Anymore de-commitments and commitment flips are as much a part of the fabric of college football recruiting as the actual commitments. They’ve become so commonplace that it barely moves the needle for fanbases. At least Oklahoma’s.
The Sooners lost a good player in Ashton Cozart. Of that, there’s no doubt. A four-star player and the only skill-position player they had committed to the 2023 class.
It’s never good to lose a four-star commitment, but it isn’t a cause for concern. The Sooners have a long way to go to get to get to the 2023 national signing day. We saw the type of recruiting class [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and his staff were able to put together in just two months on the job after the [autotag]Lincoln Riley[/autotag] departure.
The 2022 recruiting class fell as low as No. 28 in 247Sports team recruiting rankings before Venables and his staff got to work. After national signing day, the Sooners had risen back into the top 10 to No. 8. Imagine what they’ll be able to do in the next nine months before 2023 national signing day.
The Sooners still have rising stars in [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag], [autotag]Joshua Bates[/autotag], [autotag]Erik McCarty[/autotag], and [autotag]Kaleb Spencer[/autotag] in their recruiting class and the commitments will start rolling in this summer.
They’re in a great spot with wide receivers [autotag]Anthony Evans[/autotag] and [autotag]Jaquaize Pettaway[/autotag] in the 2023 class according to On3 Recruiting. Throw in all of the projections for dual-threat running back Dylan Edwards and Oklahoma will have some nice weapons coming to Norman in 2023. Throw in Javian Hester and LV Bunkley-Shelton and the Sooners have a couple of guys that will help this season and have several more years of eligibility down the road.
It’s still incredibly early in the recruiting cycle and the Sooners will be on the positive end of their own flips as well. They did in the 2022 recruiting class with Gracen Halton, R Mason Thomas, and Kevonte Henry, who they flipped from Power Five schools on national signing day.
Though they’re No. 37 in 247Sports team recruiting rankings, they, and the Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 38, aren’t concerned about where they stand months before the early signing period and nine months from national signing day.
Recruiting is a marathon and not a sprint. A lot will change over the next nine months and the Oklahoma Sooners will be right where they want to be when they cross the finish line.
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