Norman, Okla. has been the home of some of the best college running backs over the last couple of decades. From Adrian Peterson to Kennedy Brooks, the Sooners have produced some fantastic running back seasons and that doesn’t look to be slowing down as OU looks to the future.
Jovantae Barnes made a splash in the 2022 spring game and there’s a lot of excitement about fellow 2022 running back, and summer enrollee, Gavin Sawchuk as well.
DeMarco Murray, a former five-star player, has become a fantastic recruiter for the Sooners, landing Barnes and Sawchuk and keeping them aboard despite the coaching change. In the last couple of weeks, he’s added a running back to the 2023 class in Kalib Hicks. While Dylan Edwards and Tre Wisner surprised everyone by going against the projections, the Sooners will add another running back in the next couple of months to continue to build the depth chart for the next few years.
As we look to the future, let’s take a look at the past with the Oklahoma Sooners’ top 20 running back recruits in the 247Sports database. Running backs like Seymore Shaw and Justin Johnson, who were originally Oklahoma commits but ended up playing elsewhere were not included. D.J. Wolfe, who was recruited as a running back but flipped to safety was included.