Open Post | Wednesday, February 1st
Posted on: February 1, 2023
Sunday Morning Notes | Junior Day
– Charlie S – Posted on: January 29, 2023
Spoke to a bunch of visitors from yesterday’s Junior day and I can report back that each and every one of them dropped the usual adjectives and superlatives in regard to the visit. ‘Incredible, amazing, awesome…’ lots of those.
Another common theme, as you may have come to expect, is the SOUL Mission…pretty much every recruit I have connected with mentioned that as standing out.
***’24 LB Loghan Thomas out of Katy, TX (Paetow) was straight and to the point when I asked him what stood out as he just replied ‘The SOUL mission’. He was not alone in his thoughts as I mentioned above, the fact that every kid I touched base with talked about it tells me there was a heavy emphasis on the SOUL program yesterday.
***’24 OL Casey Poe is a guy that I got a little more in depth with while he was on his way home. Poe has been to Norman on numerous other occasions, and I asked him if anything stood out from this trip. Casey said “It was amazing! A bunch of high energy coaches recruiting some really good talent and everyone having fun.” He went on to say “The SOUL mission really stood out. Coach V did something really cool in bringing that idea into Oklahoma and making it a reality.”
Poe added “Another thing that stood out was just how much each and every staff member really enjoys OU and is happy to be doing the work they are doing. It’s like a big family.”
I asked Casey about a potential OV to OU in the spring/summer and he said he has not fully decided on his official at this time, but this visit will definitely be at the forefront of his mind when he starts locking in those trips. I expect OU to get one.
***’24 WR Zion Kearney out of Missouri City, TX was another guy who came out of the visit very excited. I wanted to get a sense on how the recruits viewed new WR coach Emmett Jones and Zion said he had a relationship with him prior to him taking the Sooners job as Jones offered him while at Texas Tech.
Kearney was also quick to mention the SOUL Mission and added “Coach V is all about the fam, for real. Everyone there has a connection and they have been together for a while now. They have all either played there or worked there…they have roots at OU.” He added “Everyone is very committed to the community and it is a people program. Even Coach V coming back from Clemson, that’s huge.”
Expect Kearney to take an official to OU in the spring/summer and it feels like Coach Emmett and Coach V have OU in a very good spot here.
***We will have more notes throughout the week once the high wears off from the visit, but I thought it was noteworthy that the SOUL Mission is still one of the first things these recruits talk about after visiting Norman.
Post Visit Update ’24 DL Nigel Smith
– Charlie S – Posted on: January 29, 2023
Just wanted to pass along a couple quick notes after catching up with ’24 priority DL target Nigel Smith (6’5 260) out of Melissa, TX following his visit to Norman yesterday.
First off, the visit went very well, Smith rated it an 8.5 on a scale of 1-10. Thats really solid for a junior day. He also said the impressions made yesterday were positive and this visit improved OU’s standing with him and solidified their place in his recruitment. He went on to indicate that this visit helped the Sooners in regard to possibly locking up an official from him.
As far as what stood out to him, Nigel said “It was just great to sit down and talk to coach Chavis and Coach Bates and talk ball.” He added “I got to sit down with Coach V as well, but we talked more about other things, not just ball.”
He also mentioned getting the opportunity to go to the basketball game was something that stood out as he appreciated the atmosphere.
Bottom line, OU did nothing but help their already good standing with Smith.
Sourced Update | Michael Hawkins
– Super K – Posted on: January 30, 2023
As you know, the Sooners have been in pursuit of 2024 4-star QB, Michael Hawkins.
Earlier this month, Hawkins indicated he planned to announce a decision tomorrow but seemingly postponed the announcement and that timing appears to be up in the air.
This past weekend he made another trip to Norman followed by a trip to TCU.
We have spoken to sources on the OU side and they seem confident so in trying to figure out what might be the hold up here, I reached out to a source on the TCU side.
Source tells me that Hawkins was silently committed to Briles at Arkansas. As a result, Briles move to TCU put things in flux.
I know TCU has a 2024 QB committed but it sounds like with the addition of Briles, Hawkins is now their primary target. And, obviously, Hawkins is also OU’s target.
Anyways, just wanted to shed some light on what at least one source feels has been the cause of the hold up.
Update | Nick Jackson | Transfer LB
– Super K – Posted on: January 31, 2023
As you know, the Sooners recently became involved with UVA senior LB transfer, Nick Jackson.
We previously reported that Jackson confirmed that he was in Norman for a visit about a week and a half ago.
He did make it up to Iowa City for his Iowa visit and I’m told that visit went extremely well.
Given Jackson’s production, you can imagine he was courted by a number of programs but I am told that Jackson is now deciding between OU and Iowa.
I do not have a sense of which direction he is leaning. Spoke with a source on the Iowa side and on the OU side. Neither seemed to know which way he was leaning but confirmed that it was down to the two schools.
I will say that with Jackson, it does not sound like this will come down to NIL (it may surprise some of you but Iowa can compete in that department with other schools big schools). I’m told Jackson is making this decision based on scheme fit and the potential to be set up for a better draft situation. Brent will have a good case there but Iowa does, as well.
I have heard that Jackson is extremely tight with Bronco Mendenhall and as we’ve previously said, sources have indicated to us that Brent has had ongoing conversations with Mendenhall. However, I was also told that Jackson doesn’t seem to know anything about that.
That isn’t particularly surprising. You’d imagine if Bronco was in any way connected to OU going after Jackson, it would have been from behind the scenes, at this point.
I’ll make one other note, I did speak to a source on the OU side who seemed to think that given the young talent in the LB room at OU, the move on Jackson does seem to indicate that there may be some substance to these conversations with Mendenhall. But, we shall see.
Post Visit Update ’24 RB James Peoples
– Charlie S – Posted on: January 31, 2023
Caught up with ’24 RB James Peoples (5’10 192) out of San Antonio, Texas (Veterans Memorial) following his visit to OU for Junior Day.
In addition to his OU offer, Peoples holds offers from around two dozen programs across the country which include heavy hitters such as Alabama, Ohio State, USC, Oregon, and Penn State as well as in-state offers from the likes of Texas, Baylor, Houston, Texas Tech and SMU. Expect that offer list to grow as well as he is one of the more coveted backs early on in the ’24 cycle.
Peoples was very impressed by his visit to Norman for the Elite Junior Day. He came away raving about the atmosphere and people in Norman.
When I asked what stood out to him about the trip, James said “The atmosphere was amazing! What stood out to me was how it is a family-based team. They had a genuine care for all of the recruits as well as everyone else there”.
He added, “The facility was amazing, but the people were even better and of course the photo shoot was amazing!”
Peoples is a guy who absolutely could turn out to be a focal point for the Sooners at the running back spot in the class and based on the impression they made this weekend, and after touching base with him, I expect OU will be in position to get an official visit this spring/summer.
I’ll have more from Peoples over the coming days and weeks, but I just wanted to be sure to note that OU made a big impression on him.
FILM:
He’s a three-clip guy for me at running back.
In other words, I didn’t feel the need to watch more than the first three clips to know why OU would covet him. Peoples shows tremendous vision, good burst, good speed and decisiveness, and a lot of wiggle. He also shows the ability to be physical and not only run around and past people, but run over them as well.
