TU National Signing Day 2017

The Tulsa coaching staff has put together yet another strong football recruiting class, and it all culminates today for the class of 2017. TU won recruiting battles against numerous Power Five programs and stocked up on highly-recruited prospects. With a hectic morning of recruiting activity ahead, let Inside Tulsa Sports guide you through the mountain of National Signing Day info!

Tulsa is expected to sign a large number of top prospects, including 3-star offensive lineman Dante Bivens from Spring (TX) Klein Collins and 3-star receiver Sam Crawford from Rockwall (TX). Of course, TU already has linebacker Chase Brown from Kerrville (TX) Tivy in the fold as a mid-term enrollee. Brown was rated one of the Top 10 prospects in the San Antonio area by the San Antonio Express-News.

As one of the Golden Hurricane's better recruiting classes in recent history, it includes seven names from the Sooner State’s Top 40, as well as four prospects from the Dallas Morning News Top 100. The class also includes the nation's 34th-rated offensive guard and four Houston Area Top 100 prospects.

Stay tuned to Inside Tulsa Sports throughout the day for extensive coverage of the Hurricane’s 2017 signees. Plus, over the next few weeks, look for exclusive information on Tulsa's early 2018 recruiting targets, and much more!

In most recruiting cycles, there seems to always be a surprise or two in Tulsa's recruiting class on National Signing Day or the final few days leading up to it. This year was no different, with nine commitments coming in the past 13 days, and there will be some names to keep an eye on this morning.

Tulsa is currently sitting at 22 commitments and they are hoping to add one more in junior college cornerback Jalin Burrell of Moorpark College, who visited TU on January 20. He also visited New Mexico on January 27 and is yet to announce his decision, which may not come until he’s sent his letter of intent to the school of his choice. Burrell also has offers from Nevada, Purdue, Iowa State, New Mexico, Louisiana Tech, Colorado, Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette and South Alabama.

The Hurricane’s two most recent commitments came yesterday, as we first reported in Hurricane Alley. Both prospects – Plano (TX) offensive lineman Gerard Wheeler and Spring (TX) Klein Collins athlete Bryson Powers – were previously committed elsewhere, so TU coaches will be anxiously awaiting their paperwork this morning.

Wheeler had been committed to Louisiana-Monroe since January 15 before visiting Tulsa on January 27 and switching his verbal pledge to TU on January 31. He graded at 90-percent or above in all 10 games this season. He had 43 pancake blocks and 67 blocks that triggered explosive plays, earning District 6-6A First-Team honors and selection to the All-Collin County First-Team.

Powers committed to Harvard back in August over numerous offers, but switched to Tulsa yesterday. The Hurricane had been recruiting him since May for the ‘Star’ linebacker position. He played defense for Klein Collins this season, but spent much of his time at quarterback, running back and receiver. He threw for 763 yards and five touchdowns, ran for 783 yards and 19 touchdowns, and also had seven receptions for 173 yards and a score, averaging 24.7 yards per catch.

Tulsa’s heavily-recruited commitments, which describes most of them, always seem to have late overtures from Power Five programs in the final weeks leading up to signing day. While they appear to be solid with the Hurricane, it is always nerve-racking for TU coaches until they see letters of intent come in with signatures.

InsideTulsaSports.com will keep you posted on all of these prospects, as well as any breaking news in Hurricane Alley.

Inside Tulsa Sports will keep you updated throughout the day on any surprises, as well as confirm that commitments have been turned into signatures. We will also be providing photo galleries and videos of TU signees, analysis of Tulsa’s recruiting class by regional and national Rivals.com recruiting experts, exclusive quotes and position breakdowns.

Look for info on Tulsa’s recruiting battles with Power Five programs, the Hurricane’s focus on local recruits, rankings of interest and much more.

If you aren’t already a subscriber, this is a perfect time to sign up for Inside Tulsa Sports.

Below are links that will take you to the most comprehensive set of information on Tulsa recruiting information anywhere.

• Inside scoop in Hurricane Alley
• 2017 Tulsa Commitment List
• List of Tulsa Official Visitors
• Prospects that listed an offer from Tulsa
• National Team Recruiting Rankings
• AAC Recruiting Rankings

READ MORE TULSA RECRUITING NEWS:

• Signing Day Eve Recruiting Notes
• Cedar Hill DE commits to Tulsa (FREE)
• Monday Recruiting Notebook – What’s left for Tulsa?
• Tulsa gains 3 commitments on Sunday (FREE)
• All the 2017 TU Football offers over the past two years
• Commitment Spotlight: WR Sam Crawford (FREE)
• Commitment Spotlight: ATH Reed Martin
• Baylor punter transfers to Tulsa
• LB Chase Brown gets started early at TU (FREE)
• Detailed look at Tulsa’s Jan. 27 Official Visitors
• Detailed look at Tulsa’s Jan. 20 Official Visitors
• Detailed look at Tulsa’s Jan. 13 Official Visitors
• Discuss everything TU in Hurricane Alley
• TU Football offers – class of 2018
• TU Football offers – class of 2019