Early risers
Several members of the 2019 football recruiting class in Oklahoma already have received multiple scholarship offers, including a talented tandem from Millwood High School.
De’Mariyon Houston spent the past summer encouraging Marcus Major Jr.
“Just wait, bro,” Houston often told Major.
In an offseason in which Houston was the lone player in his class at Millwood with Division I scholarship offers, he kept faith that his friend and running back would get his.
Neither had any idea Major would have more than a dozen Division I scholarship offers before March, becoming the most talked about player in the 2019 class in that span.
“I didn’t expect all of this to blow up,” Major said. “I just wanted to be great on the field. All the pain and hard work before and after practice paid off. I did not expect all of this, though.”
Major added his 14th scholarship offer Wednesday, this one coming from Baylor, as he’s skyrocketed up recruiting boards in just the past few weeks.
The 6-foot, 190-pound junior has offers from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Michigan, Texas, TCU and others. All have come since early December. Earlier this week, he was bumped from no stars to three stars by Rivals.com.
“He’s a sleeper,” Millwood coach Darwin Franklin said. “A lot of (recruiters) just really wonder where he came from. He’s been here the whole time. He was here in the spring. He just developed in the summer a lot.”
Major credits that to Houston, a star receiver who just added an offer last week from Florida, his 15th overall. He now holds offers ranging from Oklahoma State to Notre Dame to Minnesota.
Houston earned attention early with his speed and strong hands.
The 6-foot, 165-pound four-star recruit missed most of the fall with an injury. He said that stalled his recruitment. But it’s since picked up.
And he is happy his faith in Major was proven true.
“I’m more happy for him than I am for me, just seeing how we both came up and how hard we worked for this,” Houston said. “He deserved it.”
The Millwood duo is just the start of what appears to be a strong 2019 recruiting class. Here is a look at some of the other top recruits:
Dax Hill, Tulsa Washington
Dax Hill’s list keeps growing.
Tulsa Washington’s star safety is up to 20 scholarship offers after Florida State came in Monday. Alabama, OU, OSU, Ohio State and Michigan are among others have offered.
Hill is a first-team selection on The Oklahoman’s All-State team and the younger brother of OSU running back Justice Hill. He’s big and explosive at 6 feet 1 and 190 pounds.
247Sports.com has Hill rated as a five-star recruit. Rivals.com has him with four stars. At this point, it’s splitting hairs.
Trace Ford, Edmond Santa Fe
A 6-foot-4, 225-pound defensive tackle, Trace Ford has started to gain some attention.
And for good reason. He’s a powerful lineman who is already rated with four stars by Rivals. com with offers from Arkansas State, Cornell, Iowa State and Memphis. And all of those have come since Jan. 26.
Look for him to continue rising.
Grayson Boomer, Collinsville
A 6-foot-5, 230pound tight end, Grayson Boomer caught attention earlier than others in the class with offers coming early in his sophomore season.
And he was one of the first to commit from the state. Boomer committed to OSU in November, choosing the Cowboys over offers from OU, Notre Dame, Michigan, Nebraska and others.
Collin Clay, Putnam City
Putnam City has another defensive lineman gaining huge attention.
Collin Clay, a 6-foot3, 255-pound defensive end, is already up to 14 scholarship offers after Houston entered the picture this week.
A three-star recruit by Rivals.com, he battled through a high ankle sprain last season alongside Ron Tatum III, who signed with OU.
Clay’s scholarship list includes OSU, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa State, Michigan and others.