The McNabb Report: Why Toben Opurum Picked Kansas

Plano East RB to Kansas Plano East running back Toben Opurum committed to Kansas on Tuesday after his official visit with the Jayhawks this past weekend. Opurum told Kansas assistant David Beaty, a former assistant coach at Garland and head coach Irving MacArthur, to have Kansas coach Mark Mangino fill in his running back spot for the future. "The thing that stood out was how well I meshed with all of the players and coaches," Opurum said. "I knew after the visit there was no need to take others. I saw what I needed and knew I could make decision off that." Opurum cancelled his final two trips to Florida and Arkansas. He made official visits to Notre Dame and Purdue. A former assistant at Rice under Todd Graham, Beaty is well-known to players and coaches across North Texas. Beaty built a relationship with Opurum early and Kansas was one of the first to formally offer Opurum, who also was primarily interested in an offense which would allow him to continue to carry the football instead of concentrating on a blocking back role. In the last two years at East, he has rushed for over 1400 yards and added 800 yards receiving. Rider QB switches to Tulsa from Michigan Multi-purpose athlete Shavodrick Beaver of Wichita Falls Rider switched his commitment from Michigan to the University of Tulsa head coach Todd Graham, the former Allen head coach whose been successful at Rice and Tulsa. Graham and Tulsa co-offensive Coordinators Gus Malzahn and Herb Hand made a pitch last week to Beaver, who was slipping as a Michigan commit. Graham likely got a heads up from Michigan coach Rich Rodriquez, a Graham mentor from their small-college coaching days to working together at West Virginia. Beaver is rated as a four-star prospect by Rivals.com and the No. 8 dual-threat quarterback in the country. In addition to Michigan; he held offers from a number of other schools, including Texas Tech, TCU and Arizona. 2009 classes winding down There are dozens of North Texas decisions to be made about football scholarships, but for the most part the Classes of 2009 are settled. Everything becomes formal on the first Wednesday of February _ the first day to sign a national letter of intent _ but even that date has become less of a benchmark with many players opting to enroll for the spring semester in mid-January of their future colleges. Among the top North Texas players still uncommitted and waiting for more potential opportunities to shake out are Wylie defensive lineman Nikita Whitlock, Plano WR Kris Lott, Rockwall-Heath RB Kendial Lawrence, St. Mark's WR Terdema Ussery, South Grand Prairie DB/WR Will Adams, Flower Mound WR/DB Collin Ashley, Carter LB/RB Anthony Miller, Midlothian QB Bryce Petty and Parish Episcopal QB Brant Costilla. A look at the state's top offensive players and commitments: Quarterbacks 1. Garrett Gilbert - Lake Travis - Committed to Texas 2. Russell Shepard - Houston Cy Ridge - Committed to LSU 3. Cody Green - Dayton - Committed to Nebraska 4. Tyrik Rollison - Sulphur Springs _ Colorado State (Not yet qualified) 5. Shavodrick Beaver - Wichita Falls Rider - Committed to Tulsa 6. Richard Morrison - Royse City - Committed to Arizona 7. Ryan Mossakowski - Frisco Centennial - Committed to Kentucky 8. Casey Pachall - Brownwood - Committed to TCU 9. Jacob Karam - Friendswood - Committed to Texas Tech 10. Drew Allen - San Antonio Alamo Heights - Committed to Oklahoma Running backs 1. Christine Michael - Beaumont Westbrook Uncommitted 2. Waymon James - Sherman - Committed to TCU 3. Rex Burkhead - Plano - Committed to Nebraska 4. John Hubert - Waco Midway... Uncommitted 5. Knile Davis - Fort Bend Marshall - Committed to Arkansas 6. Eric Stephens - Mansfield Timberview - Committed to Texas Tech 7. Jonathan Miller - Garland Naaman Forest - Committed to Oklahoma. 8. Hasan Lipscomb - Houston Cy Ridge - Committed to Minnesota 9. Toben Opurum - Plano East - Committed to Kansas 10. Stepfan Taylor - Mansfield - Committed to Stanford Wide receivers 1. Greg Timmons - Aldine Eisenhower - Committed to Texas 2. A.J. Dugat - Dayton - Committed to Houston 3. Emory Blake - Austin High - Committed to Texas Tech 4. Uzoma Nwachukwu - Allen - Committed to Texas A&M 5. Marquise Goodwin - Rowlett - Committed to Texas (track) 6. Terdema Ussery - Dallas St. Mark's - Uncommitted 7. Brandal Jackson - Navasota - Committed to Texas A&M 8. Dewayne Peace - Grand Prairie - Committed to Michigan 9. Josh Gordon - Houston Lamar - Uncommitted 10. Aaron Fisher - Keller Fossil Ridge - Committed to Texas Tech Tight ends 1. Barrett Matthews - North Shore - Committed to Texas 2. Trey Graham - Waco Midway - Committed to Texas 3. Hutson Prioleau - Fort Worth All Saints - Committed to Texas A&M 4. Jarrod Darden - Keller Central - Committed to Colorado 5. Jordan Najvar - Klein Oak - Committed to Stanford 6. Josh Mauro - Hurst L.D. Bell - Committed to Stanford 7. Anthony Kendrick - Katy Seven Lakes - Committed to Kentucky 8. Colby Goodwin - Houston Cy Fair - Committed to Utah 9. Craig Wenrick - Flower Mound - Uncommitted 10. Tony Trahan - Coppell - Uncommitted Offensive tackles 1. Mason Walters - Frenship - Committed to Texas 2. Ty Horn - Waco Midway - Committed to TCU 3. Ivory Wade - Dickinson - Committed to Baylor 4. Paden Kelley - Austin Lake Travis - Committed to Texas 5. Kyle Clark - Denton Guyer - Committed to Texas Tech 6. Stavion Lowe - Brownwood - Committed to LSU 7. Nick Ash - Keller - Committed to Nebraska 8. Joel Gray - Lewisville Hebron - Committed to Texas Tech 9. Cyril Richardson - North Crowley - Committed to Baylor 10. Jesse Coffey - Denton Guyer - Committed to Nebraska Offensive guards/centers 1. Thomas Ashcraft - Cedar Hill - Committed to Texas 2. Garrett Porter - Odessa Permian - Committed to Texas 3. Stephen Barrera - Houston Clear Lake - Committed to Texas A&M 4. Rhontae Scales - Killeen - Committed to Texas A&M 5. Josh Aladenoye - North Mesquite - Committed to Oklahoma 6. Michael Brown - Lexington - Committed to Ole Miss 7. Jeramie Roberts - South Garland - Committed to Baylor 8. Aaron Moore - Frisco Centennial - Committed to Auburn 9. Chris Atchison - DeSoto - Committed to SMU 10. LaAdrian Waddle - Columbus - Committed to Texas Tech