Tag: Kalib Hicks

2023 4-star DL Derrick LeBlanc sets commitment date and includes Oklahoma in top 3 schools

The Oklahoma Sooners continue to trend upward on the recruiting front, this time landing inside the top three for 2023 4-star DL Derrick LeBlanc.

It’s been steady as she goes for the Oklahoma Sooners on the recruiting front. While the Texas Longhorns and other schools are landing commitments, the Sooners continue to plug away and will begin to reap the benefit as the summer months move along.

Seemingly, week by week, the Sooners are adding to their 2023 recruiting class, most recently with four-star running back [autotag]Kalib Hicks[/autotag] out of Denton Ryan. The Sooners will be on commitment watch this week as Samuel Omosigho is planning to make his decision on Thursday.

As days go by, we’re beginning to see the fruit of Brent Venables and his coaching staff’s labors. Now, the Sooners land inside the top three for four-star defensive lineman Derrick LeBlanc out of Kissimmee, Fla.

Right now, the only crystal ball projections for LeBlanc have him staying home and attending the University of Florida, but never count Brent Venables and Todd Bates out of a recruitment. The Sooners, along with Florida and Penn State make up LeBlanc’s top three heading into the final month of his recruitment.

LeBlanc intends to make his decision on July 28.

Here’s what 247Sports Cooper Petagna had to say about LeBlanc:

Versatile defensive line prospect that can play in multiple defensive fronts with excellent length and physical traits. Needs to continue to develop as a pass-rusher and refine his technique at the point of attack but has the natural ability to develop into a potential all-conference prospect at the next level. Will need two years to develop before playing into his ceiling at the next level. – Petagna, 247Sports

LeBlanc has been thorough with his unofficial visits. He’s visited Norman more than a handful of times while also making time to visit Gainesville nearly 20 times over the last couple of years. With recent visits for the spring game and Brent Venables’ camp, LeBlanc had a great opportunity to see what Oklahoma Football is all about.

This will be a tight recruiting battle between Venables and Florida’s first-year head coach Billy Napier. If the Sooners are able to land a commitment from LeBlanc, it will be a huge win in the battleground state of Florida.

Derrick LeBlanc’s Recruiting Profile

Projections

Film

Hudl

Oklahoma Sooners 20 highest rated running backs of all-time according to 247Sports

Oklahoma’s had their share of stars at the running back position and here are the top 20 commits of all time per 247Sports.

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.

Oklahoma Sooners land commitment from 2023 4-star RB Kalib Hicks

The Oklahoma Sooners picked up another 2023 commitment, this time from four-star running back Kalib Hicks out of Denton Ryan.

The ball is rolling for the Oklahoma Sooners with the 2023 recruiting class. They’ve recently picked up commitments from Keyon Brown and Kade McIntyre and have added another with four-star running back, Kalib Hicks.

Coming out of Denton Ryan, Hicks is currently the only running back committed to the 2023 class. He joins three-star center Joshua Bates, five-star quarterback Jackson Arnold, and four-star wide receiver Keyon Brown on the offensive side of the ball as Jeff Lebby looks to put his stamp on the recruiting class.

In 2021, Hicks rushed for 1,448 yards and 18 touchdowns, averaging 6.7 yards per carry for state champion Denton Ryan. In 2020, he carried the ball 119 times for 851 yards and seven touchdowns for an average of 7.15 yards per carry.

According to the 247Sports Composite rating, Hicks is the No. 24 running back in the country and the No. 63 player in the state of Texas. On3 has him as the No. 69 player in Texas and the No. 29 running back.

His recruitment with the Sooners was a quick one. The Sooners offered a scholarship back in May and Hicks took an official visit on June 11. Just a few days later, he was committed to the Sooners.

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For the second weekend in a row, the Sooners will host a number of prospects for official visits

Another weekend in Norman sees another wave of official visitors from Florida, Nebraska and Texas.

The University of Oklahoma has had an outstanding month of June. The football team is hosting prospects for their official visits, and the softball team just won another national title to go back-to-back.

Oklahoma football would love to hoist a national championship trophy of its own sooner rather than later.

For that to happen, the Sooners must continue to recruit well, which is why this weekend is important: a new wave of potential Sooners descends upon Norman for official visits.

While last week takes the cake in terms of the sheer number of prospects on campus, this week offers a very valuable opportunity for the Sooners to connect and move forward with 2023 prospects who hold the Sooners in very high regard.

The ChampU BBQ drew more than 20 visitors to campus. While the number this weekend will not match that, some major names are worth watching as the weekend starts. We’ve taken the liberty of listing every official visitor heading to Norman this weekend.