Tag: Alexander Shieldnight

2025 Oklahoma Sooners commitment tracker

Oklahoma Sooners 2025 commitment tracker

The Oklahoma Sooners are off to a much faster start in the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag] than in 2024. In fact, [autotag]Kevin Sperry[/autotag] committed to the 2025 class (March 13, 2023) before OU had received its first commitment for the 2024 class: [autotag]Jeremiah Newcombe[/autotag] (March 25, 2023).

The Sooners have put together another phenomenal class but the centerpiece came when five-star offensive tackle Michael Fasusi committed to the Sooners on Wednesday. That gave Oklahoma their third straight recruiting class with at least one five-star prospect and their fifth in the last three years.

Additionally, it provided another elite piece for the Sooners to work with in the trenches after adding [autotag]Adepoju Adebawore[/autotag] in 2023 and [autotag]David Stone[/autotag] in 2024 on the defensive side of the ball. Now, Bill Bedenbaugh has his cornerstone of the future on the offensive side of the ball. The Sooners have been working overtime to strengthen their talent along the line of scrimmage.

Now with Fasusi committed, the Sooners turn their attention to [autotag]Andrew Babalola[/autotag], [autotag]Christian Jones[/autotag], and [autotag]Jonah Williams[/autotag], their final big-time targets in the 2025 cycle. Babalola is said to be down to Michigan, Stanford, and Oklahoma. Jones is leaning toward Nebraska but likely won’t commit until the fall. Williams was once a heavy Oklahoma lean, but his recruitment has broadened over the last six months to include LSU, Texas, Texas A&M, and Oregon. There could also be a surprise addition or flip over the next few months ahead of the early signing period.

Here are the players committed to the Oklahoma Sooners’ [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag].

Updated: August 21, 2024

Sooners defensive line target Smith Orogbo commits to Texas

Sooners 2025 four-star defensive end target commits to the Texas Longhorns.

The Oklahoma Sooners are still working to add defensive line depth for the 2025 recruiting class. Though they’ve earned commitments from interior defensive linemen [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag] and [autotag]Ka’Mori Moore[/autotag] and defensive ends [autotag]Alexander Shieldnight[/autotag] and [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag], the defensive staff had been in pursuit of other players on the edge.

After missing on [autotag]Max Granville[/autotag], who chose Penn State, the Sooners turned their attention to [autotag]Smith Orogbo[/autotag]. At the time, it appeared Oklahoma might pull off a recruiting win over Texas Tech. However, it’s the Sooners’ Red River rivals who are adding the dynamic edge rusher.

On Monday, Orogbo committed to the Texas Longhorns. He’s a talented pass rusher with significant upside due to his fantastic athleticism.

The Sooners still have a dynamic defensive end duo in Shieldnight and Nickson to build the future of their defensive end group around, and they are well within the top 10 recruiting classes in the country as we enter July.

The Sooners turn their attention to securing commitments from [autotag]Cortez Mills[/autotag] and [autotag]Omarion Robinson[/autotag] along with priority offensive line targets [autotag]Michael Fasusi[/autotag], [autotag]Lamont Rogers[/autotag], [autotag]Andrew Babalola[/autotag], and [autotag]Ty Haywood[/autotag].

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Sooners No. 7 in ESPN’s recruiting class rankings for 2025

The Oklahoma Sooners have several high-profile recruitments still underway, but they’re in a great spot already in the 2025 recruiting cycle.

Recruiting is certainly a strong point for the Oklahoma Sooners under [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]. On both sides of the ball, OU has landed blue chip prospects, including five-star players [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] (2023), [autotag]Adepoju Adebawore[/autotag] (2023), [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag] (2023), and [autotag]David Stone[/autotag] (2024).

It’s set the stage for the Sooners to contend when they make their move into the SEC. In the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag], the Sooners are already off to a great start with the summer recruiting season approaching. With 15 commitments, the Sooners sit No. 3 in the nation and No. 1 in the SEC in 247Sports team recruiting rankings.

And the Sooners are well within the top 10 of ESPN’s top 25 recruiting classes (ESPN+) for the 2025 cycle.

The Sooners’ first official class as a member of the SEC already has a strong foundation. It’s anchored by offensive firepower, including a pair of ESPN 300 wide receivers in [autotag]Elijah Thomas[/autotag] and [autotag]Gracen Harris[/autotag]. Harris is quick and has good hands. Thomas, an in-state commit, is a precise route-runner and offers a wide catch radius. Running back [autotag]Tory Blaylock[/autotag] can be an electric playmaker with excellent speed — he has registered a max speed north of 21 mph in games.

The Sooners stayed in-state to land [autotag]Kevin Sperry[/autotag] at QB. He has a quick release and good accuracy and threw for over 2,500 yards and completed 68% of his passes as a junior. In-state defensive end [autotag]Alexander Shieldnight[/autotag] has first-step quickness and active hands and tallied 11 sacks as a junior. While much of their class hails from OU’s primary recruiting base, [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag] was a nice win out of Maryland. He’s a defensive lineman with good initial quickness as well as agility, and he can be an active presence in the trenches. – Craig Haubert, ESPN

It’s a class that’s equally impressive on defense as it is on offense. Sperry has the chance to be every bit as impactful as the quarterbacks that Oklahoma’s brought on board over the last few years under Venables. His low-key recruitment has been an asset for the Sooners. With their quarterback committed, and helping peer recruit, the Sooners have been able to focus their efforts on an offensive line class that is as elite as 2024’s defensive line class was.

