Tag: C.J. Nickson

Oklahoma Sooners add blue-chip defensive end during early signing period

Oklahoma Sooners add four-star defensive end during the early signing period.

The Oklahoma Sooners took another big step during the 2024 season and hope to build on their improvement in 2025. Joining the ranks at defensive end is four-star prospect [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag], who signed with the Oklahoma Sooners during the [autotag]early signing period[/autotag].

The No. 96 player in the 2025 recruiting class per ESPN, Nickson is a two-sport star, who will also play for Porter Moser and the Oklahoma men’s basketball team.

Nickson chose the Sooners over Oklahoma State when he committed back in June. He also holds offers from Auburn, Baylor, Kansas, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, TCU, Tennessee, Texas Tech, and Wisconsin.

Out of Weatherford, Oklahoma, Nickson is an excellent athlete who has great size to play on the edge at 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds. His length and athleticism will be the attributes that could allow Nickson to push for early playing time with the Sooners.

However, given that he’s playing basketball for Weatherford during his senior season, he won’t join the team until summer workouts.

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Film

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Rating

Stars Overall Position State
ESPN 4 96 13 1
Rivals 4 — 18 4
247Sports 4 133 11 2
247 Composite 4 159 16 2
On3 Recruiting 4 248 28 5
On3 Industry 4 171 21 2

Vitals

Hometown Weatherford, Okla.
Projected Position Defensive End
Height 6-foot-5
Weight 220 pounds

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Oklahoma favored to land 2025 defensive lineman out of Florida

Oklahoma Sooners favored to land underrated 2025 defensive lineman out of Florida.

After a fantastic 2024 defensive line haul that netted [autotag]David Stone[/autotag], [autotag]Jayden Jackson[/autotag], [autotag]Nigel Smith[/autotag], [autotag]Danny Okoye[/autotag] and [autotag]Wyatt Gilmore[/autotag], the Oklahoma Sooners have done a nice job adding talent upfront in the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag].

With five months until the early signing period, the Sooners have commitments from [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag], [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag], [autotag]Ka’Mori Moore[/autotag] and [autotag]Alexander Shieldknight[/autotag]. They will bolster a deep unit when they arrive in Norman. It doesn’t look like [autotag]Todd Bates[/autotag] is through by any stretch of the imagination.

The Sooners have been in pursuit of Rivals four-star defensive lineman Floyd Boucard and, on Wednesday evening, earned a trio of crystal ball predictions from 247Sports recruiting insiders Tom Loy, Brian Dohm and Collin Kennedy of Sooners Illustrated.

 

Boucard is a 6-foot-3, 315-pound defensive tackle prospect who has only played football for a few years. He grew up in Canada playing hockey and the agility and athleticism required is clear.

He’s a dynamic disruptor who plays both defensive tackle and defensive end in three-man fronts for Miami Central. Boucard shows off a really nice first step off the line of scrimmage and great lateral agility. He’s strong and has good play speed for the position. When asked to play in a two-gap call on defense, he does a great job staying disciplined in the system and is fantastic at shedding blocks.

Though considered a three-star prospect by 247Sports and On3, Boucard has a chance to have his ranking climb during his senior season. He has all of the ability teams are looking for from a defensive lineman and has the versatility, ability, and experience to play multiple spots at the next level.

Boucard is set to make his commitment decision on July 20 and looks to be choosing among USC, Miami and Alabama.

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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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4-star edge C.J. Nickson commits to the Oklahoma Sooners

Four-star defensive end C.J. Nickson chooses the Oklahoma Sooners over the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

The Oklahoma Sooners [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag] is coming together as we reach the middle of the summer, less than six months away from the early signing period.

After adding a pair of four-star wide receivers over the last week, it’s the defense’s turn. Four-star defensive end [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag] committed to the Oklahoma Sooners.

Nickson chose the Sooners over Bedlam rival Oklahoma State. He’s a legit two-sport star who plans to play basketball for Porter Moser and the men’s basketball squad.

ESPN and 247Sports consider Nickson a top-100 prospect in the 2025 class and consider the Weatherford, Oklahoma, native the No. 1 player in the state of Oklahoma.

With his ability on the hardwood, Nickson flashes elite athleticism and playmaking off the edge.

