Wow! You Never Know in Recruiting and Pokes Report Just Saw a One Day About Face

Publisher’s Note: We will leave our story from visiting with Will Smith and his head coach, Jake Corbin of Choctaw, in tact, but the headline news here is that Will Smith just over 24 hours after doing the interview announced he was de-committing from Oklahoma State and opening up his recruitment.

Oklahoma State was at his Team Camp on Thursday with defensive line coach Greg Richmond and co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Joe Bob Clements. 

He reportedly told the coaches that “I think I committed too early and wanted to rethink it.” Smith’s mother had talked to me on Wednesday and was all excited about Oklahoma State. Recently, schools continued to offer Smith and he recognized them on Twitter. That really isn’t abnormal as kids are always showing off the offers on social media. 

I can also tell you there were other Division I schools there on Wednesday and I’m sure there were some on Thursday too. Tulsa and North Texas were among the schools at the Choctaw Team Camp on Wednesday. Smith most recently  publicized offers on his Twitter account from Washington State, Kent State, and Tulsa. I can’t imagine that those three would be cause to de-commit. 

This one goes down as strange. As of now, I get every indication that Oklahoma State will continue to recruit Will Smith, but I have to write this. Once a player de-commits, the percentages of them re-committing to that school in my experience is not high. 

Our Original Story 

CHOCTAW, Okla. – Heading to Choctaw in May for the Yellow Jackets Team Camp has become a tradition. I made my way over there to see linebacker Jeff Roberson, who signed with Oklahoma State in 2020 class. I was there in spring of 2021 to see Choctaw All-State defensive end DeSean Brown, who signed with OSU as part of the class of 2022. I was there last year to see quarterback Steele Wasel, who signed with Akron, and tight end and linebacker R.J. Jackson, who signed with Tulsa. Choctaw and head coach Jake Corbin always has players. 

I found myself on Wednesday (May 24) at Cox Field at Choctaw Junior High watching 6-4, 245-pound Will Smith, an edge rushing defensive end that can play anywhere in the defensive line and mix of odd and even fronts with the Yellow Jackets on defense. The lineage, call it a “pipeline” now wasn’t lost on Corbin. As he said there, a lot of gold helmets that have gone to Stillwater.  

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Choctaw head coach jake Corbin has coached multiple current Cowboys.

“I’ve heard DeSean (Brown) is doing well, and yes, I’ve seen him and he is a monster (Brown is now 6-3 and 265-pounds),” Corbin said of his former defensive end. “We’re rooting for him and another former Choctaw player Jeff Roberson is doing good as well. Then, I also coached Anthony Goodlow (Tulsa transfer) in high school (Del City) and I’m actually rooting for all three of those guys to be on the field at the same time and that would be neat for me.

It’s neat to see the next Choctaw contribution to Oklahoma State as well. When I spoke to Will Smith, the magic words that head coach Mike Gundy is always looking for from Cowboy football recruits came out from the Cowboy commit. 

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I love this shot of Smith (7) towering over the Enid quarterback.

“I like getting on the field,” Smith said of being listed as first team on both sides of the ball. “I just love playing football. That is what I do, I play football.”

You don’t know how much joy that brings to Gundy to hear those words. You also don’t know the joy that it brings to Jake Corbin that he can play Smith on offense and defense. I didn’t get it on video, but on offense Choctaw hit Smith with a quick screen and he took it through the Putnam City North defense the rest of the way for a touchdown.

“He was recruited so fast as a sophomore that he was kind of looked at as an edge guy, but he has ability on offense,” Cordin said. “He won a slam dunk contest and he is going to be a three-year starter in basketball at Choctaw, state semifinalist in 6A, and he’s not just on the team, he is one of the guys that got them there. He has a real good offensive skill set and can catch the ball and understands route concepts. Then he becomes a major size mismatch out there on the corner, so he can do both.”

Smith is not a tight end. He is a 6-4, 245-pound wide receiver. Smith hauled in 21 catches for 445 yards and four touchdowns last season. That is a huge problem for most corners. 

On defense, he recorded 34 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, seven sacks and 11 quarterback hurries. He also forced four fumbles and recovered two as well. He is very productive there too. 

“Now he’s a senior and it takes a little bit of time to get adjusted, ‘I’m a senior’,” Corbin added. “He’s now thinking what am I going to do with this team and what are we, as a team, going to do with the opportunity that we’ve been given.” 

Smith is totally focused on getting it done this season for the blue and gold, but just to bring it full circle. He was in Stillwater for his official visit this spring and he does have his contacts to keep him fresh on Oklahoma State.

Jerod Hill/OSU Athletics

Brown in drils this spring.

“It’s good to have DeSean (Brown) up there to point me in the right direction and tell me what I need to do to succeed,” Smith said. 

There will be plenty of time for that. Besides what he is doing right now catching passes, blocking on offense, and then on defense harrassing all opposing offensive players is just fine as far as preparation for college. Corbin and Choctaw staff do just fine prepping their guys to be future Cowboys.