Oklahoma signee Keyon Brown will not be enrolling with Oklahoma and plans to go the junior college route instead.
Oklahoma’s plans at wide receiver for the 2023 season took a hit on Monday evening. Sooners wide receiver signee Keyon Brown will no longer join the Oklahoma Sooners when the team reconvenes in a few weeks.
Oklahoma offered Brown on June 2, 2022, after an incredible showing at an OU-hosted prospect camp. He also earned an offer from Alabama. He committed to the Sooners on June 5, 2022.
In 247Sports’ rankings, Brown checks in as a three-star recruit, a top-60 wideout in the cycle and a top-70 prospect in Florida. His size and speed combination made him feel like a player destined to outplay his recruiting positioning. Oklahoma won out over Auburn, Alabama, Florida State and Tennessee.
Garden City Community College has ties to Oklahoma’s program. Head coach Brent Venables went to Garden City before transferring to play for Bill Snyder at Kansas State. Former Sooner offensive lineman Phil Loadholt played at Garden City before committing to Oklahoma.
Without Brown joining the class, four-star wide receiver Jaquaize Pettaway will be the only receiver signee the Sooners bring in this recruiting cycle. It also puts that much more of an onus on receivers not named Jalil Farooq and Drake Stoops to step up, as Oklahoma’s depth will take a hit.
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Oklahoma continues to plant its feet firmly in the Florida recruiting landscape as they offer four-star defensive tackle, D’Antre Robinson.
Florida was very lucrative to the Oklahoma Sooners in the class of 2023. With the staff’s comfort recruiting in the Sunshine State, it makes sense they would be right back there for the class of 2024.
The Class of 2023 gave the Sooners CB Makari Vickers (early enrollee), DL Derrick LeBlanc (early enrollee), LB Lewis Carter, WR Keyon Brown, and defensive lineman Markus Strong. All are from Florida. With that success, why would Oklahoma not go back to the well?
The Sooners believe they can replicate that success in 2024 and reached out to offer four-star defensive tackle D’Antre Robinson out of Orlando, Florida.
Robinson is a true space eater in the interior. He has decent lateral quickness and is disruptive at the point of attack. Robinson’s natural strength allows him to stonewall opposing offensive linemen and effectively eliminate them from moving him off his spot. That frees up his teammates to go and make plays and attack the ball carrier.
He played AAU basketball. The athleticism required to play basketball at that level is on full display. With his frame, it is reasonable to believe he could still add anywhere from 10-15 pounds if necessary. The extra pounds would help significantly if he plays along the interior for an SEC team.
In his evaluation of the 2023 recruiting classes, Fox Sports Joel Klatt shared that he loves what Oklahoma has done on the recruiting trail.
When Lincoln Riley left for USC, one of the big national talking points wondered how well Brent Venables and his staff would perform on the recruiting trail.
“I’ve walked into four playoffs, and I’ve never had better than maybe the third-best roster (of the four teams),” Riley said. “Every other year, we were 4 of 4. We had really good rosters, but they weren’t the same. … I can’t imagine that there could be a setting that we could build a better roster than we can here.”
Time will tell if Brent Venables and his staff can get to a College Football Playoff. But based strictly on recruiting rankings, Riley’s comment was a lie.
The Sooners have done an incredible job over the last year on the recruiting trail and have a chance to follow their No. 4 class with another top-five group if a few things fall right. If they can build on their success on the recruiting trail in the 2022 and 2023 cycles, there’s no reason the Sooners will not be national title contenders in the future.
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On the latest Joel Klatt Show, the Fox Sports analyst broke down the 2023 recruiting cycle and had some positive things to say about the Sooners class. In particular, Klatt mentions Venables is already outperforming Riley on the recruiting trail.
