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Continuing The 'H-Town Takeover'

Rivals250 cornerback Terry Petry was one of the first local products to commit in the 2017 class.
Rivals250 cornerback Terry Petry was one of the first local products to commit in the 2017 class.

Houston Cougars head football coach Tom Herman and his staff set the recruiting world abuzz in the 2016 recruiting cycle with their very successful 'H-Town Takeover' with the top ranked recruiting class a non-Power Five team in the history of covering such.

The Cougar staff's ability to lock down some of the top local talent in the city of Houston gained early momentum and snowballed to a forty-fourth ranked class in the country when all of the dust settled on last week's signing day.

The natural progression this time of year has fans turning their attention to the 2017 recruiting class and how their team might attack the class. For the Cougars staff, the old adage 'If it isn't broke, don't fix it' seems to hit the nail on the head. For those that haven't been following closely, the Cougars are off to a quick start in the young 2017 recruiting class with six early commitments all coming before signing day of the 2016 class. Just in case you are wondering, five of those six are from the greater Houston area.

Another solid foundation has been set for the Cougars staff, already having Rivals250 cornerback Terry Petry, Alex Duke, Derek Parish, Carlos Grace, Marqez Bimage and Refugio (TX) standout Jaylon Mascorro.

While any year provides it's own obstacles to successfully recruiting 17 and 18 year old athletes, the success of the Cougars on the field and in recruiting in the last 12 months will surely help the staff in carrying the momentum over to a new batch of local standouts. As the Cougars move forward into the 2017 recruiting cycle officially now, we take a look at a few of the athletes the Cougars will look to include in their 2017 version of the 'H-Town Takeover'

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The 2016 class, and the initial 'H-Town Takeover' really got off the ground when local standout defensive tackle Ed OLiver jumped on board and began to show local stars the path to staying home.

Luckily enough for the Cougars staff and their vision, the city holds another top defensive tackle prospect in the 2017 class. This one however, sits at the very top of the Rivals.com rankings for the class. Episcopal tackle Marvin Wilson currently holds the top overall position in the country with Rivals. He also holds an offer from the hometown Cougars and has had shown mutual interest early on. He will be a key target for the Cougars and his teammate, Rivals250 offensive tackle Walker Little is on the Cougars' short list as well.

With one local four star defensive back in the fold in Petry, the Cougars wouldn't mind making that a trend and have shown a lot of interest in Manvel safety Derrick Tucker who lands just outside the current Rivals100. Tucker has shown some reciprocated interest as of late as well, taking to Twitter after the Cougars' first junior day of the class to show his support for the hometown team.

Of course not every recruit will end up being from within the greater Houston area. That is where the Cougars staff will work to take the lion's share of their class but they will have to venture out for a few others. One quarterback the staff has offered is College Station (TX) Rivals250 signal caller Ty Brock who is well thought of but has seen his recruitment slowed some by an injury that caused him to miss much of the season last year.

For a complete list of the offers Houston has extended in the 2017 class you can check HERE. You can also get a look at the current Cougar commits in the 2017 class HERE and the latest version of the Rivals.com rankings of the top 100 2017 players in Texas HERE.

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