A Thorough Review of the Wednesday Commitments Bonus on Rangel
STILLWATER – The big news on Friday of the long awaited commitment of Frisco (Lone Star), Texas quarterback Garret Rangel has a bonus with regards to other recruits and prospects for the 2022 class. Quarterback commitments are generally the hub in a recruiting class and they often inspire commitment out of existing committed players and uncommitted prospects. Rangel is already an invitee to the Elite 11 quarterback competition. He plays on a top seven-on-seven program and has the ears and respect of other top prospects in the DFW Metroplex.
That will help in the continued building of the class.
The class has another quarterback, but not really. This week on Thursday and Friday on the radio show, Sports Talk with Robert Allen and Friends, on Triple Play Sports Radio we spoke to all three of the Wednesday pledges the Cowboys picked up. The class is now at seven strong and we believe easily a top 15 class at this stage for 2022.
Cameron Epps of prestigious Chaminade College Prep in St. Louis, Mo. is a 6-3, 200-pound cornerback that was forced to play quarterback this past season and he found that experience made him a better corner.
“Playing quarterback, I understand what’s the harder throw to make and what’s the easier throw to make,” Epps explained. “When I go back to corner I try to re-route the receiver (based on the route) because I know what the quarterback thinks.”
Chaminade is also playing him some at safety. That is not because he can’t cover at the corner, he can. It is because he hits big like a safety, has shown he can rush the passer, and crush the run. He loves to hit.
“I love to bang around. I love to hit people,” Epps confirmed. “That is one of the things that I like most about the game.”
“Cam is from humble beginnings and he has to work very hard to where he is today, so he is a physical and gritty kid out in the flat are and he is not afraid to bang with anybody at any size or any level,” claimed Chaminade College Prep head coach Antoine Torrey. “Offensively he opened up and showed us some things we really didn’t see because we didn’t use him at quarterback the previous two years. They were things that showed his confidence and growth being a really big and physical corner at 6-3, 200 pounds and still has the hips and feet to really break and run and that brings a lot to the table. We’re really proud to have him for one more year and also to see what he will do at the next level.”
Epps had some major recruiting attention, but as we have stated the final commitment of the Wednesday trio, Pawhuska wide receiver Mason Gilkey had no Division I recruiting attention. He had 56 receptions for the Oklahoma Class A semifinalist for 1,261-yards, a 22.8-yards per catch average, and 26 touchdowns. His recruitment, based on Oklahoma State checking out places others did not, was a two week adventure.
“It started off with me sending film to Josh Gonzales and if he liked what he saw then we keep communicating,” Gilkey started recounting the process. “As time went on Kasey Dunn contacted me, which was very surprising and unexpected. He was talking to me and wanted to get to know me as a person and an individual. He talked to Coach Henno (Hennesy) as well and then lo and behold he calls me and wants me to talk to Coach (Mike) Gundy. Words can’t explain how surprised I was and it so unexpected. He’s talking to me and telling me he wants me to come play for them. I talked to my family and I always wanted to go there, so I called Coach Gundy back and told him I was coming and I wanted to take that scholarship.”
“I answer my phone and it’s Kasey Dunn and we’re talking about Mason and on the phone for an hour and he says that has to be something negative,” continued Pawhuska head coach Matt Hennesy. “I told him there isn’t much negative about Mason. Maybe that he is so competitive that he will get down on himself and did, espepcially when he was younger. He is getting better at that but he still has to work on it. He is a four-time gold medalist in track his freshman year. He would have been a 16-time gold medalist in track if they hadn’t cancelled (the meet) last year. This is not his high school coach saying how fast he is. We have documented proof of how fast he is.”
Gilkey also has a 36-inch vertical. He is freaky good, both in potential, physical skills, and in performance. The only negative and Hennesy says he knows it so well is his competition has been Class A. Hennesy, once the defensive coordinator at Jenks and head coach at Class 6A Muskogee, says confidently that Gilkey could play at that level and be very good.
The competition for Landon Dean, a cousin of Iowa State red-shirt freshman tight end Easton Dean, will have a chance to play against his cousin in Ames next season on Oct. 23. Iowa State offered Landon Dean, but he said if came down to the Cowboys and Kansas State.
“Once I told the two schools that it was down to them, Oklahoma State really stepped up the recruiting process,” Dean explained. “I even got down there on an academic visit and walked around the campus and I got the feeling that they were the one. That’s what I went with, my gut feeling and I’m really excited to be a Cowboy.”
Dean is an amazing athlete at his size. He could easily stay at tight end in college, but in watching video, you can see plenty of passion when he lines up at defensive end.
Add Rangel, and running backs C.J. Brown and Ollie Gordon to this group and you are looking at a very exciting recruiting class that is almost a third complete.