Good Hips

Proximity aside, Gabe Lynn says his favorite thing about Oklahoma State is their coaches. "I really liked meeting with all the coaches at their junior day," Lynn said. "They are all really cool and now I get letters from them like all the time. All the defensive coaches take time to write me a letter like every week. They seemed like a close-knit and tight group..."

Gabe Lynn, the 6-foot-1 180-pound, four-star cornerback helped lead his team, Jenks High School in Okla., to a 6A state championship as a junior. He finished the season with 52 tackles, five interceptions and four kicks returns for touchdowns. Lynn says he can bench 225 pounds and squats 330. He also has a 30-inch vertical and can run a 4.5 forty.

"I think my size is good for a cornerback," he said. "I play very physical. That's what really separates me from everybody else. I'm also a real hard hitter and I have really good hips."

In fact, flexibility and hip movement is something that Lynn takes very seriously. "I'm always making sure I work on improving my flexibility and staying loose. It's really important," he said. "The one thing I'd like to improve is my man cover skills. I need to focus on that a lot more."

Lynn, who has around 20 total scholarship offers, says he's still relatively open and has only visited four schools thus far. He vaguely admits to favoring Oklahoma State slightly over North Carolina, Oklahoma and Nebraska. The Cowboys are recruiting him the hardest.

"These four are really the only schools I've already been to," Lynn said. "I don't really have any set favorites anything right now. But I would like to have an idea of where I'm going by the start of my senior season.

"I think I owe my teammates and coaches my full attention to the team and don't want to be thinking about recruiting every night," he said. "But I'm not in a rush either, so if it don't happen, that's all right."

"Oklahoma State is only one hour away," he said. "Being close would be nice, but I'd go away if that's what I felt would be best. It'll only be a small factor."

Distance aside, Lynn says his favorite thing about the Cowboys is their coaches. "I really liked meeting with all the coaches at their junior day," he admitted. "They are all really cool and now I get letters from them like all the time. All the defensive coaches take time to write me a letter like every week. They seemed like a close-knit and tight group."

In-state rival Oklahoma is only about one and half hours away and Lynn says the Sooners were one of his favorite teams growing up. "I always liked the Big 12 and Oklahoma has great tradition and is always winning," he said. "I like that they win consistently every year and they send a lot of guys to the next level."

As an Oklahoma kid, Lynn admits he's interested in the Sooners' well-respected alumni support and networking opportunities. "They have a good degree and they have really good alumni support," Lynn said. "As a local kid I know I could go there and get my degree and that I'd be able to get a good job anywhere in Oklahoma."

While the Tar Heels are quite a bit farther away than the others, Lynn says he was very impressed when he attended their junior day. "I really liked the campus," he said. "It's very different from around here. There's a lot of tall trees and it's very green. It's probably the most beautiful campus I've ever seen."

North Carolina owes part of its appeal to Oklahoma. "Their head coach (Butch Davis) is from Oklahoma and so is their defensive line coach (John Blake)," he said. "In fact, their d-line coach recruited my brother (linebacker Phillip Dillard) for Nebraska when he was working there, so I've gotten to know him pretty well. He's a great guy and he's recruiting me really hard. He's hard to say 'no' to."

Lynn's been to several Husker games already to watch his brother play. "I like the atmosphere on game day," he said. "I've never been to another place like that. That stadium is just amazing and they have some of the best facilities too."

While Lynn likes the environment in Lincoln, he says he hasn't met any of the new coaches yet. "My brother likes them and says they are good guys," he said. "I'm looking forward to meeting them. He has good things to say about Nebraska, but he isn't trying to get me to go there. He says that I need to make a decision for myself."

The Huskers were the first to offer Lynn last September and he plans on attending their spring game on April 19. He says he'll go to a few camps this summer as well, but the only one has set up so far is the Nike camp at TCU.

In addition to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, North Carolina and Nebraska, Lynn also has offers from Miami, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech among others.

Lynn is ranked as the No. 3 cornerback in the country by Scout.com.

He reports a 2.9 core GPA and is taking the ACT for the first-time in April.