Oklahoma State Lands Top 150 2026 DL Prospect Danny Beale III

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State football just landed one of the highest-ranked high school prospects they had in years as Cross County (AR) HS defensive lineman, Danny Beale III, just announced his commitment the Pokes.

Beale checks in at the No. 81 overall prospect on the ESPN Top 300 list and the No. 138 overall prospect on the 247Sports composite rankings, the No 17 overall defensive lineman in the class and the No. 1 overall prospect out of Arkansas.

Sometimes in this business you report on prospects who could be a possibility of getting a commitment from, but that you didn’t see it coming. And when that commitment comes from a player you know deep in your heart and mind is a difference maker, then you want to type in all CAPS and want to yell if you are on the radio and Danny Beale III is one of those. 

I can only imagine on Tuesday when he called Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy what the reaction was in the West Ends Zone. Beale III visited Oklahoma State on April 25, the last weekend of the spring football visit weekends. Since then, he has visited Missouri, Mississippi State and Mississippi. He also visited North Carolina in early April. 

Twitter/X (@DannyBeale57)

Bradford (in black) with Beale III and Cross Country HS head coach Van Paschal (left). 

Talking to several different coaches at Oklahoma State and some other schools, and the consensus is the 6-3 1/3, 330 pound Beale III will play as a true freshman and not just four games. He is a two-gap nose tackle that can control the middle. He will have the advantage watching this season, as he plays his senior season at Cross Country High School in Wynne, Ark, of watching a two-gap nose tackle in De’Marion Thomas, who transferred to Oklahoma State from Vanderbilt and was an All-State player in high school at Tulsa Union. 

You can watch Beale III in video and see what I’m talking about. He is powerful and punishing. He was named Class 2A All-State in Arkansas last season. The numbers were good, really good for a player inside as he had 53 tackles, three tackles-for-loss, and two passes defended. You have to remember he was double-teamed virtually every snap and sometimes triple-teamed. He also played both ways and helped anchor the Thunder Birds offensive line.

Beale III was also recruited heavily by home state Arkansas, Arkansas State, and then out of the SEC besides Mississippi, Mississippi State, and Missouri; he was offered by Georgia, Florida, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Auburn. Southern Cal, Oregon, SMU, and Purdue also pressed hard. 

This is a big recruiting win for everybody involved from Mike Gundy to Todd Bradford, Kenyatta Wright, Todd Grantham, Ryan Osborn, and D.J. Linton. 

This could help too. Oklahoma State is still waiting for an answer from long-time recruit in ESPN Top 300 prospect and right there at the top of the Arkansas in-state list in offensive tackle Evan Goodwin of Little Rock (Beaxite). Defensive linemen that Oklahoma State is still hoping to hear from include in-state prospects and highly-regarded players in defensive tackle Tajh Overton of Owasso and Landen Anderson of Edmond Santa Fe.