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Oklahoma State Football Recruiting

Oklahoma State Nabs Impressive Walk-On Prospect From Alabama's Fingertips

February 1, 2022
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This isn’t your traditional recruiting victory article, but it is a bit of a fun one. Preston Hickey, a 2022 defensive lineman from Mandeville, Louisiana, is a walk on-prospect being pursued by some impressive programs. One of these programs was Alabama, who he had actually committed to previously to walk on at.

Well, after visiting OSU this past week, he has changed his mind and will actually be playing his football in Stillwater, Oklahoma, as he announced yesterday on Twitter.

No, we are not hyping this up as flipping a 5-star or blue chip recruit, but on the surface, it still points to good things. 

Oklahoma State and Alabama were trying to land a prospect on a level playing ground, only offering him an opportunity to play football at the power five level. Hickey visited both campuses several times from the summertime till now. One interesting note to point out is that Alabama’s out-of-state- tuition is actually roughly $10K cheaper than Oklahoma State’s.

To me, that stands out a bit and just shows you the culture and the attitude that is in the West End Zone right now. They are an exciting place to play right now, even for a kid and his family having to pay out of pocket. 

It is also noteworthy of pointing out that the drive from Mandeville, Louisiana, to Stillwater is roughly 12 hours while the drive to Tuscaloosa is only four hours. Again, something about that stands out to me.

Hickey is 6’2 290 pounds and is listed as playing both end and interior defensive lineman. At 270 pounds, Hickey is reported to have a 4.9 forty-yard dash, bench presses 365 pounds and squats 500 pounds. 

During his high school career, Hickey was named All-District, All-Parish, All-Metro, and All-State. 

Oklahoma State has long had a rich tradition among their walk-ons which very possibly could have played a factor in Hickey’s decision to play football here. Quite often, the walk-ons that come into the Cowboys program and do things the right way, end up on scholarship within a few years. 

I’m sure the opportunity to be put on scholarship down the line was a topic of discussion while on his visit.

Discussion from...

Oklahoma State Nabs Impressive Walk-On Prospect From Alabama's Fingertips

9,277 Views | 12 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by SiliconPrairie
CaliforniaCowboy
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hmmm... another impact of NIL?

sit behind 15 kids all rated 5-star and hope you can get some PT,

or

begin behind a rag-tag bunch of upper classmen that will likely run out of eligibility or sign for a NIL deal at a blue-blood.

it doesn't really sound like that hard of a decision for a kid with potential.

I think we're going to be really, really glad that this kid is going to walk on for us.

TUSKAPOKE
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WELCOME TO OSU!!! GO EARN THAT SCHOLLY!!! GO POKES!!!
Zen
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Seems strange that a kid who was All State in Louisianna was not offered a scholarship at a power five school. Might turn into a good player, who knows? If good enough to walk on at Alabama, should be good enough to some day play at OSU.
TeaTownCowboy
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4,9 is good speed for a kid that big esp if it's electronic time as oppoosed to hand. Get him in the weight room w/ Rob Glass and co and maybe drop that to a 4.75 and that's nasty!


backphil
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CC . . . you are turning into an old grouchy SOB in your old age!
Ostateman
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backphil said:

CC . . . you are turning into an old grouchy SOB in your old age!
Now, that is funny!

I know CC. We met at the UCLA opener back in 2004 at the Rose Bowl. We call each other before every big game. He's a great guy, but that post had me wondering if he'd penned that right after rushing out to the front porch to yell at the neighborhood kids to, "GET OFF MY LAWN!".

Perhaps we caught him before he had a chance to get jacked up on Jack Daniels and Mt. Dew.
I know there are rules, but do we really want to follow them now?
CaliforniaCowboy
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backphil said:

CC . . . you are turning into an old grouchy SOB in your old age!
I would prefer to know what you think about my comment, not what you think about me... it's not about me.

Is this another unexpected consequence of NIL?

Is this a new recruiting trend, or is it simply a one-off situation in this class?

(and for the record, I've always been a grouchy SOB, I just have more time to perfect it now)
Prattvillepoke
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CC, I often don't agree with you but you do bring an interesting perspective. Great comeback today. Another grouchy old man who also has time to perfect it. (Right now from South Alabama Snowbirding)
PrattvillePoke
nryan
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OOS Tuition is $10k more at Stilly than Bama? WTH are we thinking? Why is our tuition so high for OOS kids - especially if we're trying to pull in those mammoths?
CaliforniaCowboy
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nryan said:

OOS Tuition is $10k more at Stilly than Bama? WTH are we thinking? Why is our tuition so high for OOS kids - especially if we're trying to pull in those mammoths?
because OSU only has just so much capacity to conduct classes without building more classrooms... so we jack up the OOS tuition to stick it to the furiners and mulit-nationals.... it has zero to do with athletics recruiting.

and the non-oklahoma kids are willing to pay more to attend OSU over Bama.... (wink)
CaliforniaCowboy
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Ostateman said:

backphil said:

CC . . . you are turning into an old grouchy SOB in your old age!
Now, that is funny!

I know CC. We met at the UCLA opener back in 2004 at the Rose Bowl. We call each other before every big game. He's a great guy, but that post had me wondering if he'd penned that right after rushing out to the front porch to yell at the neighborhood kids to, "GET OFF MY LAWN!".

Perhaps we caught him before he had a chance to get jacked up on Jack Daniels and Mt. Dew.

and one last thing... with that attitude, I'm not going to let you drive my Gran Torino...

SiliconPrairie
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CaliforniaCowboy said:

nryan said:

OOS Tuition is $10k more at Stilly than Bama? WTH are we thinking? Why is our tuition so high for OOS kids - especially if we're trying to pull in those mammoths?
because OSU only has just so much capacity to conduct classes without building more classrooms... so we jack up the OOS tuition to stick it to the furiners and mulit-nationals.... it has zero to do with athletics recruiting.

and the non-oklahoma kids are willing to pay more to attend OSU over Bama.... (wink)
OSU does have significant tuition waivers for out-of-state students, based upon their high school grades and ACT or SAT scores. My niece attended OSU as an out-of-state student, but almost all of her out-of-state tuition was waived.

I'm not an expert on NCAA rules, but I would assume, since the waivers are applied automatically to all students, based on GPA and test scores, then the waivers should apply to athletes as well.
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