New Big 12 coaches busy on signing day
Oklahoma and Texas each had only one spot to fill in their top-10 recruiting classes. The four Big 12 schools with new coaches were a bit busier Wednesday. New Kansas coach Les Miles added nine players in the second signing period, including running back and former Michigan commitment Amauri Pesek-Hickson, for an initial Jayhawks class of 19 signees. Kansas State coach Chris Klieman, who didn't start fulltime with the Wildcats until after North Dakota State's latest FCS national championship in early January, got their class to 23 with seven more players. Sallisaw native Matt Wells also added seven more signees at Texas Tech, after 11 before Christmas soon after he left Utah State for the Big 12. New West Virginia coach Neal Brown signed three defensive players, even as the former Troy coach is still in the process of delegating recruiting responsibilities for his staff. Brown said none of the 16 players from the December signing class sought to get out of their national letter of intent after Dana Holgorsen left for Houston right after the new year.
Michigan lands Big Ten's top class
Michigan finished the football recruiting cycle with the top class in the Big Ten for the first time since 2007, and four other conference programs were ranked in the top 25 in the nation Wednesday. Penn State ranked No. 2 in the conference and No. 13 nationally. Ohio State, which had been No. 1 in Big Ten recruiting eight years in a row, slipped to No. 3 during the coaching transition from Urban Meyer to Ryan Day. The Buckeyes' No. 14 national ranking was their lowest since 2010. Nebraska and Purdue had the top two classes in the Big Ten West, coming in at Nos. 4 and 5 in the conference and Nos. 20 and 25 in the nation.
Extra points
• Minnesota has added one more scholarship player to the 2019 recruiting class with safety Gervarrius Owens, a first team National Junior College Athletic Association All-American selection last year at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. Owens will have three seasons of eligibility remaining for the Gophers, who also announced Wednesday the addition of 10 players to the roster as walk-ons on national signing day. • Wide receiver George Pickens, the nation's No. 24 overall prospect according to composite rankings of recruiting sites compiled by 247Sports, flipped his commitment from Auburn to Georgia. Alabama lost a couple of top-200 verbal commitments when defensive end Khris Bogle (No. 71) chose Florida and cornerback Christian Williams (No. 160) signed with Miami.