Nuggets on my Interview with OSU Target Aden Kelley

Had a really great discussion with Aden Kelley on Wednesday about his recruitment. We talked about Collin Oliver’s impact, his OSU thoughts, what he’s doing in quarantine, etc.

Writing a story now for the main page but dropping the audio in exclusively for PFB+ers early right here
(will not be posting the audio anywhere else; using it for the story and just transcribing) … along with a few bullet points that stood out to me from our chat. Not everything in the conversation will be included in the story so I figured I’d just share it all for the +ers. Kind of a fun convo (not all convos with recruits are fun!)

NOTE: THIS IS NOT FOR PUBLIC CONSUMPTION OUTSIDE THE PFB+ WALLS. Please do not share the SoundCloud link or other details herein.

  • He says he wanted to commit two weeks ago to the school of his choosing, but that he’s not entirely set – yet. He’s fiddling and wants to make sure he’s 100% confident so he makes only one commitment and doesn’t back out later.

  • Not public, but Kelley tells me he’s down to two or three schools. Been working through the list the last few weeks, and “Oklahoma State’s definitely on the list.”

  • “I’ve been in contact with a lot of the coaches at OSU, from Gundy to Coach Richmond to Coach Clements to Coach Vic. They’ve all been really involved, been really good with me.”

  • On OSU’s messaging to him, it’s simple: “Stay home and make an impact here in your own state. That’s the big thing they’ve pointed out, the thing that’s made sense to me. To stay home and do something special.”

  • On Collin Oliver committing [EYEBALL EMOJIS]: “He’s a heck of a player. I saw he committed to OSU, and I was kinda shocked honestly. I followed him on Twitter, he hit me up and said, ‘Hey man, make the move.’ That sparked a little something there. He’s a great player. Being another in-state kid, I have a chance to do something special.”

  • Kelley has OSU ties out the wazoo. His mom went to OSU and graduated from there. The harvest crew he works with are OSU alums. “I’m surrounded by a bunch of OSU alums the next few months while I’m working [on the farm.]”

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Says a lot about his work ethic.

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I like that he’s taking his time to make sure he’s 100% certain on his choice so he doesn’t back out later.

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Yeah, that part was super impressive to me. He basically works the farm and moonlights as a four-star recruit.

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We do have great appeal to farm kids.

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Did I hear him say that Gundy calls him every few weeks??

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This guy sounds like an Oklahoma state lineman. Pretty impressive that he is a top 200 recruit while only working out 3 days a week, and with football as a secondary priority after the farm.

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Can we just get James Washington to give him a call already and seal the deal?

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Can only imagine Gundy rolling up in his tractor.

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What other schools do we think he likes? My guess is they have an Ag college too

Good stuff Boone, thanks.

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Might have Gunnar roll up on the other one.

Of his other top schools, two do (Nebraska and Iowa State) and one doesn’t
(TCU). Those are the other schools with “warm” status on 247 anyway.

He is multi-position, multi-sport player who works on a farm.

Sounds like a recruit Gundy would create in a lab.

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thank you @cometpoke!

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Haha so true but in all honesty his upside is exponential because of these things. His frame is set to hold quite a bit more size

I don’t like this on two levels.

  1. I don’t like that a great player committing to OSU is ‘shocking.’
  2. And I also don’t like that if HE thought it was shocking, then that doesn’t just turn up the confidence-ometer.

We’ll see.

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My read was that he did not mean it in the way he was shocked by a great player picking OSU. He was shocked specifically with Oliver in part because he doesn’t follow recruiting closely.

My bet is Aden and Oliver both end up at OSU.

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I like that you interviewed him, and you are also picking him. Good sign.

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