Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
UPDATED: Tracking all of Michigan State’s 2024 commits
Mel Tucker is out. Jonathan Smith is in. This all happened during a critical time of the 2024 recruiting cycle and now Michigan State football needs to solidify that class.
Some players will fall out, new names will join, and it will continue to be a mad dash and scramble as MSU tries to fight to bring a strong recruiting class into the first year of the Jonathan Smith era.
Buckle up as we track every recruit confirmed in the 2024 class below.
Oklahoma offered 2025 DB Courtland Guillory earlier this week. a versatile defender with nice size.
Billy Bowman and Peyton Bowen are likely your starters at safety in 2024, barring any health issues, and that gives Oklahoma as talented a duo on the back end as there is in the country. Billy Bowman spurned NFL opportunities to play one final season as a Sooner, while Peyton Bowen’s story as an emerging star will look to unfold this in 2024.
Behind them is some uncertainty, but there are plenty of intriguing names like Robert Spears-Jennings, Erik McCarty, and true freshmen Jayden Hardy, Michael Boganowski, Reggie Powers, and Mykel Patterson-McDonald as possible options. Each of the true freshmen safeties have received praise over their high school careers for their versatility and physicality.
As Brandon Hall and Jay Valai build their positional boards for the 2025 class, those two things stick out the most. That’s why it shouldn’t be surprising that Oklahoma recently offered 2025 defensive back Courtland Guillory.
Guillory has played cornerback for his Klein Oak High School team. He’s has also been positioned as a safety or middle-of-the-field player. His athleticism stands out, as does his 6-foot-1 frame. Whether he sticks at corner or safety remains to be seen, but early returns show he has the athleticism to play both, which makes him an exciting option for the Crimson and Cream.
Hudl
Every year there is roster turnover, but where are the Sooners better? Here are five positions Oklahoma’s better than they were a year ago.
Every offseason teams around college football have to deal with a significant amount of turnover to their roster. That’s been the case for the Sooners each season of the Brent Venables era.
No position group was hit harder than the offensive line. They lost the five guys that were starters for the majority of the season. Though they’ve been able to retool the lineup with transfer portal additions, it will be months before we know if those additions will work out.
Elsewhere, however, the Sooners look to be in really good shape, especially when you compare it to how several positions looked this time last year.
Here are five position groups that look better compared to where they were a year ago.
The Oklahoma Sooners added to their already deep safety room with one of On3’s best fits of the 2024 recruiting cycle.
The Oklahoma Sooners have been on a tear on the recruiting trail since Brent Venables and his staff arrived. In three recruiting cycles since arriving in Norman, Venables has put together three top-10 classes.
The biggest difference in Oklahoma’s recruiting is coming on the defensive side of the ball. One area where Oklahoma has had a lot of success is the safety position.
Venables and Brandon Hall have added [autotag]Robert Spears-Jennings[/autotag], [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag], [autotag]Daeh McCullough[/autotag], [autotag]Jaydan Hardy[/autotag], [autotag]Mykel Patterson-McDonald[/autotag], and [autotag]Reggie Powers[/autotag]. To go along with Billy Bowman, the Sooners may have one of the best safety groups in the nation.
The Sooners earned Powers’ commitment after he decommitted from Michigan State early in the fall. According to On3, Powers to the Sooners was one of the best fits in the [autotag]2024 early signing period[/autotag].
Reggie Powers could be the thunder to Peyton Bowen‘s lightning. Powers is 6-foot and already over 200 pounds that loves to play violently. His demeanor and attitude when it comes to playing near the line of scrimmage is rare for a secondary player. Bowen covers so much grass and is able to play as a true center field safety in the secondary, and he also plays a lot of man coverage in the slot. Having a player like Powers complement him as a downhill weapon from the secondary that can take on a heavier box role could be one of the better pairings in college football. – Cody Bellaire, On3 National Scout
More: Where do the Sooners rank in average team recruiting rankings for 2024?
According to On3, Powers was the No. 10 safety in the cycle and the No. 152 player in 2024. He is the seventh-highest-rated prospect in the Sooners’ 2024 class.
