Tag: 2023 four-star running back

Multiple predictions favor Oklahoma to land four-star NC running back Daylan Smothers

With a number of recruiting predictions coming in, it looks like the Oklahoma Sooners are closing in on a commitment from 2023 4-star RB Daylan Smothers.

If you blinked, you might’ve missed it. In a whirlwind of events that started the day before, the Oklahoma Sooners look to be closing in on their second running back commit for the class of 2023. While four-star Kalib Hicks is already committed, the Sooners and specifically running backs coach DeMarco Murray aren’t done yet. Four-star running back Daylan Smothers recently dropped a top four featuring Oklahoma, Florida State, NC State, and Alabama.

A little over 24 hours later a slew of crystal ball predictions came in across a span of an hour that swung the momentum heavily in favor of the Oklahoma Sooners.

Smothers’ received four crystal balls and a Rivals forecast from three Oklahoma insiders and two FSU insiders. Parker Thune and Brandon Drumm of OUInsider and Zach Blostein and Brendan Sonnone of Noles247 each issued crystal ball predictions with a confidence level of six or better. Josh McCuistion of SoonersScoop put in a Rivals Futurecast in favor of Oklahoma as well.

24 hours from the time his top 4 was released Smothers looks like he could be on commitment watch at any time now with the overwhelming momentum favoring the guys in Crimson & Cream.

Smothers is an explosive all-purpose back out of West Charlotte High School and dominates with his physical running but has another gear to separate in and out of traffic as well. Smothers originally played for Chambers High School which most recently produced Jeremiah Hall. After seeing him at a Rivals camp in North Carolina in early March, the Sooners offered Smothers and the race was on.

It looks like that race may be coming to an end shortly and a commitment to Oklahoma would all but solidify the Sooners’ running back recruitment efforts for the 2023 class.

Daylon Smothers’ Recruiting Profile

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Oklahoma Sooners land commitment from 2023 4-star RB Kalib Hicks

The Oklahoma Sooners picked up another 2023 commitment, this time from four-star running back Kalib Hicks out of Denton Ryan.

The ball is rolling for the Oklahoma Sooners with the 2023 recruiting class. They’ve recently picked up commitments from Keyon Brown and Kade McIntyre and have added another with four-star running back, Kalib Hicks.

Coming out of Denton Ryan, Hicks is currently the only running back committed to the 2023 class. He joins three-star center Joshua Bates, five-star quarterback Jackson Arnold, and four-star wide receiver Keyon Brown on the offensive side of the ball as Jeff Lebby looks to put his stamp on the recruiting class.

In 2021, Hicks rushed for 1,448 yards and 18 touchdowns, averaging 6.7 yards per carry for state champion Denton Ryan. In 2020, he carried the ball 119 times for 851 yards and seven touchdowns for an average of 7.15 yards per carry.

According to the 247Sports Composite rating, Hicks is the No. 24 running back in the country and the No. 63 player in the state of Texas. On3 has him as the No. 69 player in Texas and the No. 29 running back.

His recruitment with the Sooners was a quick one. The Sooners offered a scholarship back in May and Hicks took an official visit on June 11. Just a few days later, he was committed to the Sooners.

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Sooners make Top 10 for 2023 four-star running back Dylan Edwards

Oklahoma makes the top 10 list for explosive and shifty 2023 four-star running back Dylan Edwards from Kansas.

Official visit season is underway for the 2023 class in the world of college football recruiting. With that we’ll begin to see recruits narrow their focus a bit to fit their official visit list. Four-star running back Dylan Edwards joined in on the fun and dropped his list of the top 10 schools he’ll be focused on going forward.

Oklahoma makes the cut along with Jackson State, led by NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, Kansas State, Washington, Wisconsin, Oregon, Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky, and Kansas. The Kansas provide proximity to his hometown of Derby, while Oklahoma, Oregon, and Wisconsin represent the biggest brands on the list. Jackson State made the cut and reportedly has a great relationship with Edwards and his family as well. Deion Sanders has made a big impact on the recruiting scene since becoming the head coach of the HBCU school.

 

Edwards took the time to break down his reasoning for every school in an interview with 247Sports. He said this about the Sooners:

“Boomer Sooner. That was my dream school since I was little. I loved the spring game and every time I was there. I can’t wait to be back on my OV. I just talked to Coach [DeMarco] Murray, and we’re going to set it up.” via Parker Thune, OUInsider at 247Sports.

