OSU’s 2021 Recruiting Class Makes Move up Rankings on Signing Day

On the first day of the three-day early national signing period, Oklahoma State made a strong mark.

On Wednesday, the OSU coaching staff signed every recruit that had been committed to the program, successfully reclassified one of the top 2022 commitments and convinced a transfer running back from Utah State to join the fold.

The developments pushed Oklahoma State up the recruiting rankings to No. 36 nationally and up to No. 3 in the Big 12, territory that flirts with one of Mike Gundy’s best recruiting classes since he took over in 2005.

Here’s a look at the finish for each class by year. It’s too soon to call the class final, given that there are several days left in the early signing period and two more months for things to shift ahead of the February signing day. But it’s a positive sign nonetheless that OSU’s class rates third-best among conference clubs, which would be the best finish for any class since Gundy’s arrival.

Year	Nat’l rank	Big 12 rank	Per-player avg.
2005	47	9	81.27
2006	18	4	85.30
2007	25	4	85.61
2008	32	5	84.79
2009	34	5	85.33
2010	29	5	86.28
2011	25	4	85.64
2012	31	6	85.59
2013	31	5	84.56
2014	27	4	85.91
2015	40	7	84.86
2016	45	7	84.67
2017	38	4	84.95
2018	34	5	86.52
2019	38	5	86.01
2020	40	5	85.46
2021	36	3	86.32

Recruiting rankings can skew in favor of quantity and not quality, particularly early on in cycles, but that isn’t the case here. The 86.32 per-player average in the 2021 class is second-best among all OSU classes since 2005 behind only 2018, a class that featured four-stars CJ Moore and Spencer Sanders as well as highly regarded three-star prospects in Sean Michael Flanagan, Jonathan Shepherd and Bryce Bray.

Rankings adjustments will likely happen at least one more time in the coming months, and there’s no doubt a lot can change between now and the February signing day that could push OSU down, but with several headline stars and strong top to bottom talent, this class should wind up being regarded as one of Gundy’s best of the decade.