His combination of size, speed, and power, to go along with his versatility, will make him a great fit for the Sooners’ defense. Brent Venables loves to move his safeties around in his multiple defense. Powers could be deployed near the line of scrimmage as a strong safety or the cheetah or could be used as the deep free safety.
The Sooners’ safety depth chart looks like one of the deepest position groups on the roster for 2024. As Oklahoma continues to build its defense, Reggie Powers and the other safeties will be key to their success.
More: “He is serious about defense”: What led to Reggie Powers Oklahoma decision?
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.
A position by position look at who signed with the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2024 signing class.
The Oklahoma Sooners put together another top-10 recruiting class, signing all 27 of their prospects on the first day of the early signing period.
It’s a class that will help define Oklahoma’s success in the SEC. It’s a class that’s balanced, with 14 offensive signees and 13 on the defensive side of the ball. The defensive front is garnering all of the attention, but the Oklahoma Sooners brought in a number of really talented players on both sides of the ball.
Here’s a position breakdown of the Sooners’ 2024 signing class.
More: [autotag]2024 Early Signing Period[/autotag] coverage
Mykel Patterson-McDonald signs national letter of intent with the Oklahoma Sooners.
The Oklahoma Sooners added another dynamic playmaker to their secondary when Westmoore standout [autotag]Mykel Patterson-McDonald[/autotag] signed his national letter of intent with the Sooners during the early signing period.
A four-star safety over at Rivals, Patterson-McDonald is considered the No. 2 player in Oklahoma and the No. 13 safety nationally. He plays with an edge in the secondary and has a penchant for creating turnovers.
Patterson-McDonald is an aggressive safety who attacks the ball in the air. He’s also a willing tackler, playing with speed and physicality in run support.
The Sooners earned Patterson-McDonald’s commitment in July, beating Missouri, Iowa State and Michigan State. His recruitment and signing reflects the concerted effort from the Sooners coaching staff to lock up the top talent in the state.
Mykel Patterson-McDonald joins a safety group that returns [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag], [autotag]Robert Spears-Jennings[/autotag], [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag], [autotag]Daeh McCullough[/autotag] and [autotag]Erik McCarty[/autotag], along with 2024 signees [autotag]Reggie Powers[/autotag] and [autotag]Jaydan Hardy[/autotag].
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) December 20, 2023
More from the [autotag]2024 Early Signing Period[/autotag]
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.
The Oklahoma Sooners got great Friday night as Billy Bowman announced he’s returning for his senior season.
Christmas came early for the Oklahoma Sooners on Friday evening as [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag] announced he’s returning for his senior season. Bowman had a career year for the Sooners defense and had a chance to be taken in the top 50 of the 2024 NFL draft, but will forego the draft next April to play one more year for the Sooners.
Bowman’s decision was one of the more highly anticipated of this offseason. Now, the Sooners go into 2024, their first in the SEC, with a senior leader for their secondary.
In 2023, Bowman was second in the nation in interceptions with six and led the country in interception returns for touchdowns. He finished second on the team in tackles and also had three tackles for loss. Bowman was second on the team in snaps behind [autotag]Woodi Washington[/autotag].
Bowman earned a first-team All-American selection from CBS Sports and 247Sports and earned first-team All-Big 12 honors.
— ² killbill (@Billy2Bowman) December 9, 2023
What would have been an inexperienced group at safety, the Sooners bring back a star who’s played 31 games and more than 1,700 snaps in his three years with the Sooners.
Bowman leads a young but talented group that includes [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag] and [autotag]Robert Spears-Jennings[/autotag], who played a lot for the Sooners in 2023. Oklahoma also has [autotag]Erik McCarty[/autotag] and [autotag]Daeh McCullough[/autotag], who red-shirted this season. Expected to join the group in the 2024 signing class are [autotag]Jaydan Hardy[/autotag], [autotag]Reggie Powers[/autotag], and [autotag]Mykel Patterson-McDonald[/autotag], three guys who are considered four-star prospects by at least one of the recruiting services.
This is a huge win for Brent Venables and a Sooners defense that made a big jump in 2023. With the expected loss of Danny Stutsman to the NFL, getting Bowman back helps mitigate the loss of their defensive leader.
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.
In Reggie Powers, the Oklahoma Sooners landed a versatile athlete. Powers shared what led to his commitment to the Sooners.