That’s a pretty solid endorsement that the Sooners are very much in the thick of this race. The Sooners look poised for an official visit and would breathe a little easier if they could land the shifty and explosive running back from out of Kansas. The Sooners currently have no running backs committed for 2023, and after missing out on Tre Wisner to their Red River rivals, they need this commitment to land in their favor.

The Sooners seemingly will not have to wait long either for Edwards’ decision ultimately, as he plans to spend the entire month of June on his officials before deciding shortly after.

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2023 4-star running back Cedric Baxter releases his Top 5

Late to the party with a January offer, the Oklahoma Sooners missed the top 5 for 2023 four-star running back Cedric Baxter.

It was a fantastic weekend in Norman for recruits, alumni, players, and fans. The Sooners went all out to put on a fantastic spring game weekend that drew more than 75,000 fans to Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium for the festivities.

While the Sooners have begun to see those efforts garner them Crystal Ball projections for several players, they’ve had running back prospects opt to look elsewhere to play their collegiate career.

First, the news came down that Tre Wisner, a player the Sooners were the favorites to land before the weekend, changed direction and is headed south of the Red River to Texas. Now, another player Oklahoma only recently got in the race on, Cedric Baxter cut his list of schools in consideration to five and Oklahoma didn’t make the cut. Baxter included the Texas Longhorns, Texas A&M Aggies, Arkansas Razorbacks, Florida Gators, and Miami Hurricanes.

Late to the game with an offer back in January, it looks like the Sooners were never really in on one of the top running backs in the class. Still, they’re in good standing with the top player in Kansas, [autotag]Dylan Edwards[/autotag]. With his spring game performance, [autotag]Jovantae Barnes[/autotag] showed he can be a bell-cow running back for the Oklahoma Sooners.

While they continue to look for a running back to add to their 2023 recruiting class, they can feel good knowing they have Barnes, [autotag]Gavin Sawchuk[/autotag], [autotag]Marcus Major[/autotag], and Tawee Walker available to them in 2023 and 2024.

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Sooners latest offer goes out to four-star NC running back Daylan Smothers

Oklahoma offers 2023 four-star running back Daylan Smothers out of North Carolina.

The Sooners don’t have many players from North Carolina on their roster, but they may be looking to change that as they continue their quest to establish recruiting roots in the Southeast. Their latest offer goes out to Charlotte, NC where they offered four-star running back Daylan Smothers.

Smothers plays at Chambers High School where he’s been a part of two 4A state champions in the last three years. As part of the 2023 class, Smothers is also being recruited by Penn State, Florida State, Tennessee, and the NC State Wolfpack.

Smothers shows excellent patience and vision, near-flawless start and stop ability, and a willingness to run behind his pads and fight for extra yards. The Sooners may be late to the party but Smothers is a rising prospect and they currently don’t have a running back committed for 2023.

Brent Venables, Jeff Lebby, and DeMarco Murray were likely in attendance for the Rivals Camp held in Charlotte where Smothers won the running back MVP award so they were able to see Smothers up close and personal before extending an offer to him.

Smothers also runs track when not in football season where he ran an 11.58 100m as a freshman. The Sooners will try and make up some ground with Smothers over the coming months and look to get a running back on board after landing two in 2022.

Daylon Smother’s Recruiting Profile

Rating

Stars Overall State Position
ESPN — — — —
Rivals 4 231 4 10
247Sports 4 — 13 25
247 Composite 4 327 10 21
On3 Recruiting 4 162 8 8
On3 Composite 4 281 9 16

Vitals

Hometown Charlotte, NC
Projected Position Running Back
Height 6-0
Weight 180

Recruitment

  • Offered on March 20, 2022

Notable Offers

  • Oklahoma
  • Florida State
  • Penn State
  • Alabama
  • Miami
  • Michigan
  • Michigan State
  • NC State
  • Ohio State

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2023 RB Trey Holly picks up re-offer from LSU

Louisiana back picks up re-offer from the LSU staff.

One of the top in-state running backs for the 2023 cycle picked up a re-offer from the LSU Tigers. Trey Holly of Farmersville was originally offered in January of 2021 but a year later he picked up an offer from the new staff.

