The Football Brainiacs

Image of Hezekiah Jones via 247 Sports

– JJ Givens: This past week Oklahoma offered 2016 safety JJ Givens (6’1″ 165 – Mechanicsville, VA), who holds a number of offers including from both high major in-state schools, Virginia and Virginia Tech. So you might wonder why OU would think they could go all the way to Mechanicsville and pull a talented defensive back out of his home state. Some of you may recognize the name of the city Givens hails from because he is a teammate of 2015 OU signee, Ricky DeBerry. In fact when I asked Givens if he was close to Deberry he said, “that’s my boy.”

Givens told me Kerry Cooks is the coach that made the offer and the Virginia product made no bones about his interest in the Sooners when we spoke. He said without any equivocation, “I’ll definitely be in (visiting OU) this summer.” It doesn’t sound like staying in-state is a necessity for Givens as he tells me that right now, he’s actually closest with the Wake Forest and Arizona State staffs. – (Super K)

– Kellen Diesch: Most of you know by now that 2016 OT & OU offer Kellen Diesch (6’7″ 272 – Trophy Club, TX) has been high on the Sooners for some time. Diesch holds offers from Arkansas, Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M and a number of others, but just so happens to be a native of Norman. In fact, a few weeks back Diesch told Rivals’ Jason Howell that he grew up an OU fan.

A source told us recently there is a lot of optimism inside the program the Sooners may be able to land Diesch’s commitment sometime in the near future. – (Super K)

– Tre Jackson: Last night one of my favorite 2016 CBs, Malik Antoine (5’11” 182 – Baton Rouge, LA), committed to Stanford. It just so happens that another very talented corner plays opposite Antoine and his name is Tre Jackson (5’10” 178 – Baton Rouge, LA). And while he may not be the longest, he is ultra athletic. Jackson posted some of the best SPARQ times at one of the recent regional Opening events, running a 4.49 40 laser time and jumping a nearly 41-inch vertical.

Jackson tells me Kerry Cooks has been in touch with him almost everyday. He also said that Cooks is planning on making it down to Baton Rouge to see him this spring. – (Super K)

– Hezekiah Jones: Oklahoma extended an offer yesterday to star 2017 WR Hezekiah Jones (5’11” 171 – Stafford, TX), who already holds a number of offers from schools like Baylor and Texas A&M. Jones tells me Dennis Simmons dropped to see him and make the offer in-person. Jones also said he will make the trip up to Norman for a visit later this summer. Jones is the type of prolific wide receiver OU will be looking for in this new offense to really stress defenses. – (Super K)

– Tramonda Moore: Alex recently sent me film on an interesting OK Preps 2016 OL/DL named Tramonda Moore (6’6″ 330 – Oklahoma City, OK) out of John Marshall High School. Moore is a mammoth of a human being standing and, like a lot of Oklahoma kids, is a bit raw but clearly has the type of size and athleticism you simply can’t teach. We spoke with Moore at length last night, who said he’s been quietly getting some attention from several D-I programs. Apparently, TCU has been communicating with him and recently came by for a visit. Moore also told me that some of the Houston staff will be by to see him today.

Next week I hope to write about why OK Preps players like Moore, and the recent influx of D-I programs mining the state of Oklahoma, are critical to establishing a deeper and more developed home grown talent base for in-state programs like OU. Moore, like LaRon Stokes, Luther Harris, AJ Parker, Rowdy Frederick, Kyle Mayberry and many others are examples of the serious physical talent that exists in Oklahoma that needs to start being developed in order to make the recruiting process easier all those involved. – (Super K)

– Levi Draper & Marcus Mays: Speaking of OK Preps talent, two 2017 athletes that are picking up a lot of buzz on the recruiting trail are LB Levi Draper and DB Marcus Mays. Alex caught up with Mays’ father after his recent visit to Ok State where they were told that Mays can expect an offer from OSU this spring. Texas Tech also came by to visit Mays this week, and we are told they’re expecting OU to visit him in-person this spring as well.

Draper added to SMU, Tulsa and Arkansas State to his Lousiville offer and is beginning to get serious interest from Clemson, Alabama, UCLA, Stanford and others. We caught up with Draper after he was visited by Clemson earlier this week, who told the Collinsville product he can expect an offer later this summer. Draper also has plans to attend an Alabama camp at the end of May and a Stanford Jr. Day on June 17th. – (Brandon & Super K)

– Tyler Brown: Just a reminder the 2016 Lexington (OK) offensive lineman will be in Norman again today for a second visit in as many weeks. An official offer from the Sooners could very well come as the attention surrounding Brown is quickly starting to pick up.

– Armunz Mathews: We have seen Kerry Cooks extending a number of offers this past week up-and-down the east coast. And while 2016 ATH Armunz Mathews (5’10” 196 – Tallahassee, FL) does not yet hold an offer from OU, that could very well be on the verge of changing. Mathews told TFB that Cooks has been in contact recently and plans to show his film to the OU staff when they get back on campus from their current eval trips. Cooks said if the rest of the staff like what they see, he’d be calling to officially make the offer.

But the Sooners certainly won’t be his first ‘big name’ offer. Mathews already holds offers from LSU, Alabama, Wisconsin & Utah just to name a few. However, Tallahassee product does not currently hold an offer from any of the in-state schools.

One item of note we found of interest in speaking with Mathews was the fact he fashions himself something of an OU fan. How, you ask? Well, he was in attendance the day OU beat Florida State back in 2011. And that game has stuck with him over the years. He mentioned the ESPN ’30 for 30′ films that have featured the OU program which have also furthered his interest in the Sooners. Mathews tells us he’s planning to visit OU this June with his father, which will be one of several schools they’re planning to see on this particular trip. Based on our conversation, I’d expect if OU does go ahead with the offer the Sooners will quickly become one of Mathews’ top schools. As to where things go from there we’ll simply have to wait and see. – (Brandon)

– UPDATE (Fri., 12:56 pm): Sooners make new 2016 OL offer to Michael Eletise (6’4″ 302 – Honolulu, HI).

– UPDATE (Fri., 9:05 pm): Sooners 2016 RB offer and one of their two supposed top targets, Abdul Adams, has committed to Michigan State.

– UPDATE (1:30 pm): I have been informed by someone close to 2016 CB Jared Mayden and his brother, 2018 QB Jalen Mayden, that both were in Norman today spending time with coach Stoops. With Mayden’s decision approaching (in July) and with most assuming that he would not make a return trip to Norman, this sounds like positive news. – (Alex)

– UPDATE (8:34 pm): Tyler JUCO WR, Ryan Parker tells Brandon that he has committed to the Sooners.