The Oklahoma Sooners [autotag]2024 recruiting class[/autotag] got a boost when they received a commitment from four-star safety prospect [autotag]Reggie Powers[/autotag].
Powers, out of Dayton, Ohio, pledged to the Sooners on Saturday to become the 28th commitment in the cycle. It wasn’t long after Powers received an offer from the Sooners that he backed off his pledge to the Michigan State Spartans.
Down the stretch, it was a race between the Sooners and the UCLA Bruins. Like Oklahoma, the Bruins were experiencing a strong defensive turnaround as well. So what was it about OU that gave the Sooners an edge?
“It is a national program that is all in with football,” Powers shared with Sooners Wire. “I followed Coach (Venables) from his time at Clemson and knew he is serious about defense. Coach V, Coach (Brandon) Hall, and Coach (J.P.) Losman were very aggressive in my recruitment.”
Venables has built a reputation as one of the best defensive coordinators in college football for more than 20 years. He’s been a part of three national titles and played in several more national championship games. [autotag]Brandon Hall[/autotag] has done an excellent job recruiting the safety position since arriving in Norman, and Powers is the latest big-time pickup at safety for Venables and Hall.
Powers is the No. 7 player in the state of Ohio and the No. 154 player in the 247Sports player rankings for the 2024 recruiting class. Powers is currently the fifth-highest-rated prospect in Oklahoma’s 2024 class. His size and versatility give the Sooners a high-ceiling prospect for the safety group.
At 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, Powers already has good size for a player who won’t turn 18 until June of 2024. With basketball athleticism and great play speed, the Sooners plan to put that athleticism to work in several ways.
But how do the Sooners plan to use him when he gets to Norman? “They think I can play all the safety spots,” Powers said. “Cheetah and strong safety for sure, and in certain packages, I would play the deep safety.”
Brent Venables wants to be able to line his defenders up in multiple formations so as not to tip off the offense pre-snap. Powers’ athleticism, speed, and versatility provide Venables and Hall a player who can line up in a number of spots and make an impact in the game.
He was in town for the Oklahoma Sooners win over UCF and said he had a great time on his visit.
“It was a great environment,” Powers said. “Place was packed, and the staff made sure my dad and I felt like priorities. I really had fun myself.”
He joins fellow safeties [autotag]Jaydan Hardy[/autotag] and [autotag]Mykel Patterson-McDonald[/autotag] in the 2024 cycle. Reggie Powers plans to join the Sooners as an early enrollee this winter to get a headstart on his collegiate career. That’ll give him an opportunity to make an impact early in his Oklahoma Sooners career.
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.
Former MSU commit Reggie Powers commits to Oklahoma
Dayton (OH) native Reggie Powers was once a very good get for the Spartans, pulling the safety product away from his hometown Buckeyes, and committing to Mel Tucker and the Spartans at that time.
Since the Tucker incident, Powers made the decision to decommit from Michigan State and since has chosen to commit to Oklahoma.
Boomer Sooner🔴⚪️ https://t.co/6Wq0SfoqoG
— Reggie Powers III (@reggie_powers) October 28, 2023
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Cory Linsner on Twitter @Cory_Linsner.
A rare in-state recruiting miss for the Buckeyes #GoBucks
It seemed [autotag]Ohio State football[/autotag] and in-state safety [autotag]Reggie Powers[/autotag] were going to be a match.
The Buckeyes were looking to add a player at the position to their 2024 recruiting class and although Powers was committed to Michigan State, there was some smoke. Then he decommitted almost a month ago, seemingly paving the way for him to stay home and play for Ohio State.
Powers made official visits to UCLA and Oklahoma after reopening his recruitment, which showed his interest in the Buckeyes wasn’t all that high. That proved the case as he committed to the Sooners on Saturday afternoon.
Boomer Sooner🔴⚪️ https://t.co/6Wq0SfoqoG
— Reggie Powers III (@reggie_powers) October 28, 2023
This is a recruiting miss for sure. When the No. 31 safety and 275th overall prospect on the 247Sports composite is in your backyard with an offer in hand but opts to go elsewhere, there’s no other way to put it. Or at least, that’s what it looks like.
Back to the drawing board for the Buckeyes.
Contact/Follow @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on X.
