Tyrese Williams Talks Decision to Commit to Oklahoma State

On Tuesday morning Oklahoma State’s momentum on the recruiting trail gained even more momentum with the addition of 2018 offensive lineman Tyrese Williams. Williams picked up an offer just weeks ago on an unofficial visit for OSU’s junior day and explained why he pulled the trigger to commit and why he liked OSU as a no-brainer for him.

“At first I was talking with Coach Henson, and he was hinting like, ‘Yeah, we really like you, you can really fit this program,'” Williams told PFB on Tuesday.

“He kind of hinted that he wanted to see me in person and I had an offer waiting. So I went ahead and made the trip up there, saw the campus, culture, and got offered during OSU’s spring game. When I got there and saw everything I immediately put OSU at the top of my list. At the time, one of my biggest schools was Cal. And I’d already been to Cal. Comparing my OSU visit to Cal, I mean, it blew Cal out of the water. The location, I mean, it was right close to home. I felt like I fit in. Over at Cal, it was west coast. I just feel like west coast and east coast football is different than football in the south.”

Although Tyrese wasn’t originally weighing location as a major factor in his recruitment, especially after drumming up major interest on the west coast, he said it became apparent it would be an important factor for him.

He’s a Houston product — just an 8-hour drive from Stillwater — and having family in the Grove, Oklahoma area has helped him become familiar with the area he’ll soon call home.

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One of the biggest ways Williams garnered interest from major schools was a local appearance at The Opening regionals in Houston, he says. Not only did he gain exposure locally, but he won offensive line MVP. His recruitment skyrocketed from there.

“Before The Opening, I had one offer,” said Williams. “North Texas. And I got that offer last year. So I was kind of — my recruitment was in a bit of a lull until that MVP sparked it. OSU contacted me and said they saw my performance and they were intrigued and things went from there.”

Based on Williams’ frame and size (6-foot-3, 285 pounds), and his ability to dissect plays from the line like a quarterback (he’s a heady football player who can call out plays from the line because of his experience), Williams says OSU sees him as a perfect fit at center, where he’ll play this upcoming season for Cy Ridge.

As for other schools that might try and pry him away from OSU in his recruitment, Williams says not to worry about that. He’s shutting his recruitment down and he’s solid with OSU even if others come calling — which they’ve already done.

“I’ve shut down my recruiting,” Williams said. “I talked to my head coach and he didn’t want me to commit until I was 100 percent. I told him ‘this was the school.’ So I’m 100 percent committed to Oklahoma State. I told my coach to let coaches know I’m not interested. In fact, today LSU came by and my coach told them I was already committed and they could go home. I have no problem with that.”