.

Many may see that as a negative, but if you want to wake up this morning and choose to be an optimist, you can easily see the silver lining in it all.

In today’s world of college football where the transfer portal is incredibly prevalent, a lot of players end up having multiple recruitments, and multiple commitments. After starting their college careers at one place, sometimes they find that it doesn’t suit them — whether it be the culture or the amount of playing time that they’re getting — and another school might fit them better. In the cases where that does happen, schools — and coaches — with the best relationships with those players often jump to the front of the line in the second round of recruiting.

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A perfect example of this is South Carolina defensive end Jordan Burch transferring to Oregon this offseason. Burch, a former 5-star DE, was recruited heavily out of high school, and one of the schools he strongly considered was the Georgia Bulldogs, with Lanning leading the charge.

The Bulldogs didn’t end up getting Burch, but Lanning had that relationship built, and it ended up paying off a couple of years down the road.

“I think that it just shows that you never know when a relationship might go full circle,” Lanning said when talking to media members on Signing Day. “I know his work ethic, I know his demeanor and his approach and having a strong relationship. You know, four years ago, you never realize it’s gonna pay off down the road and come full circle like I said, but then it gives us a chance to be better. I’m really excited about him being here.”

Might this be the start of a trend that we see take place at Oregon?

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Take someone like Hicks, who was rated by 247Sports as the No. 7 player and No. 1 DL in the 2023 class. He developed a great relationship with Lanning, and took multiple visits to Eugene over the course of his recruitment. My sources from within the program tell me that he really wanted to commit to the Ducks, but in the end, a push from his family to stay closer to home at Texas A&M ended up winning out.

What if he doesn’t like College Station as much as he thought, and decides to enter the transfer portal a year or two down the road? What’s stopped the Ducks from being the favorite to land him should that happen?

Of course, none of this matters unless the highly-rated players that Oregon missed on end up entering the transfer portal. But should that happen, and these guys end up looking for a new home down the road, I like where the Ducks stand.

Why?

Because Dan Lanning knows that in the world of recruiting, relationships are king.

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Highlights, 2 standouts and 4 commitments from the 2023 Under Armour All-America Game

On Tuesday in Orlando over 100 of the top Senior football players from around the country played in the 2023 Under Armour All-America Game.

On Tuesday in Orlando, over 100 of the top Senior football players from around the country played in the 2023 Under Armour All-America Game.

The game was interesting not just because of the action on the field, but some notable recruiting news also happened while it was going on. Here are some highlights, two standouts and four notable commitments during the game.

Edgewater (Fla.) 5-star RB Cedric Baxter Jr.

This matchup was mostly a defensive slugfest, with Team Phantom beating out Team Speed 14-7. Nevertheless, a few offensive skill players did manage to stand out. The first of them to make an impression was Edgewater (Fla.) five-star running back Cedric Baxter Jr., who scored the first touchdown of the game by bouncing this 13-yard run outside and into the end zone.

Baxter is the composite ranking No. 1 running back in the class of 2023 and has signed his letter of intent with Texas.

Bishop Gorman (Nev.) 5-star WR/KR Zachariah Branch

The play of the day was this thrilling 93-yard punt return from Bishop Gorman (Nev.) wide receiver/kick returner Zachariah Branch.

Branch is ranked as the No. 1 wide receiver in this class and was named MVP for his efforts. He has signed his letter of intent with USC.

Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold, Texas A&M DL David Hicks and unsigned Athlete Nyckoles Harbor were among the other players who drew recognition for their performance during the week leading up to the game.

In the recruiting department, four prospects made their college decisions:

Cy Ranch (Texas) 4-star DL Ashton Porter: Signed with Oregon

Porter (6-foot-3, 255 pounds) joins a strong 2023 class for the Ducks, which ranks just outside the top 10 in the country. He had offers from 33 other programs, including Michigan State, Northwestern and Texas.

St. Frances Academy (Md.) 3-star RB Durrell Robinson: Committed to Charlotte

Robinson (6-foot-0, 195 pounds) committed to the Charlotte 49ers. He is ranked No. 51 at his position and No. 12 overall in the state of Maryland. He had 22 offers, including one from the Terrapins.

IMG Academy (Fla.) 4-star EDGE Cameron Lenhardt: Signed with Nebraska

The biggest prize of the night went to the Cornhuskers in the form of Lenhardt (6-foot-3, 250 pounds), who is ranked No. 56 overall in Florida and No. 37 at his position. Lenhardt chose Nebraska over 16 other schools.

Roswell (Ga.) 3-star CB Ethan Nation: Signed with Nebraska

New head coach Matt Rhule got another recruiting win by signing Nation (5-foot-10, 165 pounds). Nation had a remarkable 50 other offers to choose from, including one from Alabama.

With these two on board, Nebraska’s 2023 recruiting class is now up to No. 31 in the country.

More recruiting stories

Texas A&M flips 4-star WR from Georgia

Basha’s 4-star QB commits to Ole Miss

Oklahoma Sooners included in top 10 for 5-star DT David Stone

Oklahoma Sooners make top 10 for 2024 five-star defensive tackle David Stone.

Just a day after the Oklahoma Sooners more than likely put the finishing touches on signing their 2023 recruiting class, the Sooners received some encouraging news about one of the top 2024 guys in Oklahoma native David Stone.

Stone, a five-star defensive tackle in the 2024 class, released his top 10 schools on Friday afternoon.

The Sooners made the cut along with the Michigan State Spartans, USC Trojans, LSU Tigers, Texas A&M Aggies, Oregon Ducks, Tennessee Volunteers, Florida Gators, Miami Hurricanes, and Alabama Crimson Tide.

