Grant Wilcox Goes From "Not Getting Noticed" To OSU Commit

Oct 22, 2019

"Very excited to be going to Oklahoma State and very excited to get the recruiting process over."

Those were the sentiments of Plano East senior Grant Wilcox on Monday evening after he had just committed to attend Oklahoma State University (OSU).

In the end, Wilcox had power 5 schools to select from and narrowed his final list of schools to OSU, Texas, and Mississippi. However, the recruiting process didn't start off as well as he would have liked even though he had good times and good range. "I was looking for someone interested in me and I wasn't getting noticed."

Wilcox finished sixth at last year's UIL 6A state cross country meet and that is when he reached out to the staff at OSU. Talks began with OSU, but he suffered an injury that hampered his track season and the interest just wasn't there. Throughout the injury, the OSU staff kept in contact and talked him through the tough stage.

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A lot of people don't understand why I run. It's something about the challenge, going the distance, and the pursuit of being the best version of yourself. Running is full of struggles but every mile is worth it. "Over the years, I've given myself thousands of reasons to keep running. It always comes back to where it started - the feeling of self satisfaction and sense of achievement." - Steve Prefontaine Now, I'm overjoyed to announce that I have decided to continue my athletic and academic career at Oklahoma State University! Thank you God, for I cannot wait to run for your eternal glory. Next, I want to thank all of my amazing and supportive teammates, friends, and my adoring family. I especially want to thank Coach Robert Reed for making this journey possible, and for your unconditional support and belief in me these last four years. And lastly, thank you Coach Dave Smith for the opportunity to run for such a prestigious program. Thank you all! #GoPokes

A post shared by Gregory "Grant" Wilcox (@gmoneywilcox) on Oct 21, 2019 at 3:04pm PDT

With health on his side this year, Wilcox has resumed his rhythm and began to run strong again. He opened the season with a 16:02 5K followed by four 15:48 and under races with no finish higher than fifth place in any of them. His recruiting finally started picking up the steam as he would have liked.

The big programs began showing interest. Schools with tradition, excellent educational opportunities, and top notch facilities.

But, as previously stated, Wilcox was looking for a school that wanted him and OSU showed they did. "Throughout the injury, they kept in contact and talked me through it. The size of the school was comfortable for me and the academic facilities were top notch, they blew my mind."

"I'm very excited, the team is very talented and successful. I want to help keep the tradition going and I want to win championships," Wilcox said.

After committing this Monday, it's now next Monday that he will be focused on. Wilcox will compete at the Region 2-6A cross country meet at the University of Texas at Arlington to earn his return trip to the state cross country meet.