Even though Oklahoma’s experienced coordinator changes on both sides of the ball, they’ve continued to recruit at an incredibly high level. And with high-profile recruitments still to be decided along the offensive line and with five-star safety [autotag]Jonah Williams[/autotag], the Sooners have a chance to add another impactful class to the depth chart in 2025.

There’s still a long way to go in the 2025 cycle, but the Sooners are in a great spot. Any concerns about Brent Venables and his staff’s ability to recruit at Oklahoma are long gone.

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Oklahoma Sooners predicted to land 2025 4-Star cornerback

A prediction has been put in in favor of the Oklahoma Sooners for 4-Star 2025 cornerback.

The Oklahoma Sooners continue to hit the recruiting trail hard in the 2025 recruiting class. The Sooners currently have the No. 4 class in the country.

It feels like just about every week, Oklahoma is earning a new prediction for a 2025 recruit or a commit. On Friday night, they earned a commitment from EDGE rusher [autotag]Alexander Shieldnight[/autotag]. This time the Sooners received a prediction from On3 and SoonerScoop’s Josh McCuiston for four-star cornerback from Texas, Cobey Sellers.

Sellers is six feet tall and weighs 170 pounds. He’s a defensive back who is ranked as the No. 16 cornerback in the country. Sellers is also a top 250 overall recruit on every recruiting site and would be a big addition to [autotag]Jay Valai[/autotag]’s cornerback room.

Oklahoma is currently the favorite to land the talented cornerback with the Texas Longhorns, LSU Tigers, [autotag]Baylor Bears[/autotag] and [autotag]SMU Mustangs[/autotag] lurking. Oklahoma has an 89% chance of landing Sellers, according to On3’s recruiting prediction machine.

The Sooners currently have eight commits in 2025 already. With a top-five class in 2023 and trending toward another top 10 class in 2024, they have a chance to start stacking big-time classes ahead of their move to the SEC.

There is still a long way to go with Sellers, and he hasn’t set a commitment date, but there is no question the Sooners are off to a great start.

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Oklahoma Sooners earn commitment from 2025 EDGE Alexander Shieldknight

The Oklahoma Sooners picked up their eighth commitment of the 2025 cycle with a pledge from Wagoner, Okla. product Alexander Shieldknight.

The Oklahoma Sooners continue to dominate in-state recruiting for the 2025 cycle, adding a commitment from 2025 EDGE Alexander Shieldknight.

Shieldknight makes the sixth commitment from the Sooner State in the cycle. He’s the No. 12 player in the state and the No. 36 EDGE in 2025.

As a junior in high school, Shieldknight brings great size and athleticism to the table. He’s got an impressive motor playing defensive end in Wagoner’s three-man alignment.

Shieldknight had offers from Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Texas Tech, Kansas, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Tulsa, and Houston. It represents another big win in the state and in the 2025 recruiting class for the Sooners.

Shieldknight is the eighth commitment for the Sooners in 2025 and the second along the defensive line. He joins [autotag]Ka’Mori Moore[/autotag] out of Lee’s Summit North, who committed back in July.

The Sooners currently have the No. 4 recruiting class in the 247Sports team recruiting rankings. Early in the cycle, they are behind only Georgia, Alabama, and Notre Dame.

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Oklahoma Sooners receive two predictions for 2025 3-Star EDGE

Sooners continue to hit the recruiting trail this time they log two predictions for a 2025 EDGE defender.

The Oklahoma Sooners are staying red hot on the recruiting trail. Not just for this upcoming 2024 class but [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and Co. have been on an absolute heater in the 2025 cycle.

The Sooners just received two predictions in favor of landing [autotag]Alexander Shieldnight[/autotag]. Shieldnight is a 2025 three-star EDGE defender from Wagoner, Okla.

Shieldnight is 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, and has been someone the staff has been after for quite a while. He was first offered back in December of 2022.

[autotag]Miguel Chavis[/autotag] has been the lead recruiter for Shieldnight and because of the work he’s done OUInsider’s Brandon Drumm and Parker Thune both think he will ultimately commit to the Sooners. The two issued Rivals Futurecasts on Friday.

In 2022, he finished with 83 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, two forced fumbles and one safety. He’s also just another example of how much value Venables has put into recruiting the state of Oklahoma since coming back to Norman.

Oklahoma currently has commitments from three of the top seven players in the state in 2025. They are trending pretty heavily for three others. It’s a possibility Oklahoma lands six of the top seven players within the state. That’s something we did not see under the previous regime.

Shortly after the expert positions went in, Shieldnight also set his commitment date. He’ll be announcing his decision on Nov. 10, 2023.

So, the Sooners won’t have to wait too much longer to find out where they stand with the talented in-state defender.

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