Cade McConnell Commits To TCU

<em><strong>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</strong></em> On Sunday afternoon, Choctaw offensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id="38673" first="Cade" last="McConnell"] announced his commitment to TCU in a video he posted on his Twitter account. McConnell said earlier this month that he would be making an announcement on February 14th. We confirmed with McConnell earlier this week that the announcement would be a commitment. McConnell chose TCU over offers from a few other Big 12 programs. "The relationships I've been able to build with the coaches since September," McConnell said of TCU and his commitment. "TCU just really stood out because they were my first offer. I felt a really good connection with those coaches down there. I felt like we really connected with the coaches and didn't just talk about football" McConnell was selected as a Prep Redzone 1st Team All State selection. TCU offered McConnell in May of last year and several other programs followed after that. McConnell helped lead Choctaw to their first state championship game in six decades. The Yellowjackets came up just short to Bixby. However, the future is bright for Choctaw as they have one of the better offensive line units in the state. McConnell leads the way but they have several other prospects that will end up in that conversation. "We definitely have that championship mentality," McConnell said. "We came into every game with that mindset that we would win. So we're coming back in 2021 focused on winning it all." McConnell mentioned that he and his family figured that the dead period put in place by the NCAA would be extended and so he wanted to make a decision soon. "We sat down as a family towards the end of December. We expected the dead period to be extended so we made the decision to circle the date around mid February." TCU appears to be building a pipeline from Choctaw to Fort Worth as they’ve had some recent success. In the 2021 class, they signed Choctaw wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id="38496" first="Chase" last="Jackson"], who missed nearly all of his senior season with a leg injury. In addition to Jackson, they also brought in defensive end [player_tooltip player_id="38572" first="Donnie" last="Wingate"] as a preferred walk on. Choctaw has a wealth of young talent so TCU has to be hoping to land another Jacket or two. "Chase was one of the first people I called after I let the coaches know," McConnell said. "Chase and Donnie were very excited. Chase is a very charismatic guy. It helps to know somebody down there that knows how things are done and what all I can do." McConnell becomes the sixth prospect in the 2022 class to announce his commitment and the second in the last week. On Wednesday, Pawhuska wide receiver <a style="background-color: #edeef0;" href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/02/mason-gilkey-commits-to-osu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="59991" first="Mason" last="Gilkey"] committed to Oklahoma State</strong></a>. OSU also has commitments from Stillwater linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="38676" first="Gabe" last="Brown"] and Beggs running back [player_tooltip player_id="38669" first="CJ" last="Brown"]. The other two in-state commitments are Mustang tight end [player_tooltip player_id="38670" first="Andre" last="Dollar"] (Oregon) and Edmond Santa Fe wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id="38667" first="Talyn" last="Shettron"] (Oklahoma). McConnell becomes the first TCU commitment for the 2022 in-state class. "It meant a lot to my family to stay somewhat close. So they can make a three-hour drive and see me play. It definitely made my mom happy knowing I wasn't going across the country to play." <em>Stay tuned to Prep Redzone Oklahoma for more recruiting news, including our Recruiting Notebook which drops on Monday!</em>