Keeping up with the "Big Three" this year will be the overall theme of the blog along with stories around the state dealing with Oklahoma's recruiting efforts.

At this juncture Alex Ross, Barry Sanders and Sterling Shepard are now entering the heart of their season with district play starting for the football stars. While each player has seen relative success up to this point, look for each to step up now that it is time for districts to begin.

Alex Ross is still playing with an ankle injury that has held him back from being his completely dominant and explosive self. However, he as still had a successful start to the season averaging 7.8-yards per carry and three touchdowns on only 28 carries over the first three games. (Courtesy of Tulsa World)

Barry Sanders already has four touchdowns on only 27 carries averaging over 6.5 yards per carry. (NewsOK.com)

Sterling Shepard, as versatile as ever has continued his dominance of 3-A football, scoring four touchdowns on 13 receptions. (Newsok.com)

courtesy of Oklahoma High School Sports Express

As said before, Shepard and Ross are Sooner commitments for the class of 2012 and as such, their recruiting trail has slowed to just about a halt with the only news coming from either player is deciding which OU game they will or will not attend.

However, with Sanders, recruiting is still going strong for him as he continues to take visits to colleges throughout the season. He has already visited Ole Miss for the BYU game, and will definitely make a trip a to Florida State, Alabama and Stanford. His father is the great Oklahoma State Cowboy runningback Barry Sanders so the younger Sanders has great interest in his father's alma mater and will most likely make a trip their as well.

His trip to Ole Miss went well according to Rebelgrove.com and will assuredly keep in touch with the coaches and staff because the Rebels are in need of quality running backs for the next couple of years.

Now, it is time to look at what schools have the best chance landing Sanders' signature.

Oklahoma State is the hometown and legacy school for Sanders, for that reason alone, thy have an edge on the other schools. Coupled with their ever-strengthening national perception, great facilities and his good relationship with the entire coaching staff, the Cowboys are more than a formidable decision for the young Sanders. However, Sanders has said on many occasions that he is not interested in following in his father's footsteps and that he will blaze his own trail regardless of the school he attends. This may or may not be a telling sign that Sanders is going elsewhere to play football, but it is definitely a sign that Oklahoma State is not a shoo-in for his signature in February.

Alabama made a great impressions on Barry Sanders when the Crimson Tide's head coach, Nick Saban came to Sanders' school to speak with his coaches about the prized running back. Sanders knows about the running back tradition at Alabama and their talented teams since Saban has taken over. If I had a guess, I think Sanders will not end up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Stanford is a great option for Sanders because of the location, weather and football prowess. They are now in the national spotlight and Sanders would love to be a player to continue that trend. However, I do not think Stanford is pressing for Sanders as much as other schools are and because of that, I do not think Sanders ends up in Palo Alto, California either.

Florida State University is a viable option, but I think after another visit, Sanders may realize he does not want to live in Tallahassee. (I mean who would?) This is a great fit for Sanders in terms of offensive style and play calling. We will see about Florida State– Jimbo Fisher, Mark Stoops and company have done a masterful job recruiting over the last couple of years and it is hard to imagine them not getting any player they want at this point in time. So FSU, along with Oklahoma State seem to be the place I could see Sanders at the most. Once the season ends, we will see where he takes more visits, and by that time Sanders could have an all-new top four or five schools.

See you next time.

The Big Three

The 2011 season for high school football players is now in full swing and the recruiting story lines within Oklahoma and the Plains will only grow as the season wears on.

Before the season even began, however, there were some noteworthy moves made within the state that need to be addressed.

The state’s top three players for the class of 2012: Alex Ross from Jenks, Barry Sanders and Sterling Shepard from Oklahoma City’s Heritage Hall all made moves regarding their national perception and their future colleges.

Ross and Shepard both plan to attend the University of Oklahoma and have committed to OU last spring. This summer, Ross, a running back recruit for Jenks did what many accomplished players do after committing to a school: He laid low. But the reason this was a significant move for him is because he spent his summer gaining considerable size, gaining 10 pounds of what seems to be lean mass, now running at a stout 215 pounds. Not only is he very big, he is quite fast, winning Class 6-A’s state championship in the 200-meter dash.

Working to get bigger and faster this summer will show as the season wears on for this future Sooner. He looks to continue his dominance that started during last year’s playoffs.

Sterling Shepard, a wide receiver for the Chargers of Heritage Hall is small in stature, standing at 5-foot 11-inches and 185 pounds, but he is huge in his impact. As one of the state’s best wide receivers, his ability catching the ball is well known, but he is also one of the great defensive backs in the state. Last season Shepard rushed, received and returned for over 20 touchdowns with an especially impressive run during the 3-A State Championships.

This summer, Sterling said he worked on getting stronger in his lower body and he also dominated the 7 on 7 competitions with his team. Look for a faster and stronger Shepard to run through more tackles while showing improved speed.

Barry Sanders shares the name, position and is the son of the great Detroit Lions and Oklahoma State Cowboys running back Barry Sanders. He is fast, strong, has great vision, runs through arm tackles and like his father, can make incredible cuts on a dime.

Sanders spent much of his summer traveling around the country to see some of the schools he is interested in attending. Because of his name, he has had much attention since his freshman year in high school, but he has continually showed that the hype is not totally without merit.

Sanders ran for over 1,000 yards last season in only seven games. He broke his foot midseason on a touchdown run that ended his season easrly. Before the injury, Sanders looked as if he would run for more than 2,000 yards in the season. But this year, he hopes to continue what he began the season before.

Sanders is choosing between Stanford, UCLA, Florida State, and hometown Oklahoma State University. There are some other schools still working to get in the mix such as Ole Miss and Alabama.

Next time, look for stories from Shepard and Norman’s George Kittle and what the recruiting process has been for each of them.

Also look for interviews with recruiting leaders such as Josh McCuistion and Eddie Radosevich.