Oregon State Keeps Breakout Receiver Jesse Legree With Live New Contract Signing

Oregon State freshman receiver Jesse Legree has committed to the Beavers for next season, signing a new contract during a live broadcast on CBS Sports Network. The announcement came on Friday, October 23, after Legree's father posted a cryptic graphic promoting a "Legree Effect Decision Day" media event, which sparked speculation about what would be revealed.

The move is believed to be unprecedented. No college player had previously held a news conference in the middle of a season to announce a new contract. Legree said signing days have long been a dream for young players, and that he missed out on his own a year ago. "It's always some kid's dream to live out on signing day," he said.

Less than two months ago, Legree was a relative unknown who landed in Corvallis after drawing no other FBS offers. Seven games into the season, he leads the nation with 1,040 receiving yards and 14 receiving touchdowns, and he has helped turn the Beavers into a College Football Playoff contender.

His path to Oregon State was unlikely. At Maryland powerhouse Saint Frances Academy in Baltimore, teammates routinely collected scholarship offers, but Legree struggled to attract interest. He played mostly defensive back and returned kicks before moving to receiver as a senior, which left coaches with little film of him at the position.

Oregon State, meanwhile, was in a rebuilding period after the Pac-12 collapsed in 2023. Coach Trent Bray was fired midseason during a 2-10 year, and JaMarcus Shephard, a former receivers coach at Alabama, took over. Shortly after he accepted the job, general manager Eron Hodges told him, "we need to go get Jesse." Legree became the first recruit Shephard spoke with. Legree said he had no real plan at the time and was likely headed to an HBCU, so the offer was "a no-brainer."

Legree's production quickly justified the belief. He is only the second FBS player in the past 30 years to post at least 100 receiving yards and a touchdown in each of his team's first seven games, joining Oklahoma State's Justin Blackmon in 2010. He opened with five catches for 136 yards and a touchdown against Houston, then had eight catches, 240 yards and two touchdowns against Texas Tech. Oregon State lost both games to ranked opponents, but has since won five straight, each by three scores or more.

Keeping him required a new agreement. Shephard said Legree's representatives approached the school about four weeks before the announcement. Other programs also showed interest, Shephard said: "People were calling, that's for sure." He was blunt about those schools, saying nobody wanted Legree out of high school and calling them "gold diggers." He also noted that players are no longer going to college for free and that the program will take care of them the best way it can.

Legree said loyalty to the coach who gave him his first real chance drove his decision to stay, even though Corvallis is more than 2,000 miles from his family in Baltimore. "He's like another father to me," he said of Shephard.

Both men see the deal as a signal to others. Legree said he hopes it helps bring in more recruits and transfers, while Shephard said having him back "will impact others" and shows Oregon State is serious about becoming a team that can be reckoned with.