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Recruiting Rewind: 4-star signees have up and down careers at Tulsa

QB Shavodrick Beaver transferred to Midwestern State after two seasons as a backup at TU.
QB Shavodrick Beaver transferred to Midwestern State after two seasons as a backup at TU. (AP Images)

It’s a very rare occurrence when the nation’s elite 5-star prospects consider taking their talents to a school in a non-Power Five conference. However, programs like Tulsa do routinely get legitimate chances at snagging 4-star prospects, and the Hurricane has done so seven times in the past 17 years.

Unfortunately, signing a 4-star prospect doesn’t guarantee they will make an impact. Only one of Tulsa’s 4-star signees has clearly lived up to his Signing Day hype. That was Damaris Johnson, and he gave up his final year of eligibility to pursue professional football.

Tulsa has much more experience seeing overlooked 2-star prospects become stars in college, proving that recruiting analysts missed seeing their potential in high school. The majority of Tulsa’s 4-star signees have either suffered major injuries, transferred, quit the team or not made it to campus at all.

Tulsa's most-recent 4-star addition, Baylor transfer quarterback Zach Smith, gets to write his story beginning in 2019. He sat out last season and is now competing for the starting QB spot at TU.

Below is a look back at the Hurricane’s highest-rated signees since 2002:

2003 - BRODERIC JONES

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As a senior at Ennis High, Jones caught 58 passes for 983 yards and 19 touchdowns, earning Class 4-A Player of The Year honors. As a junior, he caught 94 passes for 1,602 yards with 11 touchdowns, and he ended his high school career with the Texas record for touchdowns in a career.

Jones committed to West Virginia in the 2002 class, flipped to Texas Tech and back to West Virginia again, but he didn’t sign and was working on academic issues. He was still working on those issues when he signed with Tulsa in the 2003 class, and he never made it to campus.

2008 - DAMARIS JOHNSON

As a senior at Destrehan, Johnson had 81 catches for 1,228 yards and 12 touchdowns, while rushing for 133 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries. He caught 59 passes as a junior for 1,116 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Johnson signed with Tulsa over offers from TCU, Minnesota, Memphis, Louisiana Tech and several others. He left TU as the NCAA's all-time record-holder for all-purpose yards with 7,796 yards and for career kickoff return yardage with 3,417 yards in just three seasons, as he didn’t return for his senior season.

Johnson led the nation as a sophomore (224.4 ypg) and junior (202.2 ypg) for all-purpose yardage and caught a pass in all 39 career games. He also had 150 plays go for over 20 yards in his career.

Johnson finished his TU career with 2,746 receiving yards on 188 receptions, 1,062 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns.

2009 - SHAVODRICK BEAVER

Beaver was the No. 8 dual-threat quarterback in the country and had committed to Michigan over offers from a number of other schools, including Texas Tech, TCU, Nebraska, Clemson and Arizona. However, he switched his commitment to Tulsa after an official visit in December and enrolled early in January. He was rated as the 24th-best player in the state of Texas and finished at No. 206 on the Rivals250.

Beaver was a three-year starter in high school and totaled 9,050 career passing yards and 125 touchdowns, while rushing for 2,450 yards and 22 TDs in his career. He played in only four games as a senior, due to injury.

Beaver was named the District 5-4A MVP as a junior after passing for 2,629 yards and 31 touchdowns, and rushing for 482 yards and five touchdowns. He threw for 1,500 yards and 11 touchdowns during his sophomore season.

However, at Tulsa, things never panned out. Beaver played in 15 career games over two seasons, totaling 233 career yards of offense and one touchdown. He was set to sit out the 2011 season due to academics but instead transferred to Midwestern State, where he saw limited action in 11 games over two seasons and completed 17 of 26 passes for 223 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

2011 - CODY GREEN

Green signed with Nebraska in the 2009 class over offers from Texas A&M, Stanford, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Baylor, Mississippi State and others. He was rated the No. 6 dual-threat quarterback nationally and the No. 173 overall prospect.

Green compiled a 4-0 record as a starter for the Cornhuskers with two wins in 2009 and two victories in 2010. He connected on 54-percent of his passes for 657 yards and five touchdowns, while playing in a total of 18 career games at Nebraska.

Green chose to transfer to Tulsa over offers from Kansas State and Baylor. He sat out the 2011 season and then won the starting job at TU for the 2012 season, leading the Hurricane to a Conference USA championship and win over Iowa State in the Liberty Bowl.

Green wasn’t counted on for the heavy lifting in 2012, as Tulsa possessed a stout defense and punishing run game. He passed for 2,592 yards and 17 touchdowns, adding 283 yards and four scores on the ground.

Expectations were high for 2013, but after starting 1-4, Green was replaced by redshirt freshman Dane Evans in the middle of the season. Green started seven games as a senior, completing 117 of 211 passes for 1,229 yards, seven touchdowns and eight interceptions.

2013 - ROB BOYD

Boyd was Tulsa’s first commitment in the 2013 class. He had heavy interest early from Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Nebraska, Missouri and others, with early offers from Memphis, Navy, ULM and Arkansas State. He was ranked as the No. 16 offensive guard nationally and No. 3 overall prospect in Oklahoma.

Unfortunately, Boyd never made an impact at TU. He redshirted in 2013 and then left the team after the 2014 season.

2015 - CHAD PRESIDENT

After a lengthy commitment to Baylor, President switched his pledge to Tulsa in December 2014 after Philip Montgomery left Baylor to take over the Hurricane program. President also held offers from Texas, Houston and Texas Tech. He was rated as the nation’s No. 9 dual-threat quarterback and No. 212 prospect overall, as well as the No. 28 overall prospect in Texas.

As a senior at Temple High School, President led his team to the state title game and a 13-2 record, earning 17-5A Offensive Player of the Year. He completed 146-of-246 passes for 2,391 yards and 23 touchdowns, with 10 interceptions. He also had 107 carries for 878 yards and six scores, averaging 8.2 yards per rushing attempt.

President had an up and down career at Tulsa that was muddled with injuries, causing him to miss out on his full potential. An extremely talented athlete, he missed all but one game in 2016 due to a chipped femur and suffered a torn ACL at the end of 2017. His 2018 season was also cut short due to injury, as he underwent leg surgery to repair a broken fibula in November and decided to retire from playing.

President played in 23 games at Tulsa, completing 84 of 162 passes for 930 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also rushed for 513 yards and nine scores, and he caught one pass for eight yards.

2018 - ZACH SMITH

Smith was rated as the No. 11 pro-style quarterback in the 2016 class, signing with Baylor over offers from Texas and SMU. In his first two seasons with the Bears, he started 10 games, completing 221 of 397 passes for 2,997 yards, 21 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. His best performance was against Oklahoma, completing 33-of-50 passes for 463 yards and four touchdowns.

Smith transferred to Tulsa and sat out the 2018 season. He was impressive in spring practice while competing for the starting QB job against Seth Boomer and Davis Brin, and that competition has continued into fall camp of 2019. He hopes to be the starter when TU opens the season at Michigan State.

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