Oklahoma. I thought Oklahoma had a really great class. And obviously the the rankings suggest that as far as the total class, in terms of recruits and transfers No. 6, their best since 2021, when Caleb Williams came in. They had the the No. 4 class in the country when it just looks at high school recruits. That’s their best high school class since 2005. So, like, Brent Venables did a great job. I looked back at some of these classes that they had had high school only over the last few years, and Lincoln Riley wasn’t touching that, you know. 2019 I believe they had like the sixth best class in the country. They had an eight in there, but then like 10, 13, 9, 19 in 2016. So Brent Venables has done a really good job. Their first class is the best they’ve had in a long time. Six of their best seven recruits are either defensive players or offensive linemen. How do you get good? How do you win going into the SEC? You better play good defense. You better play good on the line of scrimmage, and their best player overall is their quarterback that they got, Jackson Arnold. So I loved what Oklahoma did. – Klatt, The Joel Klatt Show
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It took Brent Venables just one year to put together one of the best recruiting classes in Oklahoma history. It’s an incredible signing class made even more incredible by the balance it has. As Klatt mentions, as the Sooners prepare to play in the SEC, they have to be good on defense and good up front on both sides of the ball.
Ten of Oklahoma’s four- and five-stars come on the defensive side of the football. The six offensive blue-chippers are the No. 4 quarterback, [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag], offensive linemen [autotag]Cayden Green[/autotag] and [autotag]Joshua Bates[/autotag], running back [autotag]Daylan Smothers[/autotag], and wide receivers [autotag]Jaquaize Pettaway[/autotag] and [autotag]Keyon Brown[/autotag]. With Bates, Green, Adepoju Adebawore and Derrick LeBlanc, Oklahoma added four blue-chip players to their offensive and defensive line.
That’ll have to continue or even get better to get on Alabama or Georgia’s level, but it’s a great start.
Perhaps the most impressive collection of players they brought in at one position is in the defensive backfield, where they added six four- and five-star defensive backs.
Lincoln Riley did a good job on the recruiting trail, but his best high school class in 2019 didn’t have the desired impact, and he definitely didn’t recruit this well on defense.
They had 16 blue-chip players signed to that class, eight of which were on the defensive side of the ball. Their highest-rated defensive player was ranked No. 163. That class had three top 200 defensive players signed. In the 2023 cycle, Venables added six top 200 players on defense, four of which were top 100 signees.
Of those 16 four- and five-star players in the 2019 class, only four or five had a significant impact for the Sooners: [autotag]Spencer Rattler[/autotag], [autotag]Woodi Washington[/autotag], [autotag]David Ugwoegbu[/autotag], [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag] and [autotag]Jadon Haselwood[/autotag]. Of those five, only Woodi Washington remains with the squad. Everyone else transferred.
[autotag]Jaden Davis[/autotag], [autotag]Marcus Stripling[/autotag], [autotag]Joseph Wete[/autotag] and [autotag]Marcus Major[/autotag] are still with the squad, but have not taken the step into stardom.
In two recruiting cycles, Brent Venables has added 33 four- and five-star players to the Sooners’ roster. Nineteen are on the defensive side of the football.
Venables and his staff can recruit. That much has been made clear. They did a great job in the two months they had prior to 2022 national signing day putting together the No. 8 class in the nation. And did even better with a year to work with in the 2023 class. Given two years to work on the 2024 class, it’s possible Venables and his staff can recreate the success from 2023 or even exceed it.
And that’s what it’s going to take for Oklahoma to be in a position to contend with Alabama and Georgia, whether it is in the Big 12 or the SEC. With the success it has had on the trail, there should be little doubt that the staff can build a roster that can contend for national championships.
To steal from Riley, there may not be a setting where Oklahoma could build a better roster than it can here.
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While the Oklahoma Sooners have a hole at wide receiver, they have several promising players to work with to replace Marvin Mims.
The Oklahoma Sooners lost several players to the NFL after the 2022 season. Perhaps none were a bigger loss than wide receiver [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag].
Mims, who emerged as a true freshman, led the Oklahoma Sooners in receiving yards each of his three seasons in Norman. His penchant for the big play was a huge part of Oklahoma’s offensive success over the last three seasons.
