Open Post | Weekend, May 29th – 31st
Posted on: May 29, 2020
Notes | Abiara, Iwunnah, Daymon David, Terrence Cooks
– Super K
****Interesting thing happened this weekend in the recruitment of 2021 Notre Dame DL commit, David Abiara. Texas threw their hat in the ring.
Abiara’s mother wants him to stay close to home which was very much beginning to favor the Sooners. However, Abiara is a high academic athlete.
We are checking to see if Texas is a little too late here or they’ll actually be able to cause a little stir in this one.
***Another defensive lineman worth keeping an eye on is Camar Wheaton’s teammate, 2021 DL, Ike Iwunnah. He picked up a Texas offer this past weekend and I’ve been told that the Sooners have been monitoring him, as well.
I saw him prior to the Corona shut down and he’s around 6’3 and a lean 275 lbs. Great first and second steps. At the time I saw him, he didn’t have any offers which was surprising given his film. But that quickly changed and he now holds offers from Texas, Baylor, Colorado, BC, and others.
I get the sense the Sooners may be in on too many defensive linemen right now to make an immediate move but we shall see.
***2021 DB target, Daymon David (Reiserstown, MD) dropped his top six and after a virtual visit to the Sooners, it’s not surprising that OU made the cut.
Given the other schools on the list, you gotta like OU’s chances in this one. I do believe Will Johnson has a connection to David. Also, he’s another DMV area guy. Will OU end up with more DMV guys this cycle than Texas guys?
***Speaking of Texas guys, last week, I did speak with 2021 LB, Terrence Cooks (Shadow Creek).
I’ll bottom line this one for you, while Cooks is being recruited by a number of schools, my read on this one is OU vs. Texas. The Sooners had Cooks up on a visit before the dead period.
I think he certainly likes Oklahoma and if this thing plays into the season it probably helps Oklahoma. But if it is decided before the season, then I think Texas is probably in a better position. They have a number of players that are currently recruiting him.
Not sure it will matter a whole lot given where the Sooners are with other targets.
Super Mario
– James Hale
OU recently received a very big commitment from four-star wide receive Mario Williams (5’10, 165) of Plant City, Florida. Williams has already played three years of high school football catching a total of 120 passes for 2,448 yards and 33 touchdowns. His best year was as a sophomore in 2018 when he caught 51 passes for 850 yards and 14 scores.
To find out more about Williams I turned to Plant City Head Football Coach James Booth who says Oklahoma is getting a heck of a player.
“OU is getting first and foremost a great kid with good character,” said Coach Booth. “He’s a hard worker and on top of all that the Sooners are getting one of the best playmakers I’ve ever seen at the high school level. I”m just excited for him and I’m excited for the University of Oklahoma for him to carry on that legacy that he has here at Plant City.”
We have been hearing Williams and Oklahoma for some time and true to what we were hearing the Sooners were involved with Williams and that relationship paid off with his commitment to OU.
“I think Coach (Dennis) Simmons and the whole Oklahoma staff got in on him early,” said Coach Booth. “That was huge because it’s difficult for a kid from the Southeast to go out to the Midwest. They are so heavily influenced by the SEC that for a western school to come in there early and build that relationship was key. Then on top of that for OU automatically to do what they do offensively is a huge benefit and huge upside for what Mario can do on the field.”
“So, developing that relationship was big and I’ve always said if I had his skill set with the scheme that they use in Oklahoma I’ve always said that I’m going to be a Sooner all day as well.”
When you have a big play receiver like Williams running routes all the time the Plant City offense is pretty amazing to watch.
“We are blessed with some great kids and a great administration at Plant City,” said Coach Booth. “The interesting thing with Mario is that everybody knows who he is and he’s always double covered. So, you see that 30-yard per catch and that’s with him being bracketed. I think the first game of the season they tried guarding him one-on-one and he had almost 300 yards and three touchdowns. That was the end of anybody trying to do one-on-one coverage.”
“You can see the explosiveness after the catch, and the ability to make people miss. He really can be his own blocker. He’s really special in that aspect We try to get out athletes in space and that’s very similar to what they do there in Norman. I think he’s going to transition very nicely into that offense.”
Plant City plays in a great league in a great area in Florida for football and Williams and his teammates go against some of the best talents in the country.
“Yeah, I think it’s trickling down because you see a lot of players from our area that go to college and they’re able to play early,” said Coach Booth. “They’re used to doing this. There are seven-on-seven drills and competitions going on all the time and here down South kids are able to play almost year-round. As we see what colleges are doing we try to implement some of that stuff and put it in some of our schemes. The trickle-down effect has been huge.”
Facing exotic coverages is nothing new for Williams.
“You have to know how to beat whatever coverage they throw at you,” said Coach Booth. “It comes with the territory and he has a desire to be great, and when he came into Plant City he wanted to be the best receiver to ever come through here. When he goes to Oklahoma he’s going to want to be the best player to ever play there as well.”
“That’s the competitive mindset that he has. That’s going to allow him to be successful. He’s up for the challenge as he has never backed down, he’s always had that mindset. We started relying on him the third game of his freshman year. The moment was not big for him then and it’s not going to be.”
