TU Signing Day Recap

The National Signing Day activity is done for the University of Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane has received 20 total letters of intent for the class of 2016, which includes two from the mid-term enrollees. The following is a quick recap of Tulsa's 2016 signees, with focus on in-state and highly-rated prospects, battles with Power Five programs, and more.

Tulsa reached 20 commitments just three days before prospects could start faxing in letters-of-intent, when Tulsa (TX) Central defensive lineman Shemarr Robinson gave his verbal pledge. The Hurricane had quite a flurry of activity in the last 10 days, with five commitments and a surprise official visit from Sapulpa (OK) running back Dae Williams.

Williams was committed to Louisville and made an official visit to the TU campus on January 29. He was on the fence up until signing day and had a letter of intent from both Tulsa and Louisville, but he ultimately decided to sign with the Cardinals.

For now, all the drama is gone. TU held on to recruits such as Keenen Johnson, Deya Mhiesen and Josh Stewart, despite late charges by other schools.

Tulsa has always emphasized the priority of recruiting the state of Oklahoma's top talent. Philip Montgomery and his staff hammered that point home once again this past year, as they signed five prospects from in-state high schools.

All five of those are listed in the Sooner State Rankings on Rivals.com: #4 Rowdy Frederick (Broken Arrow), #20 Jordan Brown (Stillwater), #34 Tiller Bucktrot (Stroud), #38 Shemarr Robinson (Tulsa Central) and #41 Manny Bunch (Roland).

All five were also part of the OK Preps Top 100: #9 Rowdy Frederick, #14 Jordan Brown, #21 Manny Bunch, #36 Tiller Bucktrot and #51 Shemarr Robinson. Two were listed in the Daily Oklahoman Super 30: Rowdy Frederick at No. 13 and Jordan Brown at No. 16.

Frederick, a first-team all-state player, was ranked as the nation’s No. 33 offensive guard by Rivals.com, and the Tulsa World ranked him as the No. 1 offensive lineman in the Tulsa Metro area.

There are many other impressive rankings up and down the list of Tulsa signees, and they come from the bevy of Lone Star State products. Montgomery and his staff used their deep connections to Texas in order to pull in 11 signatures from the fertile recruiting area.

The Hurricane pulled in two prospects ranked in the Dallas Morning News SportsDay Top 100: 3-star receiver Josh Stewart of Cedar Hill and Forney quarterback Luke Skipper.

Tulsa’s group of signees also includes two that were listed in the Waco Tribune CenTex Top 25: Waco La Vega OL Waahid Muhammad at No. 7 and Gatesville LB Cooper Edmiston at No. 9.

Not to be outdone, heavily recruited Houston Reagan linebacker Robert Revels was among those ranked in the Houston Top 100 by VYPE Magazine, coming in at No. 51.

Over the last twelve years, the University of Tulsa has made a habit out of beating Power Five programs for a few prospects. Philip Montgomery has extended that impressive run in a big way.

TU battled the most with Texas Tech of the Big 12, coming away with four prospects that held offers from the Red Raiders: Jordan Brown, Rowdy Frederick, Robert Revels and Tyarise Stevenson. Revels also held an offer from Indiana of the Big Ten.

The Hurricane beat out Kansas for 3-star receiver Josh Stewart and plucked 3-star OL Deya Mhiesen away from Kansas State and Arizona State. Kansas State had also offered Montray Norris, along with Iowa State. Overall, seven Tulsa signees held scholarship offers from programs in the Big 12, Big Ten or Pac 12 conferences.

Extending that further, TU went head-to-head with American Athletic Conference mates for seven its signees, beating out Houston, UCF, SMU, Tulane, Navy, Memphis and Connecticut.

Stay tuned to Inside Tulsa Sports as we dissect this class and look ahead at Tulsa's 2017 targets. In the meantime, here are a few links to keep you busy...

• Complete look at Tulsa signees
• Jan. 29 Official Visitors for Tulsa
• Jan. 22 Official Visitors
• Jan. 15 Official Visitors
• Prospects that listed an offer from Tulsa
• National Team Recruiting Rankings
• AAC Recruiting Rankings