Kits: Busy week for Bray and Co. as Oregon State football adds four 2025 commits

Published 9:41 am Wednesday, June 26, 2024

With a little more than two months until the 2024 college football season kicks off, Oregon State football coach Trent Bray and his staff are hard at work on the 2025 recruiting trail. 

Bray and his team were able to more than double the size of the recruiting class in the span of just 10 days, adding five new baby Beavers — or, Kits — to the fold by way of verbal commitments. The five additions brings the 2025 class to a total of nine players and has lifted their class from the No. 76 recruiting class in the country to the No. 72 group. 

The previously committed four and their backgrounds can be found here, while the following is the outlook on all five of the latest Kits. 

Brian Tapu, OT 

UPDATE: As of 8:54 p.m. on June 26, Tapu has de-committed from Oregon State

Physically, Tapu may be the most exciting of the latest wave of commitments. Playing offensive tackle and standing at 6-foot-7, 295 pounds, Tapu already possesses the size of a Division I offensive lineman ahead of his senior year at West High School in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

His recruiting profile backs up his stature, becoming the highest rated recruit in Oregon State’s 2025 class at the moment. 247Sports lists Tapu as a three-star recruit and as the No. 8 overall player from the state of Utah. Oregon State is a family affair for Tapu. He is the cousin of inside linebacker Jessaia Moala, who transferred to Oregon State in the offseason from ULM. 

Tapu made his commitment official June 23, just two days after taking his official visit to Corvallis. He chose Oregon State over schools such as Nebraska, Texas A&M and in-state Utah. 

Jake Normoyle, IOL

Another offensive line pickup, Jake Normoyle stands at 6-foot-4, 295 pounds and is projected by 247Sports to move inside to guard or center when he gets to Corvallis. Regardless of the position he ends up playing for Oregon State, he is one of, if not, the most important commitment that Bray’s staff has secured in their true inaugural signing class. 

That may sound hyperbolic, but there is a lot of truth to it. Normoyle is a three-star recruit, but valued as the No. 3 player in the state of Oregon, hailing from West Linn High School. Normoyle also has verbally committed to Oregon State despite also holding an offer from Oregon. He is the only person in the top 10 within the state to currently be committed to either Oregon State or Oregon. 

The importance of Bray and his staff being able to secure the commitment of in-state talent cannot be overstated for a program looking to get it’s feet back under it following a coaching change and becoming a casualty of conference realignment. 

Normoyle made his commitment official on June 16, the same day he took his official visit. 

David Madison, CB 

Madison is a corner hailing from Prestonwood Christian High School in Plano, Texas. He, like the rest of the 2025 class, holds a three-star evaluation from 247Sports and is viewed as the No. 124 corner recruit in the class. His 6-foot, 160 pound listed measurements may be generous, looking much lighter in his highlight tape and will have to add mass for the Division I level. 

While statistics are hard to quantify for good defensive backs, as they’ll simply just not be thrown at, but Madison did break up 14 passes and recorded a pair of forced fumbles during his 2023 junior season.

Along with football, Madison is an impressive track athlete. He won the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools 6A state championship in the long jump, leaping 22-10.5 and took second place in the 200 meters with a 22.02 time. He also posted a 10.89 in the 100 meters and a 50.49 in the 400. 

Madison is the newest Kit, making his commitment to Oregon State on June 25 over other offers from in-state UTEP and FCS powerhouse North Dakota State. 

Sean Craig, DB 

Another defensive back, Sean Craig hails from Henderson, Nevada and plays for Liberty High School alongside a fellow 2025 commit in linebacker Jeremiah Ioane. 

Craig checks in as a three-star recruit and the No. 12 overall player in the state of Nevada and possesses the prototypical size of a D1 safety or a larger corner. He’s gotten looks at both positions for Liberty, while also mixing in to play nickel covering slot receivers and tight ends. Craig, like the aforementioned Madison, competes for his track team posting a best of 15.40 in the 110m hurdles. 

Craig took an official visit to Corvallis on May 31 and announced his commitment to Oregon State as one of three to do so on June 23, joining Tapu and the next person on the list. 

Jesse Myers, EDGE 

Myers is the third and final player to have announced his commitment on June 23, which turned out to be a massively productive day for Oregon State on the recruiting trail. Myers is the third Californian to commit, coming from Cardinal Newman High School in Santa Rosa, California. 

Myers is ranked as a three-star prospect, with conflicting reports about his measurements. He is every bit of 6-foot-3, but his recruiting profile lists him at 230 pounds, but another story written about him on the website calls him 255. The latter is the weight he’ll likely be playing at Division I level, if not heavier. Regardless, Myers has terrorized the Bay Area high school football scene, recording 10.5 sacks as a junior and owning 29.5 in his career. 

His official visit came on June 21, the same day as Tapu, and made his commitment just two days later.