Coach Booth was on the virtual visit that OU put on for Williams and the Sooners put on a show for Williams and his family.
“Yeah, it was interesting,’ said Coach Booth. “That was the first one that I’ve done and it’s not what everybody wants to do. He wants to get out and see the campus first hand and get a feel for what it is. I thought coach Simmons did a really good job of orchestrating and organizing what was really an official visit via Zoom. He was able to answer all of his questions and he met everybody that he could possibly want.”
“Coach Riley was there and he was really there the whole time. That’s saying something when the head coach is there from start to finish. That shows how valuable Mario was to him.”
“They were strategic in the little things that they talked to Mario about. Coach Riley was wearing his baseball jersey and had a t-shirt of his favorite superhero. He made it seem like he was really there for Mario. That was very important.”
“From an organizational standpoint and how it flowed was really interesting to see.”
Williams is considered an outstanding prospect in baseball and as a sophomore hit 280 with nine RBI’s and 10 stolen bases. One of the key points in his recruitment was the fact Kyler Murray played two sports at OU and after a great junior year for the Sooner baseball team was the ninth pick in the first round by the Oakland Athletes while also winning the Heisman Trophy his senior year becoming the first pick overall in the NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals.
“As a freshman at one point he was leading the entire state in stolen bases,” said Coach Booth. “in our area in the Plant City area specifically we had the two best teams in the state. We won state, and the team that we played was the other plant city team. We have really good baseball in this area, and the Tampa Bay area as well. So, for him to compete as a freshman and lead and be successful was really a great experience for him.”
“I remember one play where, and I always brag about this for him, they hit a shot right into the gap between center and right field, and on the warning track Mario caught the ball and then gunned a guy out at home. That was as a sophomore and I saw all that and said that there are not too many people in America that can do that. His ability to run the bases and his ability to track down balls in centerfield is exceptional.”
“OU is not only getting a great football player but they are getting a great baseball player as well.”
Williams told this reporter that he is working out on his own but they do get on the field at times and throw the ball around. Coach Booth says his guys are working out and they’re anticipating having a great year.
“We’re in the same boat as everybody,” said Coach Booth. “I try to remind our coaches to try to be as motivated and as ready to go as we can because we don’t have a lot of time. We have done some positional meeting via Zoom and I’ve just been trying to get the paperwork ready to go at the start of the new year. I just want to have our ducks in a row and ready to attack it. It’s been interesting to see how it all shakes out. Our state is starting to open up and starting to open up youth sports now with youth activities with camps and things like that.”
“We are anticipating an early to mid-June open date. I know when we start going everybody is going to be chomping at the bit. Going into next year I’m really excited about what we got. Obviously, we have Mario but I think our receiving corps is going to be really good and hopefully, Mario will not get those bracket covers. Hopefully, that will allow Mario to get some single coverage.”
“We have a lot of returners on the back end in our back seven. We have everybody returning back there. We have a D-lineman back as well. Going into this season we are excited about what’s in store for us. With guys like Mario, there is always a chance for us to complete in September.”
Clayton Smith | Putting on his Recruiting Hat
– Charlie S
The Sooners picked up a huge commitment from 2021 Edge Clayton Smith (6’4″ 220) out of Texarkana, TX back on May 15th.
While Smith has a very high ceiling and he was a priority in the 2021 class for the Sooners for his on the field play…it feels as though his off the field impact could be just as important.
You all know about the peer-to-peer recruiting prowess of Sooners 2021 quarterback target Caleb Williams as it has been well documented.
I’m here to tell you that Clayton Smith is doing his part in that regard as well.
I touched base with Smith earlier this week, just to catch up on things following his commitment to OU and I came away with little more on him and OU, but a lot more about him and other recruits.
He is active. Very active.
Smith let me know that he is intent on building this class and he did not hesitate to start throwing some names around. Clayton let me know that he is actively recruiting a bunch of guys to join him in Norman.
As one would expect, he mentioned that he is working on DT Marcus Burris. He also mentioned he is working on DB Donovan McMillon, DB Tommi Hill, ATH Raheim Sanders and DL Tobechi Okoli to name a few.
However, there was one name he mentioned which really had me like…
That name? DT Maason Smith. As you know, Smith, out of Houma, LA, is one of the top-rated defensive tackle prospects in the class.
While I am by no means saying Oklahoma is in a good spot or even in serious contention for Smith at this point, it is incredibly interesting to see that the Sooner commits have some lofty goals and expectations for themselves in regards to their peer-to-peer recruiting efforts.
Smith is not the only commit who is out there recruiting for OU, but he is a guy who could certainly turn into a leader for the class on the defensive side based on his on-field capabilities and his off-field recruiting efforts.
Needless to say, it is also a very good scenario for a program when their verbal commits invest themselves in the recruiting of the class as it bonds them together and makes it a lot less likely to seriously consider straying from the herd.
Quick Hitters | Johnson & Rawlins-Kibonge
– Charlie S
*** Back in early May, the Sooners offered 2021 athlete Caleb Johnson (5’10” 170) out of Greenville, TX.
Oklahoma extended the offer to the speedy Johnson as a defensive back.