Here’s what we had to say about Nickson in April.

His length is a problem for offensive tackles and he has the quickness and agility to be a plus pass rusher at the collegiate level. He plays both ways for Weatherford, also starring at wide receiver, where he racked up 604 yards and eight touchdowns on 36 receptions in 2023. – Williams, Sooners Wire

The Sooners are building a blue-chip defensive front and the edge group Miguel Chavis is putting together added a difference-maker in Nickson.

Nickson joins a defensive line class that includes defensive tackles [autotag]Ka’Mori Moore[/autotag] and [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag] and defensive end [autotag]Alexander Shieldknight[/autotag]. The Sooners are still working to add a four-star defensive end from North Dakota, [autotag]Kade Pietrzak[/autotag].

With 18 commitments in the cycle, the Sooners have the No. 5 recruiting class, according to 247Sports.

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Oklahoma Sooners 4-star target Max Granville commits to Penn State

Oklahoma misses out on 2025 four-star linebacker Max Granville, who commits to Penn State.

After a weekend of official visits for the ChampU BBQ, it looked like the Oklahoma Sooners had gained some serious momentum in the recruitment of 2025 four-star edge rusher [autotag]Max Granville[/autotag].

Steve Wiltfong of On3 issued a prediction favoring the Sooners on Sunday. While everything looked to be going OU’s way, the tide turned on Monday as the Penn State Nittany Lions earned Granville’s commitment with a late push.

In Granville, the Nittany Lions add one of the best pure pass rushers in the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag]. His quickness off the line of scrimmage and array of pass rush moves are going to create problems for Big Ten schools.

For Oklahoma, they’ll continue their pursuit of in-state four-star prospect [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag], who has long been projected to land with the Sooners. Oklahoma also likely pivots to [autotag]Smith Orogbo[/autotag], a four-star edge, and the No. 26 prospect, according to On3.

Who’s next to join [autotag]Alexander Shieldknight[/autotag] and the Oklahoma Sooners at defensive end? That will be something to watch in the coming months.

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Sooners target, 4-star EDGE C.J. Nickson down to two schools

247Sports No. 1 player in the state of Oklahoma named the Sooners and Oklahoma State Cowboys the top programs in his recruitment.

The Oklahoma Sooners are continuing to build momentum with prospects in the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag]. On Wednesday, the Sooners made the top four for Rivals four-star prospect Darius Afalava. Today, one the top prospect in the state of Oklahoma, [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag], narrowed his priority programs to two schools.

It’s a Sooner State recruiting battle for Nickson, who named Oklahoma and Oklahoma State as his top two schools, according to On3’s Hayes Fawcett.

Out of Weatherford, Okla., Nickson is a consensus four-star prospect. He’s considered the No. 74 player in the nation, No. 9 edge rusher, and the No. 1 player in the state of Oklahoma per 247Sports. The On3 Industry Ranking has him as the No. 5 athlete.

A standout basketball player, Nickson also has an offer from [autotag]Porter Moser[/autotag] and the Oklahoma Basketball program.

Nickson has great athleticism and quickness to be dynamic off the edge. His length will give opposing offensive tackles fits and shows strong pass rush technique.

Nickson holds 12 offers and has long been considered an Oklahoma lean. Predictions from On3, 247Sports, and Rivals each favor the Sooners in his recruitment.

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Oklahoma Sooners land prediction for 2025 4-star defensive end from Oklahoma

The Sooners landed a prediction to keep a talent in-state defensive end home in 2025.

The Oklahoma Sooners are off to a much faster start on the trail for the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag] than they were the last two cycles. They already have 10 commits and are the favorites for a couple of blue chip prospects announcing decisions next week.

This week the Sooners have received several predictions for [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag] and [autotag]Maliek Hawkins[/autotag]. On Thursday evening, Parker Thune of OUInsider and Rivals issued a futurecast predicting four-star defensive end [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag] to land with the Sooners. Out of Weatherford, Okla., Nickson is ranked as a top 50 player in the country, according to 247Sports. He’s also ranked as the No. 5 EDGE in the country.

