Beau comes to know Lobos during recruiting
Last July, Plano (Texas) Senior High School offensive lineman Beau Hott was thrilled to receive and accept a scholarship offer from Oregon State.
One by one, he contacted the other schools that had recruited him — Air Force, North Texas, Memphis and New Mexico among them — and told them of his decision.
Days later, he received a letter from UNM tight ends coach Derek Warehime, congratulating him on his commitment to Oregon State but letting him know that, should anything change, the Lobos remained highly interested.
“(Warehime) was the only one who did that,” Hott told the Journal in a recent interview.
As impressed as he was by Warehime’s letter, Hott remained 100 percent committed to the Beavers. In fact, his hometown newspaper, the Plano Star Courier, published a story under the headline, “Beau knows the Beaver State: No school in country capable of prying Plano OL from Oregon State.”
So it seemed. But then, after Hott’s outstanding senior season for the Wildcats, the recruiting earth beneath his feet began to shift.
On Dec. 5, Oregon State coach Mike Riley was announced as the new head coach at Nebraska. Five days later, Gary Andersen left Wisconsin to succeed Riley in Corvallis, Ore.
At first, for Hott, all seemed well. Andersen himself called the young offensive lineman in mid-December to assure him his scholarship was safe.
As the next few weeks passed, however, Hott began to wonder whether Oregon State remained as committed to him as he was to Oregon State. There were some disquieting developments.
“They were talking to Beau about grayshirting (delaying his enrollment until the spring of 2016),” said Plano coach Jaydon McCullough. “That wasn’t something he wanted to do.”
Hott revisited the Oregon State roster and saw the names of 12 offensive linemen who were either freshmen or sophomores last season — not to mention four commitments, not counting his own, in the class of 2015.
Also, he said: “I wasn’t sure (Andersen’s) system was as good a fit for me (as Riley’s).”
So, without de-committing from Oregon State, Hott decided to reopen his recruitment. Recalling Warehime’s letter, he said: “New Mexico was the first call I made.”
The weekend of Jan. 24-25, Hott made a recruiting visit to UNM.
“I liked everything about it,” he said. “I loved the coaches, and the facilities are awesome.”
Tuesday, Hott made two phone calls — one to tell Oregon State he wasn’t coming to Corvallis; one to tell UNM he was coming to Albuquerque.
He plans to sign a letter of intent to attend New Mexico on Wednesday. Until then, all commitments are nonbinding.
Hott’s recruiting journey is similar to those of current Lobos Dakota Cox and Nik D’ Avanzo, in that the UNM coaching staff stayed the course.
Cox, a linebacker from Draper, Utah, and D’ Avanzo, a defensive lineman from Baltimore, had committed to Cincinnati in 2012 before a coaching change — Butch Jones out, Tommy Tuberville in — left them in limbo.
Meanwhile, UNM defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove, who had recruited Cox out of Juan Diego Catholic High School, had made the same pledge to Cox that Warehime made to Hott: If things change, let us know. We’d love to have you with us.
Cox eventually opted for the Lobos. As a bonus, he put Cosgrove in touch with D’ Avanzo, who also came to UNM.
The two almost-Bearcats arguably were UNM’s two best defensive players last season as sophomores. Cox was a first-team All-Mountain West Conference selection. The coaching staff felt D’ Avanzo had an all-conference-caliber season, having nominated him for that status.
McCullough would admit to being prejudiced, but he believes UNM’s getting that same caliber of player in Hott.
“I don’t have the words to tell you,” McCullough said, “how much Beau improved from his freshman year to now. He just had an outstanding senior year.”
Hott was a first-team Texas District 6-6A selection last fall. ESPN.com sees him as UNM’s highest-ranked high school recruit — one of two, with Cibola safety Blair Manly, awarded three stars by The Worldwide Leader.
Having played guard in previous seasons, Hott, 6-foot3 and 280 pounds, moved to center as a senior. With Lobos all-conference center LaMar Bratton having exhausted his eligibility, the starting spot could be up for grabs.
“It’s wide open,” Hott said. “Well, not wide open, because there are already guys there (in the program).
“But there are four or five guys (in the mix), and I plan to be one of them.”
HAYWARD COMMITS: Los Angeles Dorsey High School linebacker/safety Sadique Hayward has committed to UNM, according to multiple online sources.
Hayward, listed at 6-2 and 200 pounds, likely will play safety for the Lobos.