I touched base with him earlier this week and he let me know that he and the Sooner staff are coordinating a time in the next week or so for him to take his virtual visit.
So Oklahoma is still doing work here and we will check back with Caleb following his virtual.
*** I also touched base with 2021 DE offer Nathan Rawlins-Kibonge (6’7″ 240)
Rawlins-Kibonge is still technically a Washington State basketball commit but the Sooners, and others, are trying to sway him to a life focused on the gridiron.
Nathan was scheduled to officially visit Norman for the Spring Game and obviously, due to the pandemic, that visit was scrapped.
However, the Sooners did get a chance to host him virtually and he said “It was great! They really personalized everything.”
I’ll have more on him later on, but the Sooners continue to push here. He did recently pick up a Stanford offer, which may make things interesting in regards to his decision making process.
Update | 2021 WR J.Michael Sturdivant
– Charlie S
As Super K noted earlier this week, the Sooners are in striking distance for 2021 wide receiver target J.Michael Sturdivant (6’2″ 183, Flower Mound, TX) as he included them in his top four.
Sturdivant has long been a priority target for the Sooners and he was offered back on February 1st while he was on a visit to Norman.
In K’s note the other day he wrote “Based on what I’ve heard, Cal is the team that may be giving the Sooners the biggest run for their money” so while I was exchanging some messages with Sturdivant, I wanted to gather more on that topic.
When I asked about the California schools included in his top four and if he had any connection to the west coast J.Michael said “I don’t have any Cali connection, it’s just a place that has a lot of great opportunities and education to go along with beautiful scenery that would be a great place to go to college”.
I found that offer incredibly refreshing. He was shooting straight about why those schools were included and you can have nothing but respect for that.
As far as when he plans on committing….well the NCAA threw a speed bump in those plans as they extended the dead period through July 31st (which basically extends the recruiting dead period until the season as August is already a dead period) as he told me “I am planning on (announcing) this summer but I need to take my visits before I commit which I am hoping can happen.
We will see if the summer of the dead period scuttles his plans to commit or if he will make a choice and then take his visits. We will bring you up to speed if anything changes.
Updates | Still Waiting… + Jackson
– Super K
***I know we are still waiting on the first commitment of the two part whoah post. You all now know who that is.
I checked with a couple of sources and was told very simply that they don’t really know what the hold up is.
I thought perhaps this past weekend’s Texas offer may have been holding things up but I checked with my Texas sources and was told that they aren’t hosting any virtual visitors this week.
So, as far as we know this is still expected to happen but the when remains up in the air.
***Also, wanted to note that Alabama just landed a commitment from one of OU’s recent virtual visitors in Ian Jackson.
Sooners made a run here and were in his top group but as expected, Alabama was able to hold on to their in-state LB.
A couple notes to make here…
1) Sources on the OU side have indicated to me that they are going to continue to be aggressive and that they see value in being a school that now continually ends up in the top lists for national defensive players. I tend to strongly agree. I think that’s part of the way you market and shift the narrative on the perception of OU’s defense (obviously continuing to improve on defense is the highest priority).
2) This is one less guy that Alabama has room for and they still have multiple targets within Alabama’s recruiting territory.
Sooners Virtual Visitor | Tommi Hill
– Charlie S
The Sooners will be hosted 2021 defensive back target Tommi Hill (6’1″ 185) out of Orlando Florida for a virtual visit Thursday.
Hill was offered by the Sooners back in early March and as Super K wrote in his post ‘Sweet Recruiting Notes’ back on March 26th…
‘Gotta think Oklahoma has a good shot here. I have yet to see Hill in person or see speed times on him but he certainly looks like what Grinch is looking for, on film.
He’s a bigger guy, he has a ton of interceptions and looks like a safety but plays like a cornerback.
He could be one of the reasons the Sooners have slowed things way down with Mukuba. And while I think they should continue communicating with Mukuba, I have no problem at all with OU (in the end) going with whoever they prefer (rankings and offers be darned).’
Hill is a priority for the Sooners and he happens to attend the same high school as 2021 WR Target Christian Leary.
We will check in with him following the virtual tour.
4-Star DE Virtual Visit
– Super K
Sounds like OU will hosted a second virtual visitor Thursday in 2021 4-star DE, Jeremiah “Scooby” Williams (Birmingham, AL).
Have heard Williams and the Sooners have been talking a lot lately and as you know, he’s one of Caleb Williams top targets.
Obviously, being from the state of Alabama, you imagine it’s a tough pull but you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
Alabama is the type of school that probably has a few of these targets so you never know how it could fall.
Virtual Visitor Note
– Charlie S
Adding another name to recruits who have taken a virtual visit with the Sooner staff…
*** Wednesday OU hosted 2021 defensive back Darren Barkins (6’0″ 170) out of Chula Vista, CA for a virtual visit.
James noted his offer in one of his notebooks back in late April.
In that post, James noted ‘Early on, Barkins says he has a top-five of OU, California, Oregon, UCLA, and Utah.’
We will be reaching out to Barkins to get his take on the visit and will pass along anything of note!
