The Football Brainiacs

Image of Owen Pappoe via Recruit Georgia

– Sooners staff eval in SEC country: If you look at the 2019 class, it won’t take long to notice there is some serious talent in the state of Georgia. One school in particular, Grayson High School, is loaded with talent for 2019. That’s exactly where Sooners defensive coordinator, Mike Stoops, and OU defensive back coach, Kerry Cooks, spent yesterday watching practice. TFB spoke to a source around the Grayson program, and it seems as if the 2019 players took notice of the Sooners staff – 2019 Grayson players like Owen Pappoe, Tru Thompson (FSU commit), Kenyatta Watson II (FSU commit), Jalen Alexander and several others that have Oklahoma’s attention. Of the two FSU commits, Watson seems most locked in right now. Additionally, Pappoe recently named a top 10 that did not include OU. However, OU just threw their name in the hat recently, and my previous talks with Pappoe had him really wanting an OU offer.

When talking to those on the OU side and those on the Grayson side, I get the feeling that the interest is there for a lot of the Grayson stars, but they have never visited Oklahoma before. That looks to be changing in the next month or so, as there is group (names not solidified) that will be heading up to visit OU in mid-June or in July. Our source told TFB that Oklahoma would like it to be in July, but the most feasible time for the 2019 Grayson group to visit might be in June. As this trip begins to solidify, we will update accordingly with confirmed visitors. – (Brandon)

– Jadon Haselwood: Another 2019 Georgia preps football star that OU is really recruiting is Cedar Grove (GA) wide receiver Jadon Haselwood. Haselwood is currently committed to Georgia, but there is a catch to that; Haselwood comes from a family really entrenched in Sooner blood. Haselwood’s dad, Jeremy, is a Sooners grad, and helps with the OU alumni events in the greater Atlanta area. So, as the younger Haselwood has told me on several occasions, he was raised a die-hard OU fan. Haselwood told me stories of watching OU on Saturdays with his father and going to OU alumni events. This kind of upbringing is hard to get out of a kid, even if the kid is committed elsewhere at the moment.

I had a chance to reach out and speak with Jadon recently. Haselwood told me that he is definitely still interested in Oklahoma and still has hopes of visiting this summer. Haselwood said that once the 2019 players are allowed to DM with coaches and speak on a more regular basis, OU would be one of the main schools that he intends to hear from. Though in most cases it is hard for any school to get a player to decommit from an instate school like Georgia, this could be one of those exceptions that could work out for OU.

I know that Sooners outside wide receiver coach, Dennis Simmons, has stopped by to see the star receiver in recent weeks. When speaking to sources on the OU side, most get the feeling that the early commitments of Arjei Henderson and Theo Wease hurt OU with players like Jadon Haselwood. As we all know, those two players have decommitted, and it seems like OU is ready to make a push for Haselwood. 2019 is a long way off, and Dennis Simmons has proven time and again how good of a recruiter he is. With Haselwood’s Sooner connections, this one will be a fight OU is willing to battle for. – (Brandon)