Tag: Brandon Drumm

Prospect Profile: 2025 defensive tackle Ka’Mori Moore

A look at Sooners 2025 defensive line target Ka’Mori Moore out of Lee’s Summit, Mo.

Oklahoma is one more recruit away from locking up Lee’s Summit North High School as an official recruiting pipeline. Between their pursuit and signing of Cayden Green in the class of 2023, their pursuit of one of the nation’s best prospects in Williams Nwaneri for 2024, and 2025 four-star wide receiver Isaiah Mozee, Oklahoma has a strong relationship with the Kansas City area football program.

It helps when the head coach of the team is former player Jamar Mozee. Mozee was a running back on the Sooners’ last national title-winning squad back in 2000.

The possible pipeline could grow even more if the Sooners can land yet another Power Five caliber player that Lee’s Summit has to offer. 2025 nose tackle Ka’Mori Moore was the latest athlete from that high school to receive an offer from Oklahoma.

The Sooners are actively recruiting his teammates, and it’s only natural that the 6-foot-1, 310-pound defensive tackle is being recognized.

Moore is powerful but has excellent agility for someone his size. His ability to stonewall offensive linemen allows him to disrupt timing on plays and enables the rest of the defense to make plays. Moore also spent time in June at one of Oklahoma’s camps, showcasing his skills in front of the coaching staff.

He has a frame that could also hold a bit more weight and help him be a wrecking ball in the middle of defenses at the collegiate level. He has offers from Nebraska, UNLV, and Iowa State as well.

In a world where Oklahoma lands Williams Nwaneri this recruiting cycle, it’s hard to imagine the Sooners not being a leader in Moore’s recruitment. Brandon Drumm, the Rivals insider for Oklahoma sports, already logged a future cast in favor of Moore landing with Oklahoma.

Ka’Mori Moore’s Recruiting Profile

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Sooners overwhelming favorite to land four-star CB Jeremiah Newcombe

Oklahoma is trending as the overwhelming favorite to land 2024 four-star CB Jeremiah Newcombe out of Arizona.

Sometimes a recruitment doesn’t have to drag on. In the case of four-star cornerback Jeremiah Newcombe that very well could be the case as the Oklahoma Sooners look like a heavy favorite. A flurry of predictions from 247Sports and On3 came through Friday evening favoring the Sooners.

The 5-foot-11 cornerback received an offer from Oklahoma in November. While things were relatively quiet on that front, a visit this week to Norman must have struck all the right notes as recruiting insiders from across the industry popped projections for Oklahoma to land the talented corner from the state of Arizona.

“Lanky frame with high upside length,” says mountain region recruiting analyst for 247Sports Blair Angulo. “Thin build with plenty of room to add muscle mass. Two-way playmaker and on-field production. Flashes very good top-end speed. Closes quickly on the football and reacts to plays underneath. Shows terrific hand-eye coordination and catch window concentration. Looks comfortable and smooth through his backpedal. Doesn’t panic as he dissects routes. Primarily a finesse player but has some toughness to his game. Could continue to fill out physically and improve in press coverage. Potential multi-year starter at elite Power Five level.”

With no cornerbacks committed for 2024 and the Sooners losing Jaden Davis and Woodi Washington after the 2023 season, adding Newcombe would be a big boost for the Oklahoma secondary.

247Sports Director of Football Recruiting Steve Wiltfong, Brandon Drumm of OUInsider, and Chris Karpman of SunDevilSource.com all logged crystal balls for OU Friday evening. On3’s Director of Recruiting, Chad Simmons,  also predicted this would go Oklahoma’s way. With that level of momentum, it’s possible Newcombe could commit at any time.

Newcombe is in Norman this weekend and it looks like the Sooners have made a strong impression.

The Arizona native has been recruited heavily in the southwest by Arizona, Arizona State, Stanford, and USC. He also has offers from Notre Dame and Michigan as well.

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Sooners receive third projection to land 2024 4-Star WR Bryant Wesco

Oklahoma continues to set the pace for 2024 four-star wide receiver Bryant Wesco, picking up a Crystal Ball from OUInsider’s Brandon Drumm.

Oklahoma has yet to break the ice on the 2024 class with its first commitment of the cycle. However, as of the last month or so, they’ve been trending in the right direction with multiple prospects. One of those players is 2024 four-star wide receiver prospect Bryant Wesco.

Wesco is a talented receiver and has had Oklahoma in his sights after he camped with the Sooners last summer. Since earning his offer, his recruitment has taken off. The Sooners have worked to build their relationship with Wesco, and it appears it’s paying off.

Oklahoma now has their third projection in favor of landing the consensus four-star playmaker as OUInsider’s Brandon Drumm issued a crystal ball projecting Wesco to be a Sooner. This comes after OUInsider’s Parker Thune [autotag]OUInsider’s Parker Thune[/autotag] and Josh McCuistion of SoonerScoop.com issued predictions for the Sooners.

