- Let's go ahead and start at the quarterback position. Hank Bachmeier's commitment to Boise State was a surprise; my sources were not expecting it. As we all imagined, Bachmeier and Paul Piferi are the top two targets for the Beavers at QB, but with Bachmeier committed to Boise, look for OSU to put the full court press on Piferi. I doubt that OSU will completely end their recruitment of Bachmeier until they get another commit. Piferi is now the No. 1 QB target for Oregon State. That is sourced.
- In a recent nugget report, I noted that it's unlikely that the Beavs bring any prospects up for spring official visits. The class of 2019 is the first group that is able to take official visits from April-June. I'm now hearing chatter that OSU will bring recruits up in June, and the likely reason for that is OSU wants to bring in their top recruits who are saying they want to decide sometime soon. If the recruit wants to commit but hasn't visited OSU, the Beavs' chances are slim. So why not just get him on campus while you can?
- One of those prospects that is likely to officially visit in June is Wynston Russell, a three-star cornerback from Chicago. Looks like a Tim Tibesar recruit. Right now, sources are telling me that Wisconsin and Oregon State are the teams to beat, but Wisconsin is not talking to him very much, whereas OSU is on him hard.
- Another name to keep an eye on is four-star southern California ATH Casey Cline. He's a do it all athlete playing OLB, TE, and QB, but I believe OSU wants him at OLB. I'll check in with him soon for an interview, but I'm hearing Cline is a priority recruit for the Beavers.
- A third 2019 recruit I keep hearing good things about is Ryan Franke, a DE/OLB recruit from Cali. The Beavers were the first school to offer him just a few weeks ago, and Army, Fresno State, and SJSU have followed suit since. Franke visited for the Beavs' spring game, and I think they may get this kid in just a matter of time. His brother plays for Colorado, but they haven't offered and his big bro graduates after this season, so he wouldn't get to play with him.
- I'm hearing really good things about the OSU assistant coaches on the recrutiing trail. One trusted source of mine said that Mike Riley is "kicking ass" as a recruiter. Kefense Hynson is doing very well in Oakland as he's from the area and is very respected there. Legi Suiaunoa is very well respected in the Samoan community and has great ties in Hawaii. Just all around, the staff is more well connected in their recruiting efforts, compared to the old staff, which I'm told was more of an individualized effort and not a cohesive group like this one. And it starts from the top as Jonathan Smith is more hands on with the recruiting process than Andersen was.
- Couple of final notes... The Beavs have three in-state commits for the '19 class, and it's clear that in-state recruiting is very important to the staff. Jake Cookus is the main recruiter in the state of Oregon but it's a team effort by the staff in-state. Everyone is involved ... OSU currently has 84 scholarship players and have 15 graduate after this season. With attrition in mind, OSU can probably take around 20-21 guys in the '19 class but it's really hard to project ... I'm told the door is not shut on OSU taking a grad transfer or transfer in general or really any new player but I haven't heard any specific names.
- In a recent nugget report, I noted that it's unlikely that the Beavs bring any prospects up for spring official visits. The class of 2019 is the first group that is able to take official visits from April-June. I'm now hearing chatter that OSU will bring recruits up in June, and the likely reason for that is OSU wants to bring in their top recruits who are saying they want to decide sometime soon. If the recruit wants to commit but hasn't visited OSU, the Beavs' chances are slim. So why not just get him on campus while you can?
- One of those prospects that is likely to officially visit in June is Wynston Russell, a three-star cornerback from Chicago. Looks like a Tim Tibesar recruit. Right now, sources are telling me that Wisconsin and Oregon State are the teams to beat, but Wisconsin is not talking to him very much, whereas OSU is on him hard.
- Another name to keep an eye on is four-star southern California ATH Casey Cline. He's a do it all athlete playing OLB, TE, and QB, but I believe OSU wants him at OLB. I'll check in with him soon for an interview, but I'm hearing Cline is a priority recruit for the Beavers.
- A third 2019 recruit I keep hearing good things about is Ryan Franke, a DE/OLB recruit from Cali. The Beavers were the first school to offer him just a few weeks ago, and Army, Fresno State, and SJSU have followed suit since. Franke visited for the Beavs' spring game, and I think they may get this kid in just a matter of time. His brother plays for Colorado, but they haven't offered and his big bro graduates after this season, so he wouldn't get to play with him.
- I'm hearing really good things about the OSU assistant coaches on the recrutiing trail. One trusted source of mine said that Mike Riley is "kicking ass" as a recruiter. Kefense Hynson is doing very well in Oakland as he's from the area and is very respected there. Legi Suiaunoa is very well respected in the Samoan community and has great ties in Hawaii. Just all around, the staff is more well connected in their recruiting efforts, compared to the old staff, which I'm told was more of an individualized effort and not a cohesive group like this one. And it starts from the top as Jonathan Smith is more hands on with the recruiting process than Andersen was.
- Couple of final notes... The Beavs have three in-state commits for the '19 class, and it's clear that in-state recruiting is very important to the staff. Jake Cookus is the main recruiter in the state of Oregon but it's a team effort by the staff in-state. Everyone is involved ... OSU currently has 84 scholarship players and have 15 graduate after this season. With attrition in mind, OSU can probably take around 20-21 guys in the '19 class but it's really hard to project ... I'm told the door is not shut on OSU taking a grad transfer or transfer in general or really any new player but I haven't heard any specific names.
