Oklahoma State University Athletics
Quoting Mike Gundy on the 2012 Signing Class
February 01, 2012 | Cowboy Football
Feb. 1, 2012
General thoughts on the class:
"Each year I've continued to say that I thought we were able to fill spots in our recruiting class to continue to develop our program and get better. This was the most difficult year that I've had, or we've had as a staff, since I've been around Oklahoma State football of trying to find a way to fit more players and more student-athletes that could continue with what we've started here at Oklahoma State than spots that we've had."
On the OSU staff's recruiting:
"This is the best recruiting staff that we've had here since I've been here as an assistant coach or as a head coach, by far. They do an unbelievable job of evaluating. Recruiting is persistence. At some point it's not accepting "no", to continue to push forward and do it in the right way, in a classy way where in the end if you do this you can go back into that school the next year. These guys have done a great job. Recruiting has changed over the years. In January the head coach used to go in and be involved in a home visit and try and sway a player from going to one school or the other and I was in on maybe two of those this year. In the past, you would be in on 15 or 20. The majority of our recruiting is complete, maybe 75 percent of it is complete now by the time we start the season. When the contact period starts after our bowl games, when the coaches go out and the head coach goes out, 95 percent of our class is completed. So that is done by our assistant coaches who do a great job out there of evaluating. Not only them as an athlete, but as a person. Our pool has grown and gotten much larger over the last few years and even this year more so than ever with the success that we've had on the field and in the classroom and the continuity with our staff and our players."
On current players contributing to recruiting process:
"I've always said that our current team - the players that are on our team now - are by far our best recruiters because when young men come to our campus, our players tell them you should come to school at Oklahoma State. It's not that way everywhere else in the country. We've had young men visits that would say, or we would say in a sit-down meeting with them and their family what about certain schools and it never ceases to amaze me that some of them will say, 'well I was thinking about going there but the players told me not to come there'. That's a problem, a small problem, and I can't imagine being an assistant coach and putting 18 months into a young man and then the players get him on campus and say I wouldn't come here if I were you. So we feel like our players are our best recruiters. They are happy at Oklahoma State, they trust and have relationships with our coaches, they believe in our system, they are having success in the classroom and they are having success on the football field. So for that reason, we were able to come up with a great class."
The priority of academics and character in recruiting:
"This is the highest-rated academic class that we have brought in. We believe that college football each year is moving towards smarter football players and guys that have football intelligence and know how to handle themselves, take care of their business both on and off the field which creates less distractions for our football team. You have 130 players on your team and our goal is to get them all moving in the same direction and a player who has a great talent level that is a distraction to the team can bring you down much quicker than getting guys that are maximizing their talent level even though it may not be a potential NFL talent. So by bringing in a quality class like this we feel like these young men have some substance in their background. They have some character, some values and skill there. They understand the big picture.
Our coaching staff is convinced that the character and the continuity of our organization is the reason that we are winning and having success. That gives us the ability to replace quality young men that have come through our program and been what we would think are great players here who are graduated and moving on out there in the real world whether in a professional field or in the NFL."
On DT Calvin Barnett:
"Calvin Barnett is a defensive tackle from Navarro who was at Booker T. (Washington) that we tried to get a couple years ago that we lost on signing day. We continued to recruit him, let things fall by the wayside and didn't take it personal, worked hard at it and were able to get him in this signing class. He is already on campus now and we are looking forward to him helping us out inside."
On TE Blake Jackson:
"Blake Jackson is tight end from Scottsdale Community College. It is kind of ironic that our training facility for the Fiesta Bowl was where he went to school and he is a 6-foot-4, 230 lb. inside receiver/tight end who can do both. He ought to be able to put his hand on the ground and block and then he ought to be able to split out and catch the ball a lot like what Brandon Pettigrew did for us. Blake has tested out very well. He was 4.68 or something in the 40 and already benching over 300 lbs. and really catches the ball. He's got good movement in the open field so we are excited about him."
On QB Wes Lunt:
"Wes Lunt is the quarterback from Illinois and Coach Monken had a relationship with the people up there. We were able to get him and he's shown up. It seems like he has acclimated himself well to our team. He measured out really well - 6-4 ish, 205. He ran well. His 10-yard movement drills were good. His bench press is good. Arm span, arm strength, all those things - really good. So we are excited about what he brings to the table."
On LB Jeremiah Tshimanga:
"Jeremiah Tshimanga may have been the most impressive guy that we have had come in from a measurement standpoint. He came in at 232 lbs., he vertical-jumped 38 inches, which is rolling it up there pretty good for a guy 230-something pounds. He bench-pressed 325 pounds already and he should just be in the spring of his high school year, so that gives you an example of the type of players that we are bringing in here. We are very excited about what those guys bring to the table."
