Why Getting a Coach Quickly Could Pay off with a top recruit

Just days after the announcement that OSU and Travis Ford parted ways, Brad Underwood was named as the head coach. The process was quick. And in the case of one top recruit, that could actually benefit the Cowboys.

Four-star shooting guard Tyson Jolly, an OKC native who played at Putnam City West, signed with the Cal Bears out of high school but has now requested to be released from his letter of intent amid uncertainty with the staff and an investigation at the school.

Given the uncertainty at Cal, I have decided 2 ask out of my LOI and re-open my recruitment. This was not an easy decision, but the right 1.

— Tman (@OvoTman) March 20, 2016

The 6-foot-4 guard from Putnam City West held offers from the likes of Texas, OSU, Cal, Gonazaga, and others. And at this point in the recruiting process, a four-star shooting guard is hard to find. So he’s a wanted man.

According to Scout, Texas, Missouri, Florida, Ohio State, Xavier, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, Georgia, Marquette, Washington State and Georgia Tech have all reached out to Jolly’s AAU coach Chad Myers.

As to his eventual destination, he told Scout that “I might be looking to go closer to home or in the Big 12 area..” Which, if you read between the lines, narrows it down to probably the Texas schools and Oklahoma schools.

The Cowboys have already signed one shooting guard in the class in Norman North’s Lindy Waters, but with the uncertainty surrounding big-man signee Gorjok Gak, there may be an opportunity for scholarships to open late in the process for Brad Underwood. So it will be interesting to see if Underwood pursues Jolly or not given the recent developments, although they could certainly use a presence down low, too.