Safety Johnny Shaw Flips Commitment From TCU to the Texas Longhorns

New Texas commit Johnny Shaw (h/t @KDG1974)

Mack Brown's day has been busy to say the least having picked up three 2015 commitments today (more on that later).  Perhaps the biggest and most surprising is that of safety Johnny Shaw.  The talented safety had committed to TCU in the middle of May, but flipped his commitment to Texas today.  Although this there's a long time until National Signing Day 2015, this is big for the Longhorns.  Below is what I had to say about Shaw after he committed to the Horned Frogs.

Right now, Shaw is a top 20 player in the state of Texas for 2015 (#18 in the '15 LSR). The 6'2/190 prospect is destined to be one of the best safeties, if not the best, to sign with a Big 12 school in 20 months, if he's still committed to TCU (that's a long time). As a sophomore last year, Shaw totaled 88 tackles, 5 INTs, and 2 forced fumbles according to ETSN.fm.

Lousiana Teammates DT Joyan Willians and CB Juwan Offray Commit to Oklahoma State

(h/t seaoforange.com)

Late last night, Oklahoma State added their seventh and eighth commitments in their 2014 class.  New Orleans high school (Edna Karr) teammates DT Joyan Williams and DB Juwan Offray were in Stillwater for camp and they both left town committed.

Williams is a 6'3/255, 3-star DT prospect that had other offers from Georgia Tech, Miami, Oklahoma, and Mississippi State along with some other schools.  He has always been on the Cowboys' radar and was once thought to be committed to Okie State, which didn't turn out to be the case.  Juwan Offray didn't have an Oklahoma State offer until he had an impressive showing at OSU's camp($) yesterday.  Offray isn't ranked, but does hold an offer from Nebraska, which is pretty impressive for a prospect that isn't on many people's radars.  Below is an excerpt from an interview with Nola.com:

“It feels good,” Offray said, “It’s a lot of pressure off my shoulders, I’m just worried about getting through my senior season now. The teammate I committed with, I’ve been playing ball with him all my life. We have a brother-like relationship so it feels good to be able to commit with him.”

 

4-star OLB T'Kevian Rockwell Commits to Baylor

(h/t BleachReport.com)

Baylor continues their hot streak on the recruiting trail, this time it's on the defensive side of the ball.  4-star prospect T'Kevian Rockwell committed to the Baylor Bears late Friday night.  This is a big time get for Baylor as Rockwell is considered a top 250 prospect overall by both Rivals and 247Sports.  He also had a nice offer list including Texas Tech, West Virginia, Nebraska, Kansas, and even Michigan.  Rockwell possesses great speed for his size (6'0/205) which may lead to him playing safety in Waco.  I'll leave you with two reports on Rockwell.

Jason Howell, Rivals($):

"He has the frame to get bigger and while he is projected by many to be an outside linebacker he has the ability to spin up to safety and be a terrorizing figure as a big safety," Rivals Southwest regional analyst Jason Howell said. "He has legitimate track speed and covers a lot of ground very quickly. In the pass happy Big 12 he's the kind of guy who can be an every day player and has the potential to be used in a variety of ways.''

Scout.com:

Looks like he is shot out of cannon as he closes in on ball carriers. He closes ground quickly and relentlessly and does not slow down to impact. He makes good form tackles and explodes through the ball carrier. May be a little undersized, but a prospect can either play football or he can’t -- that’s the bottom line -- and Rockwell can play with the best of them. He is very physically gifted, one of the more impressive specimens in the DFW.

Handicapping DB Arrion Springs's Recruitment

(h/t studentsports.com)

Arrion Springs's recruitment is really starting to heat up.  Springs is a talented 4-star defensive back that has offers from some of the top programs in the country.  He's one of the best uncommitted DBs in the country, making him a key recruit for several programs especially the ones below.

