March has been an excellent month for the Oklahoma Sooners. They’re making the most of their opportunity to showcase the program to the nation’s best recruits. Players, family members, and coaches are getting an idea of what the Oklahoma Sooners will look and feel like under [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag].
Nearly every weekend this month has been seen elite talent from the 2023 and 2024 classes descend upon Norman to take in everything that the University of Oklahoma has to offer.
This latest iteration may be the best version of it so far as the Sooners had a ridiculous collection of talent across the several recruiting classes including the 2025 cycle. All three classes got to visit while the Sooners put on their first padded practices.
As it stands right now, no new commitments manifested from this weekend’s activities. However, visits from 2023 guys like Derrick LeBlanc and Cayden Green showed that the Sooners are in the race for their commitments. Both have now unofficially visited Oklahoma multiple times.
Below, we’ve listed the 2023 names that were in Norman this weekend:
- 2023 four-star DB Makari Vickers
- 2023 four-star OL Brycen Sanders
- 2023 four-star DL Derrick LeBlanc
- 2023 three-star OL Andre Cojoe
- 2023 EDGE Devin Strange
- 2023 EDGE Caleb Otlewski
- 2023 three-star RB Jacobe Fowler
- 2023 four-star DB Derek Williams Jr.
- 2023 four-star QB Jackson Arnold (commit)
- 2023 four-star DL Kayden McDonald
- 2023 three-star OL Trevor Goosby
Names like Caleb Otlewski, Devin Strange, and Jacobe Fowler won’t be too familiar to those who follow Sooners recruiting as none have offers from the Sooners. However, it’s smart for Oklahoma to keep casting a wide net.
Kayden McDonald has a close relationship with 2023 commit Jackson Arnold and that could help the Sooners in their pursuit of the talented defensive lineman from Georgia.
On the 2024 side, the Sooners are becoming more and more active as they continue to lay their foundation with the rising juniors of high school football. Here are the names of some of the 2024 prospects in attendance this weekend:
- 2024 five-star DL T.A. Cunningham
- 2024 DB Ka’Davion Dotson
- 2024 five-star EDGE Colin Simmons
- 2024 DB Kenyan Kelly
- 2024 four-star ATH Jaylen Mbakwe
- 2024 five-star DB Jordon Johnson-Rubell
- 2024 five-star DE/DL Zina Umeozulu
- 2024 four-star DB Kaleb Beasley
- 2024 four-star DL XaDavien Sims
- 2024 five-star DL Hevin Brown-Shuler
- 2024 DB Brayshon Williams
- 2024 four-star QB DJ Lagway
- 2024 four-star ATH Joseph Stone
- 2024 four-star OL Jordan Seaton
- 2024 OL Ezra Ballinger
- 2024 QB Ryder Hayes
- 2024 WR/ATH Mario Craver
- 2024 five-star RB Stacy Gage
The 2024 class was absolutely the standout group of the weekend if nothing else for the volume and the quality of players that were in attendance.
D.J. Lagway is one of the best quarterbacks in the state of Texas regardless of grade and getting him on campus is a big accomplishment. He already has offers from Alabama, Georgia, LSU, and Florida.
Brown-Shuler, Simmons, Cunningham and Umeozulu represent some insane five-star talent on the defensive line in attendance. All three will be household names by the time their recruiting processes come to an end.
Johnson-Rubell is another five star defensive talent with 21 offers already from some of the elite programs in the country. He plays at IMG Academy which has an incredible amount of talent, and features David Stone, a former Oklahoma prep star who transferred to IMG and a player the Sooners are also heavily recruiting.
All in all, the Sooners are trying to make connections with some of class’s most elite defensive talent in 2024 and this weekend was a perfect time to showcase that.
Lastly, there were a few 2025 prospects in attendance of note:
- 2025 RB Ravian Larry
- 2025 RB Caden Knighten
- 2025 ATH Ryan Grayson
Knighten and Larry are in-state products and players the Sooners should have in-roads to as they are the in-state favorites. However, both running backs are young and have a significant amount of time before their recruitments gain any heavy movement. But in the case of Oklahoma, it’s never too early to get involved, especially if Knighten and Larry become national names.
The foundation they build now will go a long way over the next few years.
Now that the weekend has come to an end, the next few days will allow recruits the opportunity to sit and think about the time they spent while in Norman. Some of the early returns and reactions have been overwhelmingly positive and we’ve chronicled those right here.
Expect for the Sooners to keep this level of momentum on the recruiting trail as they push through the spring on their way to their first spring game under Brent Venables. Oklahoma will be welcoming a number of prospects on campus for the April 23 spring game in Norman.
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