The Daily O’Collegian

One of the most explosive offenses in college football just got a little more help on the other side of the ball.

Coach Mike Gundy announced his 2008 football recruiting class at a Wednesday press conference, hours after the last of the prospects on the board signed their letters of intent.

After a tradition of highly touted running backs, quarterbacks and wide receivers, this year’s recruiting class for Oklahoma State turned its attention slightly more toward the defense.

Gundy was not hesitant to praise his incoming class.

“On paper, because of the number (of commitments) and the specific areas that we were able to address, I feel like this is the best class that we’ve had here since I have been named head coach,” Gundy said.

OSU got commitments from six players rated as four-star prospects by recruiting service http://www.rivals.com.

Of those six, four will be playing defense for the Cowboys.

“We were able to bring in several players on the defensive side of the ball that we hope can help us early in the season next year,” Gundy said.

Defensive tackle Swanson Miller of Butler County Community College filled an immediate need at defensive tackle for the Cowboys. His Butler teammate Maurice Gray will line up at defensive back for Oklahoma State.

The other two four-star defensive prospects who signed with OSU on Wednesday are safeties Markelle Martin of Wichita Falls, Texas and Victor Johnson of Waco, Texas.

Guthrie running back Kye Staley. Staley, who originally committed to the Cowboys before his senior season at Guthrie, kept the Cowboys on edge until the last second.He had been wavering between OSU and Arkansas the past couple of weeks.

Gundy said Staley is a huge asset for the Cowboys and has a chance to continue the great tradition of running backs at Oklahoma State.

“We’re very excited about him, he’s going to be a big back,” Gundy said. “By the time he burns off a little bit of fat and gets with (strength and conditioning coach Rob) Glass for a couple years, he could probably be in really good condition and still be 225 pounds.”

Despite racking up several recruits such as Staley, Gundy said it always takes time to see what type of an impact a player will truly make.

“A lot of people get caught up in ratings and the stars,” Gundy said. “But we all know that if you look back four or five years, it’s hard to really tell how these young men will pan out.”

While recruiting service rankings don’t mean everything, they certainly are some indication of a player’s potential.

Based on the rankings and addressing positions that the Cowboys badly needed to fill, Gundy said Oklahoma State has compiled yet another exciting class that the players, coaches and fans can be proud of.

“Our coaches worked extremely hard,” Gundy said. “The people in the community and our players did a great job, and we ended up with a really good class.”