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With Wesco trending this hard in Oklahoma’s direction, it raises the question of when Wesco would pull the trigger on a decision.

While the Sooners are favorites on 247Sports and Rivals, On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine still favors TCU. Which means there’s at least a competition between the Big 12 foes. Wesco has visited TCU twice this year alone. Once in January, his most recent visit came on Wednesday as he and a few other Oklahoma targets saw TCU for their second Junior Day. By all accounts, former Sooner turned TCU wide receivers coach Malcolm Kelly also prioritizes Wesco as their top target.

This battle could come down to who Wesco fits more with and would likely serve as new Oklahoma wide receiver coach Emmett Jones’ first substantial recruiting battle. The Sooners have positioned themselves for success in this recruitment but will need to seal the deal.

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New projections have Sooners as favorites for 2023 4-star edge Tausili Akana

Oklahoma has surged into the lead for four-star LB/edge Tausili Akana. From @thatmanbryant

We are eight days away from the opening of the early signing period for the 2023 football recruits across the country. Teams are making last-minute pushes to secure commitments those early signatures next week.

Along with the transfer portal, December is a crazy month. Especially if you factor in bowl prep for the teams fortunate enough to play in one.

Recruiting never stops, however. As Oklahoma looks to finish strongly, it is trending in a positive direction for another top-flight defensive prospect.

One of their remaining targets, four-star edge Tausili Akana is trending in favor of the Oklahoma Sooners.

Akana plays his high school ball in Utah but is a native of Hawaii. He’s been on the Sooners’ radar for months, and Brent Venables took the lead in his recruitment. It seems the head coach’s efforts have been rewarded. Three predictions in favor of Oklahoma hit the internet Tuesday afternoon

Not only are there three predictions, but one of them came from national recruiting director for 247Sports Steve Wiltfong. Wiltfong’s ears are everywhere, and if he’s confident enough to drop a crystal ball, that’s great news for the Sooners.

In addition to Wiltfong’s prediction, Brandon Drumm of OUInsider at 247Sports, Josh McCuistion of Sooner Scoop and Rivals and Tyler Bannerman also of Rivals issued predictions in favor of the Sooners.

Oklahoma on Monday secured the services of four-star safety Daeh McCullough as it continues to round out its 2023 class. It two big fish (Peyton Bowen and David Hicks) remain committed to other schools, but Oklahoma will fight to the end.

A commitment by Akana would help push Oklahoma closer to a top five finish in the team recruiting rankings.

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Oklahoma lands projection for JUCO DB Kendel Dolby

Oklahoma’s big recruiting weekend hopes to pay serious dividends with recruits. The Sooners made an impression on JUCO DB Kendel Dolby. From @thatmanbryant

Oklahoma’s big recruiting weekend against Oklahoma State has the potential to pay major dividends for them in the long run. A mix of current Sooner commits and other prospects descended upon Norman on Saturday night. The list was over 20 deep, with some surprise visitors showing up last minute as well.

One of the recruits in attendance was JUCO DB Kendel Dolby. Dolby is a cornerback out of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. He received an Oklahoma offer in November and scheduled an official visit for Bedlam weekend. Dolby made it in and saw the Sooners’ secondary ball out as two Sooners defensive backs grabbed interceptions on Saturday evening.

Dolby, a 5-11 cornerback, was offered by safeties coach Brandon Hall so there may be a possibility that Dolby moves to safety if he ended up in Norman. A day after the game, that possibility seems a bit more plausible, as OU Insider’s Brandon Drumm logged a prediction in Oklahoma’s favor to land the junior college defensive back.

Dolby would be a part of the 2023 class if he signs. Oklahoma is fighting Oklahoma State and Washington State for his services as it currently stands. Making a final push before early signing day Oklahoma looks to put the finishing touches on a class currently ranked seventh in 247Sports’ team recruiting rankings.

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Oklahoma receives several predictions from 247Sports to land 5-star DL David Hicks

With several more 247Sports crystal ball predictions in favor of OU, the Sooners looks to be leading the race for 5-star DL David Hicks.

The coaching staff for the Oklahoma Sooners is fishing for the big one. The big one in this case? Five-star defensive line prospect David Hicks. Hicks has offers from every major program in the country. He’s being courted heavy hitters like Texas A&M, Alabama, and Oklahoma.

However, something has tipped the scales in a big way for the Sooners.

In the spring, it looked as if the Aggies were the frontrunners for Hicks in the wake of their top rated class in the 2022 cycle. The summer rolled around and Oklahoma gained ground on the recruiting trail while making up ground in the race for Hicks. We are now days away from kickoff for the 2022 season and Oklahoma looks like the favorite to land the elite 2023 prospect.

