Despite most of the sports world being shut down due to COVID-19, recruiting never sleeps and has continued on for Tom Herman. The pandemic has affected the 2021 cycle no doubt, but the same schools are at the top of the rankings again.
In the Big 12, Texas is still the top overall class in the conference. The Longhorns have six commits at the moment, all from inside the state of Texas. Here are the commits and their rating according to the 247Sports Composite:
- Ja’Tavion Sanders ATH, Five-star
- Billy Bowman ATH, Four-star
- Jalen Milroe QB, Four-star
- Derrick Harris Jr. OLB, Four-star
- Hayden Conner OT, Four-star
- Juan Davis ATH, Three-star
To go along with these six players, Texas is also expected to land two highly rated brothers on the offensive line. Tommy Brockermeyer is a five-star offensive tackle, while his brother James comes in as a four-star center. Holding off a push from Alabama, the twins have a family history of playing on the Forty Acres.
Looking past the Longhorns, the top five in the Big 12 rounds out with West Virginia, Iowa State, Baylor, and Kansas State. A glaring omission is Oklahoma, who currently sit seventh in the conference.
From a national perspective, the Big 12 as a whole is struggling. Only two teams from the conference rank inside the top 20, with Texas being the highest at 16th overall. Some non-traditional big-time recruiting programs such as North Carolina, Minnesota, Maryland, Iowa, and Rutgers currently rank ahead of the entire Big 12.
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