Last year, the Midlands region produced not only TheInsiders.com number one recruit Jeff Byers from Fort Collins, Colorado, but also the Heisman Trophy-winner Jason White from Tuttle, Oklahoma.
“I think the Midlands Hot 50 will increase the exposure for kids in this region,” said TheInsiders.com Big 12 and Texas Recruiting Analyst Stacey Dean. “It’s something we wanted to do for football hungry states Oklahoma, Missouri and Colorado, as well as states like Kansas and Nebraska. I’m very excited about this project."
“And we look forward to providing the most accurate top-50 list in the nation. We want to provide recruitniks a gauge of just who is getting the best talent from this part of the country,” Dean added.
TheInsiders.com's Midlands Region experts Stacey Dean, Josh Clark and Andrew Friedman put the rankings together while also leaning on state-by-state input from some of the top professionals in the business. Questionable if any other regional list went through as much debate as this one, but this list should provide a good, early look at the top D-I prospects in this region.
Oklahoma leads the other six states in the Midlands region when it comes to churning out the most D-I prospects. Annually, they produce a total of 39-40 prospects and they put a whopping 21 kids on our debut Midlands Hot 50 as well as landing kids in the top three slots.
TheInsiders.com’s Midlands Region No. 1 is Reggie Smith of Edmond Santa Fe. Last year, Smith was not only named Oklahoma’s Offensive Player of the Year, but also the Defensive Player of the Year.
“While Reggie is wide-open his favorites include the schools that have offered (‘Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Kansas State, Nebraska, UCLA’) and some that have yet to offer (‘USC, Notre Dame, Florida'),” said TheInsiders.com’s Bryan Munson.
"I don't really have a firm list of favorites,” Smith told Munson. “I like all of the schools that have offered and I like some outside of the schools that have offered."
Checking in at No. 2 and No. 3 are Oklahomans Curtis Lofton from Kingfisher and Phillip Dillard at Jenks. Both will play the linebacker position with Dillard projected in the middle and Lofton outside.
The Show Me State sends roughly 28 athletes to D-I schools. And they grabbed a total of 12 spots on our first Midlands Hot 50. For top players in Missouri, typically you will check with Kansas City Rockhurst where this year D.J. Hord resides. Projected as a wide receiver, Hord has reportedly run a 4.3 forty and we list him in the 4.4-range. Another Kansas City speedster is Tarell Corby at North who reportedly ran 4.5 forty at the Missouri Camp, outstanding for a DE, that we currently list at 4.5/4.6...
While Oklahoma and Missouri claim top honors for number of D-I athletes, Colorado comes in third with an average of 23 players annually. The best player in Colorado attends Denver Mullen HS, however the debate is whether its OL Jesse White or RB Maurice Greer. As a junior, Greer rushed for over 2,000 yards and 30 TDs. Meanwhile, White has excellent footwork, but is also described by his HC Dave Logan as "the strongest kid I have ever had”. Strength is also the major asset of Midlands Hot 50 No. 13 -- Fort Collins lineman Jon Cooper.
Annually, the state of Nebraska produces about 10-12 prospects a year and they have two of the more intriguing players in 6-7 TE Zach Potter of Omaha Creighton and OT Orion Matthies of Overton. Potter, with his size/frame, could "beef-up" and make an excellent OT prospect, however he wants to play TE. Matthies’ only competition to date has been in eight-man football, however he has the size and speed of a D-I lineman.
The Sunflower State, known more for its high school basketball, offer around a dozen D-I football prospects a year. Major players in Kansas include two athletic-type QBs in Mack Brown of North Shawnee Mission and Kerry Meier of Pittsburg. Brown, as a junior, passed for 22 TDs and ran for 2 more. Meier, who had an impressive elite 11 camp, has excellent bloodlines: Brother Shad, TE for the Tennessee Titans; Brother Dylan, QB at KSU.
Note from Dean: "We’d like to give special thanks to top consultants James Hale and Robert Allen (Oklahoma), Steve Ryan (Nebraska) and TheInsiders.com’s special consultant/research stud Jerry Scott (who also assisted in writing this story).
"Our leading consultant on this project was Midlands Recruiting Analyst Josh Clark."
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