100 Days to Football Time in Oklahoma: #44 Brendan Radley-Hiles By: Ryan Lewis Posted on: July 23, 2020

The Path to Norman

Brendan Radley-Hiles, or Bookie, is a California native. An extremely talented player and elite athlete, he played at IMG Academy in Florida for the end of his high school career. 

With offers from basically everywhere, he had his pick of school. Bookie was committed to Nebraska for several months, but decommitted a few months before his signing day, feeling strongly pulled toward Oklahoma. He is good friends with OU running back TJ Pledger, his teammate at IMG Academy in Florida and fellow Californian. The two had a strong desire to play together. 

There were rumors of Pledger potentially landing at Nebraska for months, in large part due to their connection – instead, Oklahoma ended up with both.

Career So Far

Bookie started out the 2018 season strong playing nickel. He averaged just under 5 tackles per game for the first six games and was on pace to average 65 tackles for the season; that would have been third on the team behind only Kenneth Murray and Curtis Bolton. He kept picking up steam; then, he was involved in a violent collision during the Kansas State game. Although he still appeared in five more games, it seemed like he never quite got back to form after that hit. Bookie’s freshman season was a victim of its own hype. It’s hard to remember a defensive freshman coming in more hyped up than he; it was almost impossible to live up to that. Another challenge for Bookie was playing at safety for much of the season, not his most natural fit. 

In 2019, Radley-Hiles spent all his time at nickel. He started in 13 of 14 games, ending with the fifth-most tackles on the team. Bookie had an overall good year in coverage and did a nice job of closing space to take away options. The season ended poorly, however, with an ejection in the Peach Bowl. 

Current Profile

Position: Defensive Back

Height: 5’9”

Weight: 186

Year: Junior

Stats

Stats via Soonersports.com

Highlights

2020 Season

The OU staff has gone through a whole host of options at nickel over the past year and a half. Tre Norwood, Justin Broiles, Robert Barnes, Chanse Sylvie, Jaden Davis, and Jeremiah Criddell have all been tested at the spot; none of them have managed to usurp Bookie as the starter. The main competition this year seems likely to be Jeremiah Criddell – although he has been tested all over the secondary this spring – and newcomer Justin Harrington. Several of the other names mentioned above could get a look as well. The secondary will be full of experienced players this season. Until proven otherwise, expect Bookie to be the starter at nickel again this year.