And the pick is …
Curry to team up with Gunnell at Arizona; Mayde Creek’s Stripling chooses Oklahoma
The only person happier than Boobie Curry on Wednesday inside St. Pius X High School's gym was Grant Gunnell.
One of the best quarterbackwide receiver duos in Houston is taking its game to the desert.
National Signing Day’s early period in Houston was earmarked mostly by well-known names who had long been committed and used this day as it’s intended — getting the recruiting process over and done with.
But Wednesday also included a couple of recruits who were still undecided, even as late as Tuesday, and scheduled to announced their intentions and then sign.
St. Pius X receiver Curry was one of them. He committed to Arizona, where St. Pius quarterback Gunnell also will be heading.
Curry broke the state record for catches in a game with 26 against Concordia Lutheran in October 2017. Gunnell has broken everything else, seemingly – his
195 career touchdown passes and 16,108 career passing yards are the all-time best in the state.
“It’s huge,” Curry said. “Knowing who is going to be my quarterback. That’s a big factor. I have to know who’s going to be able to give me the ball, help my dreams come true and help me get to the NFL.”
Surely, this had to be all Gunnell’s doing. He’s been committed to Arizona since June and perhaps did some recruiting of his own with Curry, who also was heavily recruited by Penn State.
But the pair say that was only part of the equation. The other half is a familiar face in the Houston area in Kevin Sumlin.
Gunnell is a one-time Texas A&M commitment and followed Sumlin from that head coaching job to his current post in Tucson. Gunnell says he believes in what the former University of Houston coach is building.
Curry said a relationship was built with Sumlin from recruiting visits to Texas A&M and blossomed from there. He’s impressed with the track record of receivers in Sumlin’s offense.
About 30 minutes after Curry announced his commitment, highly touted Madison cornerback Bobby Wolfe announced he will join Arizona as well.
Including Michael Wiley — the first Strake Jesuit running back to rush for over 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons — and Arizona did as well as any out-of-state school could in a state where the top recruits are trending back toward flagships Texas and Texas A&M.
After the early period, the only out-of-state school with as many signatures as Arizona from the Houston Chronicle’s Top 100 list is Northwestern, which signed St. John’s receiver Genson Hooper-Price, Strake Jesuit tight end Thomas Gordon, Langham Creek safety Corien Azema and Clear Springs defensive end Jason Gold.
Oklahoma has three signatures from that list – Bush safety Jamal Morris, Manvel defensive end Kori Roberson and the biggest catch from Wednesday in Mayde Creek defensive end Marcus Stripling.
Stripling donned an Oklahoma hat in front of ESPN cameras on Wednesday, choosing the Sooners over LSU, Texas and Texas A&M.
Stripling knew where he was going a week ago. The Sooners have someone who can have an immediate impact in the trenches.
“He told me I can come in as a freshman and literally change the game,” Stripling said of visits with Oklahoma coaches. “That’s what I’m going to try to do. I’m going to try to ball out."
Curry said going out of state was always his goal. He’s excited about forging a different path. Stripling had the same sentiments about getting away for a little bit.
It confirms what’s usually been true – Houston is one of the most heavily recruited cities around and there is plenty of talent to go around.
That will still hold true in February.
North Forest offensive tackle Javonne Shepard provided one of the biggest swerves of the day. The Texas commitment opted not to sign early. He’ll wait for the February period.
The Houston-area saw this last year when Westfield defensive tackle Keondre Coburn decided to wait. There really was never any indication Coburn would flip, though. What happens with Shepard is unknown for now.
Dulles offensive tackle Isaiah Hookfin announced he would sign Wednesday but later announced he would sign at another date. The 6-5, 270-pounder has Texas and Baylor among other schools after his signature.
Strake Jesuit made its mark on this day again when receiver Nathaniel Beal decommitted from Iowa State the day before the early period opened and signed with Virginia on Wednesday.
Manvel running back Garrison Johnson also decommitted Tuesday from North Texas, reopening his options for February.
Fifty-five players from the Chronicle's Top 100 list took advantage of the early period and signed Wednesday.
The biggest name left is Travis wide receiver Arjei Henderson, who decommitted from Oklahoma in November.