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Mike Gundy Compares 2020 Signee Brennan Presley to Tyreek Hill

And I can’t handle it.

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[Credit: 247Sports]

When it comes to “under-recruited” playmakers that I get exorbitantly excited about, the list is plenty long and Mike Gundy is usually the author.

Jalen McCleskey was to be Josh Stewart incarnate. Louis Brown was the next Leslie O’Neal, and I won’t even finish the statement that starts with “Jeff Carr is going to …”

On Wednesday morning, Oklahoma State signed an in-state #freak to its 2020 class named Brennan Presley. He has all the makings of a did-it-all in high school but will disappoint you in college athlete. But this one might just be different.

In high school Presley played receiver, defensive back, return man and guy you give the ball to and quickly pull up your phone’s camera. He was the best player on a Bixby squad that went 13-0 and was the most dominant Oklahoma preps team that many around these parts can remember.

Color me over-excited and, once again, Mike Gundy didn’t help.

“We need to get him in the 40 and time him so we can make a comparison to him and Tyreek (Hill),” said Gundy during his signing day press conference.

Really?

“I’m not saying he’s that fast,” continued Gundy. “Tyreek is a whole different level, but if you think about what they could do, Tyreek could return, Tyreek catches passes, Tyreek can run the ball. That’s the same thing this guy does.

“In the state championship game he had like what, 19 rushes and 17 receptions and a kick return for a touchdown? In the same game? That was kinda like Tyreek, right?”

Let’s pump the brakes on the BPrezzle hype train. Presley is not Tyreek Hill. I’ll repeat: Brennan Presley is NOT Tyreek Hill. He’s wasn’t that highly recruited, he’s definitely not that fast and he’s not even as big as the under-sized college “running back” that turned into one of the most electric wide receivers the NFL has ever seen.

The latter is the key reason that the 5-foot-7.5, 170-pound (yet electrifying) playmaker only received one Power Five offer and that it didn’t come until the June before his senior year.

But Presley has the goods. Gatorade doesn’t just hand out state Player of the Year honors to anyone. He was dynamic and dominant on both sides of the ball as a wide receiver and a cornerback. I’ll let Bill Haisten do the math, and thank him for it.

As a Bixby junior receiver and cornerback, Presley had 67 catches for 1,081 yards and also had six interceptions. As a senior, his numbers were monstrous: 98 catches, 1,515 yards, 24 TD catches and seven interceptions. Over his four-season varsity career, he totaled 16 interceptions. [TulsaWorld]

As a cornerback, Presley put up those consecutive years of six and seven interceptions, respectively, but Mike Gundy confirmed that Presley will play receiver for the Pokes. You can’t put a guy who makes SCTop10-worthy OBJ catches on defense, right?

“Bixby did a great job of finding ways to get him the ball, over and over, different ways, moved, all that stuff. They did a great job of that,” said Gundy. “When Tyreek was here, Yucich did a good job of getting him the ball different ways.

“So, there’s similarities on doing a lot of things a lot of different ways. I’m not saying he’s that fast. I’m just saying there’s some similarities.”

This week Presley spoke with KJRH-Tulsa Sports Director Cayden McFarland about that chance OSU took on him and how he hopes to pay it off.

“It was a huge thing because most colleges won’t take a chance on you until they see someone else take a chance on you,” said Presley. “So just to know that they were that close and that they did take a chance on me, it really means a lot to me. And that all my hard work has paid off and I just don’t want to go up there and let them down.

“So I’m going to work as hard as I can to [let them] know that they did not make the wrong decision.”

Music to Gundy’s ears.

Gundy said after the state championship game, in which Presley’s Bixby defeated his son Gunnar’s Stillwater squad, that he walked over and hugged Presley and fellow OSU signee Reagan and told them he was glad they were on his team now. I am too.

The Tyreek comps are as exciting as they are ensnaring, but let’s step away from those and look at Presley for what he is — an exciting, probably under-recruited playmaker who just might set Lewis Field on fire.

Oklahoma State, a staff known for its ability to spot diamonds in the rough and polish them into stars, may have found the next one in an in-state prospect with plenty to prove. I can’t wait to see how this one plays out.

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