New wide receivers coach [autotag]Emmett Jones[/autotag] and offensive coordinator [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag] have a tall task ahead of them to find someone to replace Mims in the starting lineup.
[autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag] and [autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag] are back and are likely two of Oklahoma’s starting wide receivers in three receiver sets. Stoops is a steady present out of the slot and had his most productive season in 2022. Farooq had a strong season in his first year as a starter and will look to build on it in 2023.
But what will Oklahoma do on the outside opposite Farooq? There’s not a clear answer as the Sooners begin their offseason workouts. As opposed to fill in the blank, Oklahoma will be answering a multiple choice or select all that apply test for outside wide receiver two.
The Sooners have a host of guys that will compete for snaps on the wide receiver depth chart. Returning are [autotag]Jayden Gibson[/autotag] and [autotag]Nic Anderson[/autotag], two members of the 2022 signing class that have a ton of potential but didn’t see many opportunities last season for varying reasons.
Then there are the transfer additions Oklahoma made late last spring. [autotag]J.J. Hester[/autotag] and [autotag]L.V. Bunkely-Shelton[/autotag] will get a full offseason of work in Jeff Lebby’s offense. They have experience from their original schools that could help the Sooners mitigate the loss of Marvin Mims and, to a lesser extent, [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag]. Oklahoma added [autotag]Andrel Anthony[/autotag] in the portal this offseason. He’s a big-play threat similar to Hester. Those three transfer additions don’t bring elite production, but they’ve done some things at the collegiate level that Jones and Lebby can develop.
The Sooners added a couple more wide receivers in this signing class that have a chance to have an early impact. [autotag]Keyon Brown[/autotag] may be ready to go from a technical perspective, while [autotag]Jaquaize Pettaway[/autotag]’s speed is going to be a game-changer for this offense. Pettaway won’t be in Norman till the summertime, but it won’t take long for the coaching staff to see the difference his speed makes.
The Oklahoma Sooners may not know who slides into the starting lineup at this point. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There will be quite the competition at wide receiver to see who emerges from a deep group of players with promise.
As the offseason churns along, this will be one of the position battles to watch for 2023.
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14 members of Oklahoma’s 2023 recruiting class set to join the Oklahoma Sooners as early enrollees.
Oklahoma has seen a number of players leave this offseason via the transfer portal, graduation or to pursue professional careers in the NFL. In response, Brent Venables and his coaching staff signed the program’s highest-rated class in quite some time. While we will not see any live action from Team 129 until the spring game, it will be encouraging to know that more than half of the 2023 recruiting class will enroll early to acclimate to the collegiate athlete lifestyle.
With classes starting Jan. 17, Oklahoma’s 2023 signees will move in this weekend. Which members of the Class of 2023 can we look out for in winter workouts and spring practices? Take a look below.
Fourteen of the 25 members of the class of 2023 will join the Sooners football program for the offseason program. For multiple freshmen, this early leg up can be invaluable.
For example, five-star quarterback Jackson Arnold can begin to learn the playbook, have actual live reps and build chemistry with the receivers. For players in the trenches such as Cayden Green, PJ Adebawore, Derrick LeBlanc, Ashton Sanders and Joshua Bates, the early time with Jerry Schmidt getting stronger can help their pursuit of early playing opportunities.
Brent Venables and his staff will be thrilled to welcome their newest players to the program for good as they prepare Team 129 for the 2023 season.
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Drake Stoops set to return to the Oklahoma Sooners for 2023.
There’s been speculation about [autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag]’ intentions for the 2023 season, but that has been put to bed ahead of the Oklahoma Sooners’ matchup with the Florida State Seminoles. On an episode of Bob Stoops on the former Oklahoma head coach’s YouTube channel, Stoops was asked if Drake would be returning for another season in Norman.
Stoops said, “Yeah, he’s told the coaches that he’s going to return for his next year and take his COVID year and work on some particular things that he feels he can be better at. At this point, that’s where it’s at, and he’s set to play another year.”
