Open Post | Weekend, April 19th – 21st
Posted on: April 19, 2019
Spotlight | 2020 Offensive Tackle Jimmy Christ
– Charlie S
I had a chance to speak with 2020 OT Jimmy Christ out of Sterling, Virginia, following his official visit to Norman for the Spring Game. Jimmy is a really personable young man and I am grateful for the time he took to speak with me after a long weekend of traveling.
He made his way out to Norman with his father and his high school coach; as you will read below, both play a big role in his recruitment. Before we got into the recruitment, I wanted to get to take the opportunity to find out a little more about his family and football history for you all.
(Pictured left to right: Jimmy’s father, Lane Johnson, Jimmy, Orlando Brown, Ben Powers)
We started off talking about the Christ family, and wow, talk about an athletic family!
“My dad played football at the Naval Academy and I’m one of six kids. My oldest brother played defensive line at Monmouth, my second oldest brother just finished playing football at Virginia Tech, and my third oldest brother is currently playing defensive line at UVA; Coach Ruffin McNeil actually recruited Tommy (his brother) to UVA.” He went on to tell me he has an older sister who is committed to play basketball at Appalachian State and his younger sister is a very good basketball player as well. So you could say that Jimmy comes from an extremely athletic family.
We spoke about his high school team, which plays in a pretty competitive division in Virginia. While they are currently a very young team, they are pretty stout in the trenches, although still developing their skill guys. However, you can tell how much his family means to him; he spoke about his freshman year when he and his brother got to play on the same team, which made it to the state semi-finals. “I got to play with my brother that year which was pretty cool. He was the right tackle and I was the left tackle.”
As we got into a little more detail about his High School career, Jimmy let me know that he not only plays offensive line but, as most elite guys do, he plays on both sides of the ball. He said, “I get to play stand up defensive end and I like it a lot, my highlights are probably 70% defensive.” Jimmy did not miss a beat at that point as I asked him if he knew the story about Lane Johnson and he quickly replied: “Yeah he was a quarterback, that is pretty crazy.” Did I mention he is a Philadelphia Eagles fan? Nice touch having Lane Johnson around for the weekend.
Since his family has so much experience with the college game, Jimmy has taken a very measured approach to his recruitment. His father and his brothers have all gone through the recruitment process, so that alone is a very useful source of counsel for him. Still, there is another important person whose opinion he relies on: his high school coach. “I can really speak to all my brothers and my father and then there is Coach Buck (Karl Buckwalter). Coach Buck brings in a ton of coaches and he has done such a great job in getting my brothers and me recruited and he even helped my sister get recruited. He does this for all the players at my school.” Jimmy added, “There is a reason why our school has so many kids go D-1 and that reason is Coach Buck, we are very lucky to have him.”
As I mentioned above, Jimmy has taken a very practical and wise approach to his recruitment, helped by the experienced people around from whom he can seek advice. When I brought up hitting the camp circuit, he said, “Well I went to some camps when I was younger, but once I started getting some offers I just decided that I wasn’t going to really do many camps because the schools that wanted me to go to camps were the ones who were probably not all that interested and still, some of the schools who asked me to camp ended up offering me anyways.” He added, “I didn’t feel the need to go out all across the country to go to camps when there was no point.”
Recruitment
When it comes to what he is basing his decision on, Jimmy knows exactly what he is looking for. “I’m just looking at the coaching staff and making sure I have a good relationship with them. Things like, will I fit in well there? The other recruits they are bringing in, do I feel comfortable with them? And then you have the track record of the coaches.”
OU, Penn State, ND, and UVA are the schools who are really standing out in their push for Jimmy, while there are still a few other schools fighting to get into the mix. Christ has already taken his Official visit to Notre Dame back in early April, so now he has a comparison to that visit following his OU trip.
As far as what Jimmy sees in Sooners offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh after getting to spend some time with him this weekend, Jimmy said, “He just seems really honest and he’s really down to earth. What really stood out to me was that all the NFL guys that played under him, they all come back and they are always visiting him and they talk about what a great guy he is. If they didn’t like him and respect him, they wouldn’t be coming back.”
Right now, Jimmy is planning on making his commitment to the school of his choice at the beginning of summer. He said “I’m thinking of committing before the summer because I just want to get it over with. I don’t want to drag the schools along.”
If you would like to read Charlie’s take on his recruitment, please check the Donor Board!
Update | 2021 Wide Receiver Headed Back To Norman
– Charlie S
Touched base with 2021 Wide Receiver Latrell Neville out of Missouri City, TX. recently and he let me know he will be heading back to Norman for an unofficial visit on May 4th.
If you recall, Latrell visited Norman back in February and he came away from the visit very high on the Sooners.
