Tag: Eli Bowen

Oklahoma trying to land a pair of brothers, offering Dominick and Darryus McKinley this spring

Dominick and Darryus McKinely both have offers from the Oklahoma Sooners. The eldest, Dominic, plans to take an official to Norman in June.

Oklahoma has the chance to have as many as four pairs of brothers on its roster in the coming years. It’s beginning to add a new meaning to the term “brotherhood” that head coach Brent Venables is working to create in Norman.

A true freshman and former five-star safety, Peyton Bowen, was one of the more high-profile signings for this roster in recent years. Peyton’s little brother plays cornerback at Denton Guyer High School. Eli Bowen holds an Oklahoma offer and could be a Sooner when his recruitment ends.

Current Sooner Dasan McCullough was a big get in the transfer portal for Brent Venables. He’ll likely start at cheetah for Oklahoma. They also added his little brother Daeh McCullough, a four-star safety in the 2023 cycle, providing a pair of athletic defenders that were essentially a package deal. They’ll both be on campus together for the first time this summer.

2024 commit Michael Hawkins’ younger brother Maliek plays defensive back and holds an offer from the Sooners. Maliek Hawkins, a 2025 prospect, is a talented, aggressive cornerback out of Frisco Emerson High School. Brent Venables’ ties to the Hawkins family run deep. He coached the brothers’ father, Mike, during his stint with the Sooners in 2002.

That brings us to the possibility another brother duo. 2024 five-star Dominick McKinley holds an offer from Oklahoma and plans to take an official visit to Norman in June. His younger brother Darryus is a 2026 defensive line prospect who also holds an offer from Oklahoma. While neither recruitment is anywhere near over, the possibility of the Sooners having another duo of brothers is incredible.

For the McKinleys, only time will tell.

Dominick is a five-star prospect on the 247Sports composite, and he hails from Louisiana. Pulling an elite defensive line prospect away from the grasp of the LSU Tigers may prove futile, but the Sooners’ defensive coaches aren’t backing down from that challenge. The eldest McKinley holds offers from Ohio State, Alabama, LSU, Texas, Texas A&M, among others.

McKinley will be in College Station to visit the Aggies the weekend of June 9 through 11. Visits are set for Ohio State on June 2, Oklahoma on June 16, and Texas on June 23.

It will be a busy summer for the five-star prospect, who’s the No. 1 player in the state of Louisiana. Oklahoma will make a strong push as they work to put together a defensive line class that can lead set them up for success with their move to the SEC on the horizon.

The possibilities of the defensive line class the Sooners could land are endless. There’s no turning back now. And if the Sooners were to land the eldest McKinley brother, it would all but put them in a very strong position to land the youngest for the class of 2026.

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Updated look at each crystal ball issued for the Sooners in the 2024 cycle

The Sooners are picking up some serious momentum for the 2024 cycle, but which players have they received crystal ball predictions for?

The Oklahoma Sooners finally broke the ice on their 2024 recruiting class over the weekend with a commitment from four-star cornerback Jeremiah Newcombe.

Newcombe’s commitment came in the wake of a number of crystal ball predictions being issued after visits to Norman.

The Oklahoma Sooners are on commitment watch with several targets in the cycle. Aaron Flowers and Michael Hawkins plan to announce their decisions on April 7 and 8, respectively. But with the number of predictions favoring the Sooners, we’re at the time of the cycle where decisions could come at any time.

As we near the end of March, here’s a look at each of the 2024 prospects to receive a crystal ball from 247Sports recruiting analysts and an updated look at where their recruitment stand.

Sooners circle back to Denton Guyer with an offer to 2025 DL Xavier Ukponu

Oklahoma heads back to Denton Guyer for another prospect. This time it’s 2025 DL prospect Xavier Ukponu.

Oklahoma has become quite familiar with Denton over the last year. Two of the three five-stars Oklahoma signed in their 2023 class hail from Denton and played at Guyer High School. They also signed four-star running back Kalib Hicks out of crosstown Denton Ryan.

It only makes sense then that the Sooners would continue their pursuit of Denton Guyer in pursuit of talent for the future. That’s why Oklahoma offered 2025 DL prospect Xavier Ukponu on Tuesday.

