Mike Gundy Has Opportunity to Reverse Sibling Recruiting Woes With Dax Hill

For as much as Oklahoma State boasts about its family-centric culture, recruiting family members of current or former players hasn’t been very fruitful under Mike Gundy.

Despite landing twins Tylan and Tracin Wallace in 2017, for example, defensive tackle Damion Daniels, the younger brother of OSU tackle Darrion, committed to Nebraska despite a strong push from Oklahoma State in the recruiting process. During that same cycle, Logan Rudolph, the younger brother of former Cowboy QB Mason Rudolph, committed to Clemson despite an offer and strong interest from Oklahoma State (and roughly 40 other schools.)

OSU also missed on 2018 safety Caden Sterns, the younger brother of Jordan Sterns.

That success (or lack thereof) will come to a head in the 2018 cycle in the saga of Dax Hill, Booker T. Washington’s five-star safety that everyone, including Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Alabama, Clemson, Michigan and Ohio State, is after.

Hill is the younger brother of All-American running back Justice Hill who has long been on OSU’s radar, and has an obviously strong connection to at least one player on the Cowboy roster. But similar connections in recent history under Mike Gundy suggest that might not be enough for the staff to reel him in.

Unlike the younger Daniels or Rudolph, however, a miss on the younger Hill could be to the benefit of rival OU, resulting in a brutal in-state recruiting loss in an era that has seen its fair share (see: Levi Draper.)

Even if Hill bolts for Bama or the Buckeyes, losing him elsewhere would be tough to swallow. And thus lies a massive opportunity for Oklahoma State and its secondary staff in Hill. Sibling recruiting woes haven’t proven fertile of late, but landing Hill, who would be OSU’s second-highest rated commitment of all time since recruiting rankings were tracked in the early 2000s, would more than make up for the recent string of losses.

Like OU, Michigan and others, Oklahoma State can pitch the opportunity to play right away in a secondary yearning for talent in the post-Tre Flowers era. Unlike the other suitors, however, it can also pitch the opportunity, perhaps, to play alongside his kin inside Boone Pickens Stadium with a similar goal in mind.

Justice will be a senior when Dax is a freshman in college (assuming Justice stays in college and doesn’t bounce to the NFL.) But if that’s the swaying factor in his recruitment, it’s not public knowledge. He has long maintained he will go where he best fits, regardless of brand, family connections or otherwise.

But for OSU, Hill is not only a big fish with big talent, but a big chance to reverse the family recruiting struggles of the past in the biggest way imaginable.