At that time I wrote: “The Sooners are in a very good spot with Neville (who his friends call ‘Prime Time’) and while the 6’3″ 195 lb sophomore will be one of the most sought after wide receivers in the country for the 2021 cycle, the Sooners will be in this one until the very end and could quite possibly get his commitment in September when he plans on announcing.” There is also an Insider Note in the link.
Now that the Sooners have gotten their first commit for the 2021 class in Cody Jackson, they have a leader and Cody has gone to work on recruiting Latrell and Tunmise Adeleye very aggressively both on social media and behind the scenes.
I asked Latrell about the three of them and if they are really trying to play together in college and he said “Yes sir! We’ve been close for a while now and we all want to play together”.
Now you know my feeling on package deals as I do not believe they typically work out, particularly this early unless you have a school that is extremely interested in all the parties. OU is extremely interested in all the parties.
In the article I linked above, when talking about his timeline for a commitment, Latrell said: “I have a top 10 in mind that I will be visiting this spring and once I’m done with that, I will be narrowing down my list & sticking to my commitment date of 9/15/20”.
Well, today he let me know that aside from the OU visit, he has no plans to make any other visits and he is ‘close’ to making a decision.
Bryson Washington | Timeline
– Super K
As we said earlier this week, after an incredible Spring Game weekend, OU really moved the momentum in their direction for 2020 DB, Bryson Washington (CE King).
Texas was, in my opinion, his previous leader but even Texas seems highly concerned and they are working hard to get Washington back on campus before he announces a decision.
This week, as you know, Washington announced that his decision is a Red River battle.
I had been told that the original plan was to announce sometime this summer. So, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that he would take his Texas official visit before his decision.
That may not be the case, anymore. I am told that it’s very possible Bryson could announce something this month and perhaps as early as next week.
Don’t hold me to that just yet. I’ll have a more definitive answer for you by this weekend or early next week but right now it’s sounding like a quicker decision is very possible if not likely.
Quick Hitter | 2020 OT Noah Nelson Confirms Visit
– Charlie S
*** Quick note here on 2020 OT Noah Nelson (Gilbert, AZ)
As Super K first mentioned a couple weeks ago, Noah Nelson touched base with me and confirmed that he will be officially visiting Norman with his family on the weekend of May 3rd.
Now, the news here is that the race for Nelson appears to be down to two teams, Michigan and OU, and he took his official visit to Michigan last weekend. The fact that he came out of that visit without committing to Michigan is obviously good news for OU as they try to piece together their OL class and they will get a good chance to make a lasting impression on him with the upcoming visit.
We will have more from Noah as the date approaches, but that weekend is actually setting up to be a nice little recruiting weekend as a few other names could be potentially heading to town for their visits as well.
We have previously reported that 2020 RB Seth McGowan, 2020 OT Brady Ward, and 2020 LB Kourt Williams among others are potentially visiting that weekend and obviously we will confirm those visits as the date approaches.
Jacobe Covington | Preview Update | DB Notes
– Super K
I spoke with the mother of 2020 AZ DB, Jacobe Covington about their recent return visit to Oklahoma.
I’ll have some additional notes and quotes but I want to get this out to you all…
***Covington was one of the guys we really expected to commit this weekend. That did not happen.
***His mother tells me that he really likes OU and it was something they thought might happen as well but she says that Jacobe feels he should see more schools before that happens just to make sure.
***However, the only school she mentioned Covington will definitely visit is LSU.
***This is going to get interesting because if Washington ends up pulling the trigger to Oklahoma then the Sooners will likely only take one more DB until they figure out whether they can take more down later in the cycle.
***Covington’s mother did say that the Sooners told them that they have three to four spots left. So they are aware of the issue that could arise but again, I think if Washington were to commit, it may be a mad dash between a few DBs to try to reserve their spot.
Eyes on 2020 DB Brian Branch
– Super K
***The other night 2020 DB and recent OU visitor, Brian Branch tweeted out the following…
I had spoken to Branch over the phone the day before about his OU visit. I also spoke with a source. My takeaway from speaking to both Branch and the source was that OU put themselves in a position to win this one and really impressed Branch’s mother.
I owe you all quite a few write ups and the full Branch write up is one of them.
But for now I want to let you all know that…
***When I spoke with Branch, his plan was to make a return visit to Alabama and Tennessee before making a decision but he doesn’t plan on drawing out this decision process very long.
***Now, I’m wondering if he is perhaps consider a quicker decision and one possibly to the Sooners because when I asked him if those eyes meant something could be going down more immediately and in the Sooners favor, he said, “maybe”.
I’ll be surprised if OU isn’t full at the DB position fairly soon.
Post Visit Update | 2020 OL Sedrick Van Pran
– Charlie S
The Sooners hosted 2020 offensive lineman Sedrick Van Pran (New Orleans, LA) on an official visit for the Spring Game.