Ukponu is a defensive line prospect and was part of a Guyer team that pushed its way to the Texas 6-A semifinals this past season. Their success in landing both Arnold and Bowen, plus the relationships they’ve formed with the Guyer’s coaches, should give the Sooners’ staff confidence they can go to Guyer and land another target. Additionally, the Sooners are a factor in Eli Bowen’s recruitment, a 2024 prospect at Guyer. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.

 

Ukponu looks to be on the inside track to being an interior force for Guyer over the next couple of years.

He was named the DL MVP at the Next Level Athlete Texas Top 100 Showcase in Dallas. He also earned second-team All-District honors this past season.

Ukponu is lightly recruited, but with offers from Miami and Oklahoma already on his plate, it’s only a matter of time before Ukponu is swimming in other Power Five offers. As his recruitment wears on, no other team will have the level of recruiting aces up their sleeve like Oklahoma due to Jackson Arnold and Peyton Bowen, so Oklahoma should remain a factor in this race for the foreseeable future.

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Oklahoma Sooners receive predictions for several 2024 4-Star prospects

Over the last few days, the Oklahoma Sooners received predictions to land 2024 4-star prospects Eli Bowen, Caden Durham, and Aaron Flowers.

The 2023 recruiting cycle is nearing the early signing period, which opens on Wednesday. With [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag], [autotag]David Hicks[/autotag], and [autotag]Tausili Akana[/autotag] the names to watch over the next week and on national signing day in February, Oklahoma is busy trying to finish this class with a bang.

The Sooners are also making strides in the 2024 recruiting class. Over the weekend, Oklahoma earned recruiting predictions for a trio of 2024 four-star prospects, who happen to each be from the North Texas area.

Oklahoma received projections for cornerback Eli Bowen, running back Caden Durham, and safety Aaron Flowers.

Here’s a quick look at these prospects.

OU, Bedlam to play host to big names with a number of prospects descending on Norman

Oklahoma takes on in-state rival Oklahoma State for Bedlam and will be doing so with a massive group of recruits in attendance. From @thatmanbryant

There’s a fairly significant amount of importance surrounding Bedlam this year. The amount of games left between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State has been reduced significantly with Oklahoma’s impending move to the SEC on the horizon.

We may have 2023 and 2024, but the rivalry will cease as we know it in the next few years. Every game has always mattered but these last few, like the one on Saturday night, will mean a lot more.

Additionally, Oklahoma is fighting for bowl eligibility. They need one more win to participate in 2022’s bowl season.

Lastly and arguably most importantly, Oklahoma has its biggest recruiting weekend of the football season with Oklahoma State coming to town. We’ll revisit 2022 Bedlam several years from now and look back and remember it as a pivotal moment in Oklahoma’s last five to ten years.

There are some big-time names across multiple recruiting classes that will be in attendance for Oklahoma including five-star DT and Texas A&M commit David Hicks and recently dubbed 2024 five-star DT David Stone. More than 20 recruits have already committed to being in Norman, some via social media and others per OUInsider.com.

Oklahoma five-star QB commit Jackson Arnold dazzles in first game of season

In the first game of his senior season, five-star QB commit Jackson Arnold puts on a show throwing for 3 touchdowns and running for another.

After an entire off-season that saw him go from a four-star quarterback prospect to five-star status and a commitment to the University of Oklahoma, Jackson Arnold finally took to the field Thursday evening to kick off the final season of his high school career. It was a dominant effort from him and his Denton Guyer team, who have state championship aspirations again after going to the state title game the last two years.

Arnold put on a clinic showing off the dual-threat ability that was incredibly enticing to Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby. Arnold threw for three touchdowns and used his legs to take a zone read 64 yards to the house for a fourth touchdown as Denton Guyer cruised to a 47-14 win over Rockwall Heath.

One of Arnold’s touchdown throws went to 2024 recruit Eli Bowen, a two-way player for Guyer who is also being recruited by Oklahoma and is the younger brother of 2023 safety recruit Peyton Bowen, who the Sooners have been trying to flip from Notre Dame for months.

Recruiting action post Blue vs. Gold game for Notre Dame Football

It was a good weekend for the Irish

The end of the spring is always a big time draw for many recruits and Notre Dame’s Blue vs. Gold game is no different. Committed and uncommitted prospects share their experiences along with new offers as well. Find out below the latest on Irish recruiting post-spring game.

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