Desean Brown Never Wavered and Pokes Get Best Defensive Player in Oklahoma
CHOCTAW – The signing festivities were well-attended at Choctaw High School, and you can tell that defensive end Desean Brown, who signed with the Cowboys is a popular man. The honors will still be coming out well after Christmas and into the new year, but I honestly believe that Brown is the best defensive football player in the State of Oklahoma. I’ve seen him many times and even a dominant team like Bixby could not keep him from making plays. When Brent Venables took over as head coach at Oklahoma, a defensive-minded coach who knows good defensive talent when he sees it came after and offered Brown. The Yellow Jackets standout stood firm with the Cowboys.
This was significant. It establishes a trend of top players staying with their commitment to Oklahoma State over overtures from rivals like Oklahoma.
“It surprised me in that they offered me, but it was a new coaching staff,” Brown said of Oklahoma and there were other schools the past several weeks. “The old coaching staff didn’t want me, but this one did.”
“I don't know, could be five (signees) that were offered at some point, pursued heavily, or even late by what people would call the blue bloods, that we have on this list,” Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy said in his morning signing day press conference. “That doesn’t make them a good player, but it kind of comes back to what I said two weeks ago, we have a chance right now at Oklahoma State if it’s handled correctly, to move to the top. If we, do it right.”
Getting players like Brown is doing right. Brown said he felt it from Oklahoma State. I can tell you from talking to his mother and grandmother that on the official visit to Stillwater, they felt it too.
“I can really feel that they care about me as a young man, and they will help me grow as a young man,” Brown said in the fieldhouse at Choctaw after his ceremony. “They care about my future. The other schools … OSU has been with me from the get-go, so why turn on them. I made that decision (commit to Oklahoma State) about three weeks ago.”
He nodded when asked if he kept it quiet. Brown was one of those silent commitments. I can tell you the other silent commitment did not hold firm. Brown also sees a lot of promise for him as a defensive end. He is one of three defensive end signees along with Kansan Landon Dean (6-5, 250) and Jaleel Johnson (6-4, 240) of Putnam City North. Brown is 6-3, 250 pounds.
“They’re Collin Oliver, Trace Ford-ish, a little bigger,” Gundy said. “So, they might push to 280 (pounds). We don’t know. But the ones we got, we really like, and I think it's pretty evident that our evaluation of that particular position over the last few years has been as good as anybody in the country."
“That is what I like a lot about their football program and the way they play,” Brown said of the prominence of the defensive end position. “I’m coming behind some really good guys and I will be able to learn from past mistakes and work toward competing for a starting job.”
Brown is good. I think he’s the best defensive player I’ve seen in Oklahoma in this class. He has also blocked punts and field goals for Choctaw, so how would he rate himself as a kick blocker?
“I’d say I’m one of the best if I had to say so myself,” Brown said with a smile.
I have to agree. Cowboy fans can look forward to what he can do. He is fun to watch.