There is no question that would be a huge get for the Sooners in the class. Plus, it’s always good to keep talented in-state products home. But for Nickson, he’s a guy many think could be a dual sport athlete. He’s also a talented basketball player. He earned all-state honors and starred on the AAU circuit. He helped lead Weatherford to a 29-2 season and averaged over 21 points per game as a sophomore.

 

So, this could be beneficial to not just the football team but also [autotag]Porter Moser[/autotag] and the basketball team as well if he chooses to play both sports.

The Sooners have to keep building that defensive line depth as they head into the [autotag]SEC[/autotag]. The SEC won’t let teams get away with it if they don’t have the talent up front.

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Sooners earn another crystal ball from 247Sports director of football recruiting for in-state star

The Oklahoma Sooners latest crystal ball comes from 247Sports director of football recruiting Steve Wiltfong

The Oklahoma Sooners have made significant headway in the recruitment of 2024 four-star edge [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag]. Nickson, out of Weatherford, Oklahoma, is considered one of the best prospect in the state and is the No. 46 prospect in America according to 247Sports.

And it looks like the Sooners have opened a significant lead in Nickson’s recruitment.

Brandon Drumm of OUInsider, Josh McCuistion of SoonerScoop and Collin Kennedy of Sooners Illustrated have each issued a prediction favoring the Sooners. That’s one from each of the major recruiting sites that covers the Oklahoma Sooners.

On Monday, 247Sports director of football recruiting Steve Wiltfong joined the local experts with a crystal ball of his own favoring the Sooners.

Nickson is a consensus four-star prospect and if the Sooners are able to land his commitment, it would give OU eight prospects from the state of Oklahoma in the [autotag]2025 recruiting cycle[/autotag].

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Sooners pick up another prediction for 2025 4-Star Oklahoma product C.J. Nickson

The Oklahoma Sooners earned an On3 prediction for the state of Oklahoma’s No. 1 player, C.J. Nickson.

The Sooners have done yeoman’s work in Oklahoma to land the top in-state prospects. Of the 10 prospects committed in their 2025 recruiting class, six of them are from the state of Oklahoma.

Based on the trending predictions for four-star outside linebacker [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag], the Sooners look like they’re on the verge of adding another in-state star.

SoonerScoop’s Josh McCuistion issued a prediction favoring the Oklahoma Sooners on Friday afternoon. This comes after Brandon Drumm of OUInsider at Rivals issued a futurecast favoring the Sooners last week.

Nickson is a top 50 player in the country according to On3 and 247Sports and is a four-star prospect across the board. He’s considered the No. 1 player in the state.

He’s an incredible athlete who also stars on the basketball court for Weatherford High School. Nickson also holds an offer from Porter Moser and the Oklahoma basketball program. Nickson has the size and athleticism to be a dynamic edge rusher for the Sooners.

C.J. Nickson’s Recruiting Profile

Projections

  • Rivals futurecast from OUInsider’s Brandon Drumm.
  • On3’s recruiting prediction machine favors the Oklahoma Sooners with a 97.5% chance to land Nickson after McCuistion’s prediction.

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Oklahoma Sooners get prediction for top 50 2025 recruit

The Oklahoma Sooners received yet another prediction for a 2025 recruit, this top for a top 50 defensive end.

The Oklahoma Sooners continue to work to put their 2025 recruiting class together which has a chance to be the best one in the Brent Venables’ era. Right now with nine commits, it’s ranked as a top-five class in the country.

A commit that could be a big help to the class is the state of Oklahoma’s top prospect and a top 50 overall player, [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag]. The 6-foot-5 220-pound EDGE would be a massive get for the Sooners. It seems like the Sooners have done a good job early on in the process as Rivals and OUInsider’s Brandon Drumm submitted a Futurecast for the talented defender.

Nickson had a really good junior season finishing with 54 tackles, five tackles for loss and five pass break ups. He also plays offense where he caught 34 passes for 577 yards and five touchdowns. He’s also a really talented basketball player and 247Sports reports he has offers from Oral Roberts, Tulsa and UT Arlington.

There has been some speculation he might play basketball at Oklahoma along with football. That’s something that would have to be worked out with [autotag]Porter Moser[/autotag].

Nonetheless, Oklahoma currently leads for the talented defender as On3 gives them the best odds to land Nickson. This one feels like there is still a long way to go so there is still a lot more work to be done.

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