That’s a massive boost for an Oklahoma wide receiver group that is in a period of flux. Questions remain about whether star wideout [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] will return for his senior season or make the jump and head to the NFL draft. Additionally, the Sooners have had three receivers enter the transfer portal. [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag] was the most notable loss, as he was a contributor in his time in Norman.
Stoops’ return adds stability and ensures the Sooners will have at least two starting returners in Stoops and [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag] if Mims does head to the NFL. In 2022, Stoops has tallied 37 catches for 366 yards and three touchdowns. He’s a big-time third-down target out of the slot because of his work in the intermediate areas of the field. That’s going to be a big help next year for whoever is under center in Norman.
Stoops is a veteran leader and presence in the locker room. His experience will be invaluable to younger receivers like Farooq, [autotag]LV Bunkley-Shelton[/autotag], [autotag]J.J. Hester[/autotag], [autotag]Gavin Freeman[/autotag], [autotag]Jayden Gibson[/autotag], [autotag]Nicholas Anderson[/autotag], and incoming receivers like four-star signees [autotag]Jaquaize Pettaway[/autotag] and [autotag]Keyon Brown[/autotag].
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How does the Oklahoma Sooners 2023 recruiting class look broken down by position?
The Oklahoma Sooners have put together a really nice recruiting class through the early signing period of the 2023 cycle. We haven’t even made it to February’s national signing day, and Oklahoma’s sitting with the No. 5 class in 247Sports recruiting rankings.
The Sooners have added a four- or five-star player at every position save for tight end. Even there, the Sooners added one of the best players in the state to Joe Jon Finley’s room.
It’s an incredible collection of athletic, fast and versatile players that will, along with the 2021 and 2022 recruiting classes, be the foundation of Oklahoma’s journey into the SEC.
Which players in the 2023 cycle have signed with the Oklahoma Sooners?
The Oklahoma Sooners had a great day on the opening of the early signing period. Unlike a few other schools, the Sooners signed everyone that was committed coming into Wednesday.
While they didn’t land a couple of their highly-regarded targets at the end, the Sooners have put together a really nice class in the 2023 cycle.
Led by five-star players Jackson Arnold and Adepoju Adebawore, Oklahoma signed 15 four or five-star players. They were particularly successful on the defensive side of the ball, adding nine blue-chip players.
The defensive backfield is the place where they had the most significant infusion of talent. In Jacobe Johnson, Jasiah Wagoner, Kendel Dolby, Makari Vickers, Daeh McCullough, and Erik McCarty, the Sooners added five four-star talents and a player in McCarty who will be a big-time contributor for Oklahoma’s secondary in the years to come.
In his early signing period press conference, Brent Venables indicated that the Sooners weren’t done adding talent. That could be through the transfer portal or on the high school recruiting trail. That would take an already great recruiting class to another level.
Here are the players who have signed with the Oklahoma Sooners for the 2023 cycle.
Keyon Brown has officially signed with the Oklahoma Sooners
The early signing period is underway, and the Oklahoma Sooners are beginning to put pen to paper with their [autotag]2023 recruiting class[/autotag].
Before the Oklahoma Sooners exploded into the top ten of the recruiting rankings, they were sitting much lower, with only a few commits to their name for the 2023 recruiting cycle. [autotag]Keyon Brown[/autotag], a wide receiver from Tallahassee, Fla., was one of those commits.
After being committed since Jun. 5, the four-star wide receiver put pen to paper, officially becoming an Oklahoma Sooner. Brown also had offers from Auburn, Alabama and Florida State.
Brown is yet another OU signee that ran track in high school. He ran the 4×100. He brings a good amount of size, clocking in at 6-foot-2 and 188 pounds.
During his final season at James Rickards High School, Brown caught six touchdown passes and also had a kickoff return touchdown. The 247Sports composite has Brown as the No. 48 wide receiver and the No. 65 player from the state of Florida.
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