Oregon:  Springs finally received a long awaited offer from Oregon a couple weeks ago.  The Ducks have seemed to be the favorite throughout the whole process.  Many believe that he'll commit to Oregon when he's in the state for The Opening (a camp for elite players) later this month.  Right now, Oregon has to be the favorite.  60%

Texas:  While the Ducks have probably been the leader throughout the process, Texas has quickly closed the gap.  Texas has been the most popular choice for recruiting analysts on 247Sports' Crystal Ball feature.  He attended UT's camp last weekend too.  35%

Florida State:  It once was Miami who was seen as a third option, but Florida State has now moved into that position.  They offered earlier this week, but Texas and Oregon are both way ahead of FSU when it comes to Springs.  There's a chance, but not really.  5%

QB Mason Rudolph Commits to Oklahoma State

(h/t AP)

The Pokes missed out on the Kyle Allen sweepstakes earlier this month, Oklahoma State now has their quarterback.  South Carolina QB Mason Rudolph announced via Twitter today that he has committed to Oklahoma State.  A 3-star prospect by 247Sports and a consensus top 25 pro-style QB, Rudolph chose OSU over offers from top programs including LSU, Virginia, Louisville, Ole Miss, and Virginia Tech.  At 6'4/210, he has a nice build for a pro-style QB which helped him throw for over 4000 yards and 41 TDs last year.  For a little more detailed post, check out Pistol Firing's analysis of Rudolph's commitment.

Big 12's Best Available Recruits: Running Back

Jeff Jones (h/t Scout.com)

We continue our series looking at the best prospects avaiable at each position today with running backs.  Many backs have already committed to Big 12 programs, so the talent available isn't elite.  If you can think of other RB prospects still available, leave a comment below because I have a feeling I left someone off the list.

Joe Mixon:  Mixon is one of the best backs in the country.  While he's from California and USC seems to be the favorite, Oklahoma is still in the mix.  According to 247Sports, he'll take a visit to Norman in October.

Jeff Jones:  Jones is another top 150 player overall who is committed to Minnesota right now.  However, his commitment isn't that strong and he's definitely looking around right now.  Iowa State is perhaps the favorite right now and JC Shurburtt of 247Sports today predicted that he'll sign with ISU.

Vic Enwere:  Isn't ranked in the top 50 at his position, but has plenty of offers including Michigan and Cal.  He doesn't have any offers from Big 12 programs, but I would expect that to change.

Larenzo Stewart:  A 3-star prospect from Spring, TX with an offer from Baylor, the school most recruiting experts see him going to.

Samuel Stewart:  A Cypress, TX native that holds offers from Texas Tech and Iowa State among other teams.

Robert Martin:  Martin rushed for 1800 yards and 18 TDs last year for Harrisburg HS in Pennsylvania last year.  West Virginia and Rutgers are the two favorites for Martin's services.

Best available prospects at other positions:

• Offensive Linemen
• Quarterbacks
• Wide Receivers

Baylor Ends Weekend With a Pair of Commitments

(h/t zimbio.com)

Baylor is the hottest team on the recruiting trail right now in the Big 12.  They added two more prospects over the weekend at their first summer camp, making it now 14 commitments for the 2014 class, the most in the Big 12.  With the verbal commitments of OG Blake Blackmar and CB Chad Adams, Baylor's class is now just outside the top 10 nationally according to 247Sports' rankings.  Below is quick breakdown of Baylor's two new commits.

OG Blake Blackmar

Blackmar was the first out of the pair to commit to Baylor.  This is really nice pickup for Art Briles and company considering I included him on my best available offensive linemen list almost a week ago.  Blackmar is a 3-star prospect and had offers from Mizzou, Minnesota, Kansas State (who were thought to be one of the leaders), Texas Tech, Washington State and others.

CB Chad Adams

Adams is another 3-star prospect with offers from across the country including UCONN, Kansas, Washington, Arizona State, and others.  Adams totaled 98 tackles and 2 interceptions last year with state champions Allen Eagles.  Baylor is getting yet another speedster for their 2014 class as Adams runs multiple events on the Allen track team.