Oklahoma has become an absolute machine in July and by all accounts, it’s not slowing down this month in the slightest.
After starting the month ranked somewhere in the 40s nationally in team recruiting rankings for the class of 2023, Oklahoma has taken a gigantic Superman-sequel leap into the top 15 of college football recruiting and the best part is: The month of July has more commits to come.
One of the players whom the Sooners are closing in on is four-star athlete Lewis Carter.
Carter, a projected linebacker out of Tampa, Florida, fits the modern off-ball linebacker mold of today. He’s not some hulking 6-foot-3 behemoth but a little undersized with speed to burn and some pop behind his pads. He has the ability to play in space, which is where todayโs games are being decided. At six feet tall and playing somewhere around 200 pounds it’s possible the Sooners could move him to safety but it looks like he’ll get a shot as a linebacker out of high school.
The Under Armour All-American boasts over 40 confirmed offers but the Auburn Tigers, North Carolina Tarheels, Clemson Tigers and the Sooners seem to be standing out the most.
Less than 24 hours after Oklahoma landed their 15th commitment of the 2023 class, cryptic “lock” emojis flooded social media from former Sooner great Rufus Alexander and director of recruiting J.R. Sandlin on Friday morning. Those were followed by Carter posting this tweet.
BIG NEWS COMING SOON๐,STAY TUNED๐จ๐จ #AGTG pic.twitter.com/Lw7ShtRKEe
— LewisCarter (@LewisCarter_4) July 15, 2022
To cap it all off, multiple 247Sports crystal ball and On3 predictions were dropped from Oklahoma and Auburn insiders, raising the idea that Carterโs recruitment could be winding down and Oklahoma looks to be the favorite.
New #Sooners 247 Crystal Ball
โญโญโญโญ๏ธ 2023 LB Lewis Carter
6'0" / 200
๐ซ Tampa Catholic HS (Tampa, FL)
๐๏ธ 7 (High)
โ๏ธ By Parker Thune
๐คโฌ๏ธ Oklahoma Insiderhttps://t.co/XBBG9lN0pD๐: @LewisCarter_4#CHO23N ๐ pic.twitter.com/zv6xEVr7df
— ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐๐ผ๐ป & ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด (@OUCrystalBall) July 15, 2022
New #Sooners 247 Crystal Ball
โญโญโญโญ๏ธ 2023 LB Lewis Carter
6'0" / 200
๐ซ Tampa Catholic HS (Tampa, FL)
๐๏ธ 6 (Med)
โ๏ธ By Phillip Dukes
๐คโฌ๏ธ Auburn Insiderhttps://t.co/XBBG9lN0pD๐: @LewisCarter_4#CHO23N ๐ pic.twitter.com/ybZYAPFRpe
— ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐๐ผ๐ป & ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด (@OUCrystalBall) July 15, 2022
With that said, a Carter commitment would be another major pickup as Brent Venables continues to remake the defensive roster in his image. One that more closely resembles the elite defenses he built while at Clemson.