OSU football recruiting: Bill Young's effect on Cowboys 2013 class still felt by Ben Hughes

Take three-star defensive tackle commit Ben Hughes for example. The Waco, Texas, native is soft-spoken but direct. And his reason for initial interest in OSU?

“Coach Young,” Hughes said. “I liked Coach Young.”

So much so, that Young was able to pry him from other interested Big 12 schools, including Kansas State, Kansas and his hometown Baylor Bears (although Hughes said he was never really a fan of Baylor).

The 6-foot-2, 310-pounder is one of two OSU defensive tackle commits for this class (they have three defensive ends). So his development at a key position could prove vital in the years to come.

“Hughes is a big and violent prospect in the trenches,” one ESPN analyst wrote of Hughes. “He is capable of being a handful and possesses very good size. He looks to carry his weight fairly well, but there may be some benefit to reworking of his body composition. He can be explosive and capable of quickly blowing up plays at times.”