The Reload: OSU Commits in Training Camp, Chuba Hubbard’s Mysterious Tweets and More

The Reload is PFB’s recruiting recap, catching you up to speed on the latest news and rumors surrounding Oklahoma State recruiting, with an ear to the ground for what to expect in the future.

Linebacker Target Opens up Recruitment

Devodrick Johnson, a four-star linebacker from Kimball High in Texas, recently picked Texas A&M over OSU, Mizzou, Houston, and several others. And after committing in mid July, one recent event may have him re-thinking his decision: A visit to ATX.

Johnson visited the University of Texas last week, and although he does not hold an offer, I would not be surprised to see him opening things up in advance of what he may expect to be an offer from the Longhorns coming soon.

Regardless, OSU was in hot pursuit before his first commitment. So at the moment, he’s back on the market, and I expect OSU will try their best to pick up where they left off with him.

Explaining Tyler Polley’s top 5

Four-star power forward Tyler Polley named his top 5 over the weekend and as I noted, mysteriously left Florida State, who was the presumed favorite, off his list. We got the explanation just a day later when another four-star Floridian, RaiQuan Gray, announced that he was committing to FSU. So it appears that the FSU staff, despite Polley being a household name for the Seminoles, accepted Gray’s commitment and takes the spot for the 2017 class. Not to say Polley was a clear FSU lock, but that gives a good window into how recruiting works. Either the coaching staff preferred Gray over Polley, or the coaches simply didn’t want to wait until Polley was ready to commit and accepted Gray’s instead.

Chuba Hubbard Considering Other Schools?

If you’ve checked out Chuba Hubbard’s social media feed, it’s all #gopokes all the time. He’s recently been very active interacting with other OSU commits and generally being an OSU advocate. But this week he posted this mysterious tweet, suggesting perhaps he’s still shopping around?

The clock is always ticking.. #?? #? #? #? #?

— Chuba Hubbard (@Hubbard_RMN) August 9, 2016

I don’t know if he’s truly shopping the market, but I do know that those emoji’s were at one point his top schools: (Gun=OSU, Wave=Bama/Roll Tide, Duck=Oregon, Orange=Tennessee, Grape=TCU). So with Hubbard being the second highest rated OSU pledge in the 2017 class, this is something to follow as we head into the fall. At the moment, he’s an OSU commit. For obvious reasons, the OSU staff is going to do their best to hang on to the Canadian speedster.

Hoops targets cut OSU from mix

No good news on the recruiting front at the moment, but OSU is still tied in with two targets who recently trimmed their list, and both cut OSU from the mix. The first who nixed the Cowboys was 2017 power forward Hasahn French, who Underwood offered at the end of July. The second is Brian Bowen, a five-star prospect from Saginaw, MI. Bowen named a top 12 that includes Kentucky, Mich. State, and others. But 100% of analysts have him staying at home and playing for the Sparty.

OSU verbal commits in fall training camps

Football season has officially began for most of the OSU pledges, so here’s some video, albeit brief, of some of the future Pokes in action:

Here’s OSU’s most recent pledge, Thabo Mwaniki:

Stillwell, Guyer’s new QB1 putting it on the money to #OKState pledge @thabomwaniki. Coach Taylor approves. #txhsfbpic.twitter.com/oFlTo21m7F

— Adam Boedeker (@aboedeker) August 8, 2016