Home State Cowboys: 22 Oklahoma High School Products Bring Familiar Faces to Stillwater

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Shortly after taking the helm at OSU, head coach Eric Morris said he wanted to “dominate the state of Oklahoma” when it comes to high school recruiting. But with a huge amount of turnover and the need to completely rebuild, Morris leaned on the portal to start. Of the 87 new players, a huge chunk of them are transfers, chiefly a bunch of his former players from North Texas.

But that doesn’t mean this year’s Cowboys squad is short on in-state talent, or that there isn’t a strong contingent of native Okies in the locker room.

In fact, 22 players on the fall roster played their high school ball in Oklahoma (same as on Oklahoma’s roster), and those aren’t just holdovers from the Mike Gundy era. Eleven of those 22 in-state players are entering their first season at OSU, with only Caleb Hawkins following Morris from North Texas.

This past weekend, Oklahoma State held its annual media day which means we are now weeks (not months) from the season opener in Tulsa. During the festivities, several of those in-state Cowboys were asked about what it was like to play for their home state school.

First-year offensive tackle Jacob Sexton has spent all of this college career within these borders — even if it was across enemy lines. He saw the field as a true freshman for the Sooners in 2022 and ended up starting 14 games for OU before a couple of injuries hampered him, including a season-ending injury in Week 1 last year.

He was asked what it was like to make the move north on I-35.

“It’s been really easy,” said Sexton. “Short transition, about an hour away. So, the move was really easy. People here are great. It’s been a really good.”

Sexton played his high school ball even closer at Deer Creek where he met one of the Cowboys’ longest tenured defenders, veteran defensive end Jaleel Johnson. He and Johnson battled across the line when the latter played at Putnam City-North.

“He’s been a lot of fun to play against in the offseason and our spring ball,” said Sexton of Johnson. “Great competition. I played against him in high school and that was a fun game. I remember that being a great time. He’s also a great person.”

Redshirt senior cornerback Mo Horn spent the last four years at Texas Tech before transferring to OSU.

“It’s been great, man,” Horn said on returning to his home state. “It’s nice coming back here just being able to go see my family whenever I need to.”

Second-year OSU tight end Oscar Hammond checks all three boxes: an Oklahoma prep and North Texas transfer who first played at UCO. He spent a year with Morris in Denton before transferring back across the Red River. Unfortunately, his first season at OSU was derailed due to injury, but he’s finally ready to get on the field at BPS.

“I always knew I wanted to play at this level, no matter what,” said Hammond who won a state title at Collinsville. “I grew up being an OSU fan, so I’m very excited to be here. I’m very excited for this season. I’ve always wanted to play here.”

Among that group of in-state Cowboys, there’s still some leftover high school rivalry.

“It’s really cool. It’s fun too. Just knowing everybody,” said Sexton. “Knowing guys I played against in high school and now here, everybody pulls up their old high school highlights tape and everyone’s like comparing plays and just to talk about that. So, it’s been a lot of fun kind of comparing all that.”

Horn said he hasn’t quite pulled up HUDL highlights just yet, but the in-state competition is still there.

“Most definitely,” Horn said about the fun of playing with other Oklahomans. “We haven’t got to do ours yet. I’m sure we’ll do it at some point. But yeah, it’s definitely been great, you know, being around guys that come from the state that you’re from as well. That’s what made it much easier for me to transition here.”

Here’s the full list of in-state Cowboys.