INCOMPLETE STAFF
main factor in Flanagan’s flip.
Charleston senior Sean Michael Flanagan signed a national letter of intent with Oklahoma State on Wednesday during a ceremony at the high school basketball arena.
Flanagan, 6-1, 190 pounds, who was a verbal commitment to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville before flipping to the Cowboys earlier this week, is a two-way player who could play receiver or defensive back for the Cowboys.
Flanagan committed to Arkansas last summer but changed his mind based on his connection with the Cowboys’ coaching staff.
“I’d been going back and forth and was on the fence with Oklahoma State and Arkansas from the beginning,” Flanagan said. “Oklahoma State was the first Power 5 school to offer me, and I’d visited their campus a lot and watched them in spring practice.”
Flanagan admitted when he committed to Arkansas last summer that it was a spur-of-themoment decision at the end of Arkansas’ summer camp.
“A lot of it was me growing up in Arkansas and it being a dream to go to the school you grow up watching since you were a little kid,” he said. “I really didn’t think it through. I went to their camp, they offered and I committed.
“But as time went on, I started thinking about it more thoroughly and the relationship I had with the staff at Oklahoma State.”
He said when Arkansas’ season started to slide, he realized the staff he committed to and the relationships he’d built with the previous coaching staff were going to change. He also praised the new staff and Coach Chad Morris but added that the absence of a defensive coordinator was another factor in his decision to back off his verbal commitment.
“You want to get to know the guy you’re going to play for before you sign because you want to know what kind of role you will have,” he said. “That was important to me because I’m an early enrollee. Coach Morris and those guys were awesome, but it was too late.”
Despite missing 2 games with a shoulder injury, Flanagan caught 41 passes for 826 yards and 12 touchdowns this season. He also ran the ball 37 times for 212 yards and 6 touchdowns. He had 268 yards in kickoff returns and 150 in punt returns while returning 2 kickoffs for touchdowns.
At safety, which is the position he was recruited for, Flanagan recorded 70 tackles and one interception to help the Tigers to a 12-2 season.
“I’ll play wherever they want me to, but I feel like I have a higher ceiling on defense,” Flanagan said.
He plans to enroll at Oklahoma State on Jan. 10 and participate in spring drills with the Cowboys.