Holly tallied 2,633 yards and 33 touchdowns according to his MaxPreps profile.

With the chance that the Tigers might not land a running back in the 2022 class, the team will have pressure to land one or two in 2023. Holly would be one of the two that should be targeted in the 2023. Holly is the No. 2 running back in the state behind Baton Rouge’s Kaleb Jackson.

Both backs should be high priority targets in the ’23 cycle.

Trey Holly’s Recruiting Profile

Rating

Stars Overall State Position
247 3 – 15 26
Rivals 4 125 12 5
ESPN 4 125 8 4
On3 4 204 13 12
247 Composite 4 186 13 11

Vitals

Hometown Farmersville, Louisiana
Projected Position Running Back
Height 5-8
Weight 180

Recruitment

  • Originally offer on Jan. 15, 2021
  • Re-offered on Jan. 20, 2022
  • No visit scheduled

Offers

  • LSU
  • Arkansas
  • Auburn
  • Oklahoma State
  • Utah

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Oklahoma Sooners offer 2023 4-star running back Cedric Baxter, announces plans to visit Norman

The Oklahoma Sooners continue their foray into the 2023 recruiting cycle with an offer to one of the top running backs in the 2023 class.

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In modern-day recruiting, no door is ever really closed. With the coaching change, in particular, the Sooners have opened new doors on the national recruiting scene.

Brent Venables, having spent the last decade coaching in and recruiting the Southeast, has marked out new territory for the Oklahoma Sooners coaching staff to sing their teeth into. Jeff Lebby’s experience at UCF and then Ole Miss gives them an offensive guy that has the experience that direction as well.

Even players that they weren’t necessarily in on a week or two ago, now have Oklahoma as a consideration moving forward. And that’s where we land with Cedric Baxter.

Cedric Baxter, a four-star running back out of Edgewater High School in Orlando, Fla. is the latest 2023 recruit to receive an offer from the University of Oklahoma.

What’s interesting about Baxter is that prior to the Oklahoma offer, he had released a top seven list including USC, Alabama, Ohio State, Florida State, Texas, Arkansas, and UCF.

This might be one of the bigger recruiting battles the Sooners will face with the who’s who of college football vying for the No. 1 running back in the 2023 class according to On3 Sports.

Baxter is the No. 4 running back in the country per 247Sports composite rankings and the No. 70 player in the country.

The Oklahoma Sooners will get an opportunity to make their recruiting pitch to Baxter who is set to take a visit to Norman on Jan. 29. Based on what we’ve seen from DeMarco Murray in his time with the Oklahoma Sooners, he’ll get quite the sales pitch from the former player.

Here’s what national recruiting analyst Andrew Ivins of 247Sports had to say about Cedric Baxter.

Played primarily safety and a little wide receiver before settling in as the starting running back at one of Orlando’s top high school programs. Produced right away as a junior averaging just over 8.5 yards per carry while facing stiff competition week in and week out. Owns a bit of an upright running style, but makes it work as he quickly picks a lane and attacks it with a full head of steam. Does a nice job of navigating his way through traffic and will use swift little cuts to get around defenders. More than capable of breaking multiple arms tackles and seems to always be falling forward. – Ivins, 247Sports

Though the Sooners will be bringing in Gavin Sawchuk and Jovantae Barnes as part of the 2022 class, the 2023 class is devoid of running back talent at this point. Given the physical nature of the position, it’s important to keep a healthy dose of talent on the roster at running back and Cedric Baxter’s presence and ability could be a huge key for the Sooners as they look to make their transition into the SEC in a few years.

Cedric Baxter’s Recruiting Profile

Rating

Stars Overall State Position
247Sports 4 41 11 3
Rivals 4 84 15 4
ESPN 4 139 28 7
247 Composite 4 70 13 4
On3 Recruiting 4 44 12 1
On3 Composite 4 61 13 4

Vitals

Hometown Orlando, Fla.
Projected Position Running Back
Height 6-1
Weight 215 lbs

Recruitment

  • Offered on 1/11/22
  • visit scheduled for 1/29/22

Notable Offers

  • Oklahoma
  • USC
  • Alabama
  • UCF
  • Florida State
  • Ohio State
  • Arkansas
  • Texas

Crystal Ball

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Highlights

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