STILLWATER — With the start of spring football practice just over a week away for Oklahoma State, coach Mike Gundy and his staff are ramping up their recruiting for the 2025 signing class.
Currently with just one player committed, the Cowboys have plenty of room to mold the class how they see it best fitting their needs. Additionally, the spring transfer portal window could always change the roster balance when it opens in a month — whether that’s with incoming or outgoing players.
But for now, the most pressing needs for the class of 2025 will be in building depth.
Obviously, the usual spots remain key. The Pokes will need to add another quarterback, as they do virtually every year. And another receiver to go along with the only commitment in the class, Idabel’s Matrail Lopez. The defensive front always needs depth, though the line could be a target area in the portal.
But let’s take a look at three positions that will be of particular interest for the Cowboys in this class:
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Running back
If you’re OSU, you have to plan as if Ollie Gordon II is set for another great season in 2024, and will be gone to the NFL by this time next year. Arkansas transfer A.J. Green is in his final season of eligibility.
So for 2025, that leaves OSU with three scholarship running backs, all of whom will be freshmen — redshirt or true — this fall. The class will need at least two more, and possibly a portal addition for some veteran experience.
OSU already has at least a dozen offers out to running backs, likely with more to come. Michael Turner, a 6-foot, 190-pound prospect from North Richland Hills, Texas, has gotten a lot of buzz as a four-star recruit, and is among the Cowboys’ top targets.
Offensive line
The big men up front require some long-term projection. You’re not anticipating a high school recruit to start as a true freshman. But with what the Cowboys are set to lose after the 2024 season, adding to the depth is critical. Six linemen, all of whom have been regular starters at some point in their careers, will exhaust their eligibility this year.
The Cowboys have brought in 11 high school recruits in the last three classes, so the hope is that many of them will be prepared to step into starting roles — and a couple might even threaten the vets for starting jobs this fall.
But the numbers have to be replenished. Oklahoma high schools are putting out some good offensive linemen in this class, so the Cowboys could pick up a couple close to home. One of the more intriguing ones is 6-foot-4, 298-pound Antoni Ogumoro of Elgin, who only moved to the state a few months ago, coming in from White Oak, Texas.
Another name to remember is Isaiah Kema. If that sounds familiar, it’s because he signed with the Cowboys as part of the 2023 signing class before heading out on a two-year Mormon mission. Currently in New Zealand, one of his last social media posts before leaving was a photo of him in his OSU jersey, thanking the program for allowing him the opportunity to pursue his religious goals.
He is expected to return to football in 2025, and though he signed with OSU two years ago, that letter of intent is no longer binding. The Pokes will have to recruit him again.
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Cornerback
While the secondary has been the position group to benefit the most by Gundy’s decision a few years ago to dedicate some extra scholarships to defense, it’s currently the safety position that is seeing the boost in numbers.
Cornerback is particularly thin in the younger ranks. Of the nine scholarship players on the roster, six are redshirt juniors or older. And remember, current redshirt juniors came in after the COVID-19 pandemic season, so they don’t have the extra year of eligibility awaiting them.
That means those six upperclassmen will all be out of eligibility after the 2025 season.
Perhaps some of the safeties could slide over to cornerback, but typically, if a player has the coverage skills to play cornerback, he gets his first look there.
Zay Gentry of McKinney, Texas, has been a popular name early this year as a three-star prospect with a lanky frame at 6-foot-1 and 165 pounds.
The Cowboys will practice on Saturdays throughout the spring, and each of those weekends will be significant for recruiting purposes.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State football recruiting: Positions of need for 2025 class
