Prized recruit picks OSU

By Ryan Wood     Feb 5, 2007

Perhaps the most talked-about recruit Kansas University’s football team was in position to land this season has decided to go elsewhere.

William Cole, a 5-foot-10, 165-pound athlete out of Cedar Hill, Texas, announced on a Dallas television station Sunday that he would sign with Oklahoma State. Cole, rated by Rivals.com as one of the top 15 players in talent-rich Texas, had previously narrowed his choices to Kansas, Oklahoma State and Arkansas.

Cole was one of the highest-rated recruits KU pursued this year, and certainly the most heralded recruit KU was in the running for. He played quarterback for Cedar Hill High last season and dazzled the state of Texas with his extraordinary playmaking ability. In the Class 5A state title game, he carried the ball 14 times for 290 yards, including touchdown runs of 63, 75 and 71 yards. Cedar Hill won, capping a 16-0 season.

Remarkably, Cole rushed for 2,966 yards and 41 touchdowns in 16 games and passed for 1,606 yards and 21 more scores. Despite the gaudy numbers, he projects as a wide receiver or cornerback at the college level.

KU was after Cole and good friend and teammate Dezmon Briscoe early in the recruiting process. Briscoe, a 6-foot-2 wide receiver, committed to Kansas last month, which seemingly improved KU’s chances at Cole.

Cole made his official visit to KU the weekend of Jan. 12, then visited Arkansas and Oklahoma State the following weekends.

“I was hanging out with the players in the hotel room and I just felt like that was the spot,” Cole told Rivals, referring to Oklahoma State. “I felt like I could see myself staying there for school.”

All was not lost for KU over the weekend, though. The Jayhawks landed two oral commitments on Sunday: offensive lineman Jeff Spikes, a 6-6, 315-pound tackle out of Painesville, Ohio; and Rell Lewis, a 5-10, 180-pound athlete out of Muskogee, Okla.

Spikes, who battled a foot injury throughout high school, had scholarship offers from Illinois, Pittsburgh, Bowling Green and Toledo. He appeared on KU’s radar just recently because of new offensive coordinator Ed Warinner, who has recruited Ohio most of his coaching career.

Lewis, meanwhile, picked Kansas over Air Force and Iowa State. He projects as a wide receiver for the Jayhawks.

Both are expected to sign their letters of intent on Wednesday, which is national signing day for football.

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