Weekend Open Post | May 30th – June 1st By: TFB Posted on: May 30, 2025

Who is Next | 2026 Class | Part Deaux
– Charlie S – Posted on: May 27, 2025

A couple of weeks ago, I dropped a post focusing on five candiates who I felt could be the next commitments for OU in the class of 2026.

You can find that article HERE.

On that list was LB Jakore Smith (committed now), Brian Harris (committed now), Beau Jandreau (will take some visits before committing, OV’ing June 20th), Noah Best (OV’ing to OU June 6th), and Braedan Presley (OV’ing June 20th).

So with 2 of the original ‘Who is next’ already commited and things still trending well with the other 3 guys, let’s update this list to get the week started off by pointing out a couple other recruits who could jump in the boat before the ChampUBBQ weekend arrives which will be the weekend Jandreau and Presley visit OU.

So…who could be next?

***Start right at the top with the most high-profile official visitor for the June 6th weekend event in QB Bowe Bentley (6’2 200) out of Celina, Texas. I have had OU in pole position for Bentley from the minute the Sooners offered, and right now, just a bit under two weeks out from his official visit, I have no reason to change our position. OU will have to weather the upcoming LSU official for Bentley, but the moves he has made with his recruiting schedule, coupled with continued sourced information, only reinforce my belief that his recruitment ends with him committing to Oklahoma. As we all know, never sleep on a program like LSU, but if things continue on this path, it feels like OU will be in good shape to close with Bentley.

***EDGE Matthew Nelson, (6’5 215) out of Bryant, Arkansas, was offered by the Sooners on May 2nd. Nelson is set to officially visit Norman on the June 6th weekend, and Oklahoma is by far, I mean by like MILES, his best offer. Nelson is planning on taking an official to Tulane, but other than that, the Sooners are the only other currently planned official visit. With Nelson being a recent (post-Nagy) offer and the way OU ramped up their push on him, unless OU pulls a 180 here, I don’t see how he lands anywhere else but Norman. Now, to be fair, I have only gotten one side of this story to this point (OU sources are optimistic), but sometimes, thats really all you need. We will see.

***WR Dallas Dickerson (6’1 180) out of Bogart, Georgia. I’m taking a bit of a flyer here on Dickerson based on some sourced intel regarding where OU has him on their board, and coupling that with my expectation of how his OV will go which could result in Dickerson being caught up in the moment and pulling the tirgger before his other scheduled OV’s with Wisconsin and Indiana. Dickerson is a priority target for OU, and I don’t think it should be lost on anyone that he is coming in the same weekend as Bowe Bentley, and I would expect OU to spend a lot of time and focus on developing that relationship on the visit. Georgia would be the fly in the ointment here, but so far, they have not offered, and there are no signs that there is anything imminent on that front.

***Now, do not get it twisted, I still like OU for OL Noah Best (OU vs SMU but I think Bedenbaugh still wins), LB Beau Jandreau (kid is ensuring that he is recruited independently of his brother Niko, which is cool), and Braedan Presley (a little less confident than I was a couple weeks ago, but I still like OU’s position). Those are guys I expect to join the class toward the end of June or at some point in July.

NIL Clearinghouse
– Super K – Posted on: May 27, 2025

I meant to bring this to your attention. A while back, I noted that sources had indicated to me that once the revenue sharing with student athletes begins, the NCAA will have a clearinghouse to vet NIL deals.

What does this mean?

As I’ve said on numerous occasions, one of the primary issues with the current “NIL” is that it’s turned into something that wasn’t intended.

It’s turned into pay for play.

The contracts are not NIL – they aren’t offers made for a fair market value of the use of the name, image, and likeness of an athlete. They are monetary offers to a player to induce them to play for a school. They make a meager and pathetic attempt to structure the agreements as NIL, but it’s clear to any reasonable person they aren’t.

Paying a player 50,000 dollars to sign 10 t-shirts is clearly not NIL. Yes, I’ve seen something similar to that in a contract.

Earlier this month Ross Dellenger (Yahoo Sports) reported on the meeting between Deloitte officials and some ADs and athletic directors regarding their new clearinghouse.

The new clearinghouse will operate the new NIL clearinghouse, “which is charged with determining the fair market value of income earned by athletes outside the school (ie: name, image and likeness deals).”

According to Dellenger, the only deals that will be subject to the clearinghouse are “deals affiliated with a booster, booster group of any entity deemed to be associated with the school.”

This makes perfect sense and is what I’ve been advocating for from the beginning.

If an attorney in Dallas is willing to pay the starting QB at TAMU 100,000 dollars, then they should be willing to pay 100,000 dollars to a similarly popular player from Texas or Oklahoma. So when we find out the attorney is a TAMU alum, we all know the deal isn’t actually NIL. It’s pay to play.

This is what I found really interesting, though, and wanted to highlight to you all. According to Dellenger, under the new clearinghouse rules that will take effect in September (I believe)…

70% of past deals from booster collectives would have been DENIED.

90% of deals from public companies would have been approved.

Official Visit SZN | Moves to be Made
– Charlie S – Posted on: May 29, 2025

Official visit season kicks off in earnest this weekend, and while OU is not hosting any visitors, a handful of their targets are beginning their month long journey from school to school and there are two visits this weeked that are very much worth keeping an eye on.

***As you all know by now, Quarterback Bowe Bentley is set to make his LSU official visit this week and his OU visit the following week. You also know LSU will throw everything they have at Bentley and his family and try their damndest to get him to shut things down and commit to the Tigers. Right now, I do not see that happening as I still have him leaning OU, but it is worth monitoring the buzz around Bentley as the weekend progresses because it can get pretty wild down on the bayou. This one is a two horse race between OU and LSU and as I said, right now I have OU leading; they just need to hang on down the stretch here.

***Perhaps the more noteworthy visit to be keeping tabs on is for a guy on the other side of the ball. EDGE Jake Kreul is scheduled to officially visit Ohio State this weekend. While there are some folks who cover OU that have the Sooners in command here, Super K noted that sources close to Kreul indicated that the visits will be paramount in his recruitment, and Ohio State is no slouch when it comes to putting on a tremendous presentation to recruits and their families. Following the Ohio State visit and prior to his OU visit on June 20th, Kreul also has visits to Florida and Texas on his itinerary. With that said, it feels like Ohio State is the one to pay close attention to in respect to OU’s chances and Kreul is pretty close to being a must-have on the defensive side of the ball for the Sooners as OU is looking to restock the shelves with HS talent at the EDGE. OU has invested a lot in this recruitment, and he is the most high-profile target for OU on the defensive side of the ball this cycle.