Two Former Four-star Players Not listed on Spring Football Roster

Among the whirlwind of news on Monday with spring practice beginning and Mike Gundy’s pre-spring presser, some silent but huge news came out that several notable players were not listed on the spring roster for the year. Among the players, offensive lineman Jack Kurzu, receiver CJ Curry, and safety Deric Robertson. But even bigger news, two four-star players: Louis Brown and Chris Hardeman.

On defensive end Louis Brown: Brown was a four-star athlete from Burton, Texas, who had a winding road to Oklahoma State. The standout athlete played running back, receiver, and defensive end for his high school team, and his athleticism drew interest from many schools. He committed to Baylor early in the recruiting process, only to flip his pledge to Texas. Then, with weeks left until signing day, Brown mysteriously decommitted (likely as a mutual agreement) and then committed to OSU and eventually signed.

From ESPN recruiting insider Tom Luginbill:

Brown is a tall, rangy athlete who is just scratching the surface of his potential. Though narrow in base and long and lean, he shows the ability to be explosive and has wiry strength that we see transforming into awesome power at the college level. He can run, close and chase down the quarterback and has a ton of physical tools to develop.

Just speculating, but based on his recent twitter follows there is a chance he may be headed the junior college route.

On cornerback Chris Hardeman: Hardeman was another four-star athlete and cornerback from Alief, Texas who signed with the Cowboys; picking OSU over OU, Arkansas, LSU, and others. He decommitted from LSU and eventually signed with the Pokes, but never was able to crack the deep defensive back rotation and saw limited playing time on special teams. If I were to take a guess, I would say he is moving to a place where he can look to get more playing time. The Cowboys signed Malik Kearse, Madre Harper, Rodarius Williams and AJ Green as cornerbacks in the 2016 class. The competition may have been enough to realize his impact may have only been made on special teams.

Fortunately, Oklahoma State has a wealth of talent at both positions. But with only one four-star signee in the 2016 recruiting class in Tramonda Moore, seeing two former four-star players elect to leave the program is a tough sight.