Sedrick headed up to Norman with his father for the weekend and the Sooners made a great impression on the pair.
The initial reaction of a recruit, once he gets on campus, sets the tone for the visit in many cases and Norman did its job in this case as Sedrick said, “It’s definitely a great atmosphere when you get on campus. You can just see and feel the tradition in the buildings themselves.”
With the change in date for the Spring game, the Sooners also were able to use fan interaction to their advantage as folks were lining up to get into the game as many of the recruits were arriving, Van Pran continued to pick up good vibes within the first hour of his visit as he told me “I picked up on the family atmosphere really quickly. When we were heading to the stadium, as we got there, they had all these fans waiting for the Spring Game and they started cheering and clapping for us as we arrived and entered the building”.
He further described the scene by saying, “They made an alleyway for us to walk through and all the fans were filming us and cheering for us and really just being good people”. He added, “It felt like the fans were already showing us that ‘Hey man this is how we get down at OU football and we support our players and you can get the same thing if you come here”.
As for the nuts and bolts of the visit, Sedrick has a terrific relationship with Coach Bedenbaugh and he was very comfortable being around him. “I spent most of my time with Coach Riley and Coach Bedenbaugh and I spent a lot of time with Orlando Brown and Cody Ford this weekend. Coach B kind of followed along with me and Aki (Akinola Ogunbiyi) which was really a good thing because we got to bond and build that relationship together”.
Sedrick mentioned bonding with Aki and Coach B, but his host was Adrian Ealy. “My host was Adrian (Ealy) and they set me up with him, another Louisianna boy” so that added another level of comfort to the visit. Sedrick reiterated how important the family feel is to him and with OU pairing him with Ealy, they helped themselves for sure. Another name that Van Pran talked about was Tyrese Robinson, who as we all know, is a terrific young man and a great ambassador for the program.
Among the things that really stood out to Sedrick was the trip to OKC and he provided me with a little insight as to how Oklahoma’s quick thinking and improvisation made a nice impact on the visitors. “We went bowling, got back to the hotel and they told us we were leaving again in like an hour or so. We leave out on the bus, it’s like the hosts and recruits were on one bus and the parents were on the other bus. We didn’t know where we were going. We were just along for the ride. They told us they had a surprise for us so we just went. So then, we get to the OKC arena, and we were like, ‘Ok what we got going on in here’.
He continued, “So we walk in and they have these people and photographers taking pictures of us, lights flashing and stuff, and we were walking down this runway and you get to the arena floor and all the boards and jumbo screens are saying ‘Welcome to OU football’ and stuff. It was just a really cool experience. They had everything catered for dinner and all decked out in Sooner colors over the Thunder colors.”
“It was just a really cool experience because you know, not everybody gets a chance to have a dinner in the OKC arena. It was crazy because the Thunder had a playoff game the next day and they could have easily said ‘nah we can’t do that we have to use the arena to get ready’ and for OU to be able to just even pull that off, I thought that was pretty cool.”
The time spent with Riley was not lost on him either as he said, “On Sunday, I got to have some time alone with Coach B and Coach Riley in his office. The office is ridiculous! It’s like an apartment!” He continued by saying, “Coach Riley is just a really down to earth guy, real easy to talk to and Coach B told me that Creed Humphrey is their guy at center right now, and he let me know that they could use me anywhere along the line as well as at Center and when Creed moves to the NFL I would slide right in which would really help them.”
When I asked him what was the main thing he took away from this visit, Sedrick was quick to reply by saying “OU football is family. I definitely got that from the coaches, the players, the hosts, you know just being around them. I really like how they all interact, I even got that from the way Coach Riley talks so highly about Coach Bedenbaugh and all his other coaches. I definitely got the family feel from all those guys and that’s huge for me.”
Recruitment
We talked about where things are in his recruitment following the visit and Sedrick said, “As of right now, I don’t have any visits planned for the spring but I plan on getting to Texas A&M and Tennessee and some of the southern schools in the summer.”
As for when he plans on making a decision, Van Pran told me, “I’m hoping to take it all the way to the Under Armour game because that’s always been a dream of mine when I was younger. But at the end of the day, I know how this recruiting process works. So I’m just asking the coaches of the schools I’m really interested in to keep me informed on how the spots are looking so I know if I have to make a decision sooner I can but I would still like to announce at the All-American game”
I asked him if he planned on getting back up to Norman this fall for a game and he said that he and his father were talking about that and that is something they would like to do, however, with his high school schedule and the distance, it may not be feasible but they are actively trying to make that work as they both truly enjoyed themselves.
If you would like to read Charlie’s take on his recruitment, please check the Donor Board!
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