When Shurod Thompson announced his decision to come to Oregon State last evening, he became the second 4 star recruit Gary Andersen has secured for the Beavers' 2016 recruiting class. Which with Christian Wallace, is 2 more than have committed to Oregon State since Isaac Seumalo, and he had a local connection. Landing 2 4-star recruits when there's no special circumstance in play is new territory Andersen is breaking into.

Thompson settled on Oregon State after his official visit, during the Stanford game weekend, and then discussing the decision with family.

It's Official #BEAVERNATION ▪️ After Talking Over It With Family, I Can Finally Say I'm An Oregon State Commit❗️ pic.twitter.com/vgeQVMVh3T

— Shurod Thompson (@7era_) October 6, 2025

"Honestly, it was the coaching staff," Thompson said when he committed. "I fell in love with the atmosphere and the facilities were awesome. The locker room is being built, and I'm excited to see how that's going to look. It's more than football. If I take football out of the equation, I could see myself there for four years."

Thompson is a  6' 1", 185 lb. defensive back from Liberty High in Brentwood, California (after transferring from Pittsburg, CA), and is considered the #9 safety in the country by Rivals. They also listed him as their #24 player in California in their preseason rankings, and 136th overall in the country.

There is a family connection at Oregon State, as Thompson noted his cousin Xavier Crawford, a freshman CB, is already with the Beavers.

Thompson expressed interest in Oregon a year ago, in part to follow hometown product Eric Dargan, and went so far as to visit the area, not just make an informal visit to Oregon. But an offer never materialized from that trip.

He wound up choosing Oregon State from an impressive list of offers though, which included other Pac-12 programs Arizona, Arizona State, California, Colorado, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington and Washington State, notable national names Boise State and Oklahoma, a long list of additional Mt. West  schools that includes Colorado State, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV, and Wyoming, plus Eastern Washington and Weber State.

Oregon State now has 11 commits for 2016.

Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com