That type of declaration can only be made when multiple insiders across multiple recruiting sites put in predictions for Oklahoma. As it stands, Oklahoma currently leads in predictions on Rivals, On3, and after today’s predictions: 247Sports.

OUInsider recruiting analysts Brandon Drumm and Parker ThuneBrandon Drumm and Parker Thune each issued a crystal ball projection in favor of Oklahoma.

As if two crystal balls from those two weren’t enough, 247Sports college football Director of College Football Recruiting Steve Wiltfong also dropped a prediction in Oklahoma’s favor.

The pendulum has officially swung in favor of the crimson and cream.

Oklahoma’s momentum on the recruiting trail, the rave reviews from so many families about the culture they are creating, and the caliber of defense Brent Venables is capable of orchestrating are winning families and recruits over.

Todd Bates is a master recruiter of defensive line talent and even more so he’s a developmental guru sending multiple players to the NFL.

Hicks wouldn’t be wrong for wanting to be one of the faces of this 2023 recruiting class and being at the forefront of an OU defensive resurgence. At his current trajectory and based on what folks in the recruiting industry have said about him, he’s on a crash course for the NFL.

Oklahoma will have to keep their foot on the gas to stave off Alabama and Texas A&M but an official visit to Norman for Bedlam is already secured. Hicks also has an official visit scheduled with Alabama this fall. This race is far from over but Oklahoma is officially a threat and maybe, just maybe, the leader to land David Hicks.

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Projections land in favor of Oklahoma for four-star CB Jasaiah Wagoner

Oklahoma looks to be closing in on their first cornerback commit for the class of 2023 as Jasiah Wagoner was recently predicted to the Sooners.

Oklahoma’s seven commitments in July have been one of college football’s biggest offseason stories this month as we near closer and closer to the official return of college football.

Naturally, the Sooners won’t stay this hot on the recruiting trail if for nothing else than they’ll eventually run out of space in their class. However, for the time being, they still have more than enough space in this class for more and at one position in particular.

Cornerback is the biggest need right now for the Oklahoma Sooners on recruiting trail. They have no corners currently committed and their three main targets for that position are very much uncommitted and still available. One of those three targets is Jasiah Wagoner, a four-star cornerback from Washington. Wagoner holds offers from schools like Texas, USC, Washington, Oregon, and Notre Dame. Cornerbacks coach [autotag]Jay Valai[/autotag] has recruited Wagoner well and has Oklahoma in a prime position to land the cornerback.

Valai’s work has not gone unnoticed, and those tracking this recruitment were confident in the relationship between Valai and Wagoner to log two crystal ball predictions in favor of Oklahoma.

Brandon Huffman, national recruiting editor for 247Sports, logged a prediction. As did Brandon Drumm, a recruiting analyst with OUInsider.

There is no timetable for an announcement but the crystal ball predictions coupled with Oklahoma’s recent recruiting success should put everyone on high alert that a commitment could very well be coming soon. A commitment from Wagoner would really be a solid start to a potentially really good coup for Jay Valai in his first full recruiting cycle as Oklahoma’s cornerbacks’ coach.

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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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Is Notre Dame expecting good news on the recruiting front on New Year’s Day?

Good news on the way?

The Irish might be on the field still when Texas safety Peyton Bowen officially announces his decision, but new Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman might have already gotten some good news from the rising senior.

Bowen is set to make his commitment on the first day of 2022 and all current signs point to the Irish getting a commitment from a Bowen and recently another sign that will come to fruition happened. Oklahoma insider from 247Sports, Brandon Drumm, has predicted that Bowen will pledge to the Irish. That now makes four insiders from the site, including their national director of football recruiting Steve Wiltfong.

Although it has yet to happen, it does seem like the Irish will be getting some very good news on New Year’s day.

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Notre Dame trending away from 2022 California defensive lineman

Not great news

The Irish have put together one of the best 2022 recruiting classes in the nation, but head coach Brian Kelly and his staff are still hard at work trying to add on to the 23-commit class.

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One of their remaining targets is California defensive lineman Hero Kanu. The six-foot-five-inch and 293-pound defensive tackle visited South Bend the weekend of October 23rd but that visit might not be enough to reel him in.

For the longest time, Kanu had no 247Sports crystal ball projects, but three of them came in today, and none of them for the Irish. Their director of recruiting Steve Wiltfong, Ohio State insider Bill Kurelic and Oklahoma insider Brandon Drumm each predicted Kanu would end up in Columbus, committing to the Buckeyes.

Currently the Irish have Donovan Hinish, Kurt’s younger brother, as the only true interior defensive line commit. It might be back to the recruiting board for the Irish if they wants find a prospect to pair with Hinish.