Oklahoma has formed a good relationship with Stone. Todd Bates’ reputation as a leader, mentor, and developmental expert who can put players in the NFL, gives Oklahoma an excellent chance here.

When looking at the rest of the field, the competition is stiff. Michigan State has positioned itself well and has already secured Stone’s last official visit per a report by Chad Simmons of On3. The Spartans pulled another Oklahoma native in the 2023 cycle, Bai Jobe.

USC has former Oklahoma defensive line coach Calvin Thibodeaux recruiting Stone hard. It was Thibodeaux’s relationship with Stone when the former was in Norman that has USC still in contention. Texas A&M and Alabama can’t be ignored as they sign five-star defensive linemen every year now and Stone will be heavily pursued by the Sooners’ future SEC goes..

Oklahoma just signed two five-star defenders to their 2023 class. It’s the first time they brought in a five-star defender since Caleb Kelly in 2016. They have yet to sign a five-star defensive tackle in over a decade and despite finishing in the top two for Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy and David Hicks, the Sooners still are empty-handed in that department. Both went to Texas A&M. Stone gives the Sooners a shot to break the streak.

Stones’ timeline as it stands all but guarantees there may be another cut down of teams to a top five sometime around the summer and then visits will start.

With Stone being at the top of Oklahoma’s recruiting big board for 2024, we’ll be monitoring his recruitment here at Sooners Wire.

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Texas could maul opponents in the trenches next season

Texas should own the line of scrimmage in 2023.

Texas returns a host of talent on the line of scrimmage next season. As a result, the Longhorns could impose their will on Big 12 opponents.

Multiple returning players made a huge impact up front as early as the Alabama game. Kelvin Banks neutralized Alabama pass rushers, while T’Vondre Sweat wreaked havoc defensively in the middle.

The fun continued into the Red River game where Texas lines had success on both sides of the football. The Longhorns’ front should continue to own the trenches next season.

Offensive line coach Kyle Flood is set to return at least four starting offensive linemen. Should Christian Jones return from a strong campaign the Longhorns would have all five linemen return. Cam Williams and Devon Campbell are primed to start should Jones depart for the NFL.

T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy would counter the losses of Keondre Coburn and Moro Ojomo at defensive tackle. On the outside, Barryn Sorrell could be on the verge of All-Big 12 recognition.

Here’s a look at impact players who could return for Texas offensive and defensive lines.

5-star DL David Hicks announces college commitment

5-star David Hicks Jr., the No. 1 DL in the 2023 class, announced his college commitment on Friday.

The Oregon Ducks were in the running down until the final days, and while it seemed like Dan Lanning might be able to pull off another massive flip from a 5-star prospect, in the end, David Hicks ended up staying put and signing with the Texas A&M Aggies on Friday.

Hicks, the No. 1 DL in the 2023 class, has been committed to Texas A&M since September of 2022, but he had taken a total of four visits to Eugene over the past year, including two in the past month. There’s a belief that he badly wanted to play for Lanning and the Ducks, but pressures to stay closer to home ultimately won out in the end.

Despite the inability to land Hicks, Oregon is still sitting pretty after the early signing period, securing the No. 11 class in the nation with the addition of 5-star EDGE Matayo Uiagalelei on Wednesday, and the signing of 5-star WR Jurrion Dickey. The Ducks briefly got 5-star S Peyton Bowen to flip from Notre Dame to Oregon on Wednesday, but he later announced on Thursday that he would be flipping to the Oklahoma Sooners, who were also in play for Hicks.

David Hicks’ Recruiting Profile

5 takeaways from the first two days of the early signing period for the Oklahoma Sooners

Peyton Bowen signs with the Sooners. Oklahoma has a top-five class. 5 takeaways from the first two days of the early signing period.

The early signing period for the Oklahoma Sooners has been, in one way, unremarkable and, in another way, utterly insane.

Oklahoma signed every single recruit they had committed prior to December 21. No one jumped ship even after a 6-6 season which was far and away the worst season Oklahoma has had in years. Everyone remained committed, and the Sooners even added guys along the way.

Outside of that, they waited on decisions from four-star [autotag]Tausili Akana[/autotag] and five-star safety [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag]. Oklahoma missed on Akana, who committed to the Texas Longhorns, but landed Bowen after one of the more wild recruiting sagas in recent years.

They didn’t land Bowen at first, who flipped from Notre Dame to Oregon at the signing event in his hometown of Denton. We’ll unpack that later.

Nonetheless, barring another five-star surprise from [autotag]David Hicks[/autotag], Oklahoma may not anyone else until national signing day in February. Unless it’s via the transfer portal.

Here are five takeaways from the first two days of the early signing period.

Thoughts on Ohio State’s disappointing early signing period results

It might have seemed like this was a bad day, but it wasn’t all bad #GoBucks

We all know how yesterday went, in the short term the Buckeyes looked very much like one of the losers of the day. Not only did they not get a verbal from either of the two 5-star prospects they were finalists for, [autotag]Matayo Uiagalelei [/autotag] or [autotag]Damon Wilson[/autotag], they lost [autotag]Kayin Lee[/autotag] as he flipped to [autotag]Auburn[/autotag].

To make matters worse, defensive back commit [autotag]Jayden Bonsu[/autotag] is still in the air, having tweeted he signed but no indication with who, [autotag]Miami (FL)[/autotag] being the other potential choice. Oh and transfer tackle [autotag]Ajani Cornelius[/autotag] chose Oregon over the Buckeyes as well.

It might have seemed like the sky was falling, but that’s not all that we can take away from the start to the early signing period. Find out what I thought about this disappointment and direction of [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] Football.

(Edit: as of 8:32 a.m. it has been reported by multiple outlets that Bonsu has officially signed with Ohio State)

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