On the in-state signees:
"We have a nice class of Oklahoma guys this year. I have said this many times in the last couple years that Oklahoma players have been great for us. I think that we are finding that they are not only here at Oklahoma State but in our league. Guys that are coming out of Oklahoma are doing very well. Some of the big-name players we've had on our team that have produced for us and helped us win all these games the last few years are from Oklahoma. We were able to pick up three guys from Oklahoma. The player of the year for the state of Oklahoma, Kevin Peterson from Wagoner, is a defensive back/corner/kick returner for us. It is kind of unique how the situation happened. Originally we weren't going to take a guy at that position. We only get 85 scholarships; we have to break them down numbers-wise by certain positions to make everything work. Sometimes we don't have a position and then we have guys that are on our board that are rated so high that if you get a spot at any time you need to go after them and take them, because they give you an opportunity to win games and you've got to find a way to make the numbers work at a later date. A good example of that is you see an NFL team in the draft maybe take a running back with the third pick and they didn't need a running back and that running back is rated so high that they couldn't pass the guy up, so that's what we felt we had with Kevin. He brings a lot to the table so we are excited about him being a part of our team.
"We have a running back from Madill, Caleb Muncrief, and a running back is another position that we weren't sure if we were going to take one or not. So the way the numbers kind of fell late, we ended up with a spot there that we thought he fit what we needed in our offense and we liked him all along. Coach Singleton stayed in touch with him from start to finish and then we decided that he was a guy we thought fit in this class the way the numbers worked out so he is a really good take for us. We like what he brings to the table.
"Zac Veatch is a defensive end/tight end from Broken Arrow that is a throwback to the old days. The biggest issue we will have in our staff room is the offensive and defensive coaches debating on who gets to have him on their side of the ball because he loves to play football. He can play tight end, he can play defensive end. We really like him. We feel like he's a sleeper over there. He comes from a good program and finished second in state this year, so we're really excited about him."
On the Texas signees:
"Texas has been good to us forever. It's a percentage game. There's numbers there. Approximately 350 players a year that sign Division I. There's a lot of people in the state of Texas that because of population that can play football at this level. They are good students - well-trained and well coached. So we go down there and we have had a lot of luck.
On the offensive line side we picked up guys like Paul Lewis who comes out of North Shore. We have got a number of players from down there. They have been good to us. We picked up Michael Wilson from Aledo that is really a guy that has got an unbelievable future. He is 6-6, 280 as a senior in high school. I really like the size and the height we have in this class. We were able to pick up Chris Grisbhy from Blinn, but he's a guy that's got three years and it gives us a lot of depth and maturity at that position. From a skill standpoint from the state of Texas, we had Jhajuan Seales. We were able to pick up Blake Webb. Those are receivers that fit what we do here. We try to evaluate receivers on outside and inside and then make it work. We are not always perfect in that area. Some guys we think may be inside end up being outside and vice versa. Those guys gave us a lot from a skills standpoint. Dominic Ramacher is an athlete from J.W. Walsh's school in the Denton area. He could be a fullback, could be an H-back, could maybe grow into a tight end, but comes in highly-regarded from an effort standpoint so we are really excited about what he brings to the table."
On WR C.J. Curry:
"He's been on our list for a while. He was originally committed to another school but we were able to get him and hold onto him. A 6-foot-2, I think the other day when he was here he was about 190 pounds. He can really run and has a great future."
On WR Brandon Sheperd:
"Another 6-foot, 185, 190 pound - a guy that's going to eventually be a 190-pound receiver. He's got great skill to make a play in space and can do a lot for us."
On WR Blake Webb:
"We feel like he is more of an inside receiver guy that will be able to read coverages, adjust, sit in the right spot versus zone coverage and make plays."
On the defensive signees:
"Defensive ends were big for us this year and we were able to hit up some guys that had height. Jamie Blatnick and Richetti Jones have been tremendous for us but they float around at 6-2 height. These guys that we have here are around 6-3 or 6-4, so they are going to end up being 6-4 or 6-5. They will end up growing half an inch to an inch during their career here so I really like the height that we get from Eric Davis and from Emmanuel Ogbah and Victor Irokansi. Those guys give us good height, they are 230-ish, 235 so by the time they have been in Coach Glass' weight program they will be 260, 265. I am really excited about those guys."
On OL Greg Brantley:
"I missed Greg Brantley, the offensive lineman from Carthage, who is a giant. He was 6-6, 320 when he was here the other day. We will get him in shape and slim him down a little bit. He will probably end up being 6-6 1/2 and put muscle on, take some of the baby fat off and probably play at 325."
On S Ashton Lampkin:
"He is going to play safety for us. He is 5-11, 185 now, kind of a Markelle Martin-type of player. He has the same kind of a body structure, should end up being over 6-foot, should end up being probably 205 pounds by the time that he is in our system for a year or two."
