Oklahoma State is still in the mix for one of the biggest names in the Class of 2028.
On Friday, the Cowboys were included among the top 15 schools for Owasso, Okla., standout Kamieon Compton-Nero, a prospect some recruiting services already view as the nation’s top athlete in the cycle.
That’s a notable spot for Oklahoma State to hold. Since Eric Morris took over in December, the program has landed only one four-star recruit, and that player is still in the Class of 2027 and has not signed yet. Simply staying alive for a talent like Compton-Nero matters.
The list is loaded with heavy hitters. Along with Oklahoma State, Compton-Nero named LSU, Missouri, Florida, Oregon, Michigan, Alabama, Texas A&M, SMU, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, Texas Tech, Kansas State, Tennessee and in-state rival Oklahoma.
“Beyond grateful for all the schools and coaches that believed in who I can be. Starting the process of narrowing it down to find 🏠#AGTG#TheAthlete@Rivals @On3 @247recruiting @PrepRedzoneOK @AABonNBC @ErikRichardsUSA @TomLoy247 @adamgorney @Bdrumm_OUI @samspiegs @GregBiggins… pic.twitter.com/x43JT3tucy”
Compton-Nero is still more than a year away from being able to sign, but the buzz around him is already real. Per 247Sports, he is the No. 53 overall player in the Class of 2028, the No. 1 prospect in Oklahoma and the top-ranked athlete in the country.
His sophomore season backed up the hype. At quarterback for Owasso, he threw for 2,584 yards and 38 touchdowns while adding 751 rushing yards and eight scores. That gave him 3,335 total yards and 49 total touchdowns as he helped lead Rejoice Christian to a second straight Oklahoma A-I state title.
He made an impact on defense, too, piling up 95 tackles, five interoceptions and three pick-sixes.
That kind of two-way production makes him the sort of prospect who could end up at quarterback or defensive back at the next level. For now, though, he still has two more seasons to develop and two more years to keep impressing the 15 schools that made the first cut.
If he ends up leaning toward quarterback, Oklahoma State does have a current path laid out. Redshirt sophomore Drew Mestemaker is the starter this season, and the Cowboys also have two true freshmen in the pipeline: Luke Tepas of Barrington, Ill., and Broderick Vehrs of Gilbert, Ariz., the first two quarterback recruits Morris brought in at OSU.
The Cowboys also already have a quarterback committed for the Class of 2027 in Carson White of Iowa Colony, Texas, who is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 23 quarterback in the country.
In Other News...
NCAA Twist Could Reopen Several Oklahoma State Careers
A federal judge in Colorado has thrown a fresh wrinkle into the NCAAs eligibility rules, ordering the association to declare eligible all high school class of 2022 athletes who used up four seasons of eligibility this spring. The ruling comes amid legal challenges to the NCAAs newer age-based "five-for-five" standard, and it has immediate implications for several student-athletes who suddenly have another path to keep competing.
For Oklahoma State, the decision touches three players and could reopen careers that looked finished at the end of the spring. The bigger picture for the Cowboys is obvious: roster planning, scholarship management and even offseason expectations can all shift when athletes who seemed out of eligibility may be able to return for another college season. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State May Have Found A Breakout Answer In The Secondary
Eric Morris has spent his first months reshaping Oklahoma State with an avalanche of transfers, nearly 90 in all, as he builds a roster that looks very different from the one he inherited. The group includes quarterback Drew Mestemaker and former UCLA linebacker Isaiah Chisom, but one of the quieter additions could end up mattering just as much on the defensive side: Vincent Holmes, a safety who arrived from Washington looking for a reset.
Holmes was once a four-star recruit, but his time in Seattle never really took off, leaving him with little game action and a lot to prove. In Stillwater, he is trying to turn that pedigree into production in Skyler Cassitys 4-2-5 defense, where the structure gives him a real chance to push for a starting safety role and carve out the kind of breakout opportunity that never came before. [Read more 🡒]