Three-star defensive end Bergin Kysar had the opportunity to play FBS football on full athletic scholarship. He held offers from UNLV, Sam Houston State, Tulsa and all three FBS military institutions, and even held a Power 5 offer from Oklahoma State.
However, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound standout from Edmond (Okla.) Santa Fe High shut down his recruitment yesterday… in order to commit to a preferred walk-on opportunity at Oklahoma.
Kysar’s decision to decline numerous scholarship opportunities, especially a Power 5 offer within his home state, might seem surprising at face value. However, in an exclusive interview with OUInsider, Kysar said he had no reservations about becoming a member of the Sooner family.
“I feel like it’s a great fit for me,” Kysar explained. “I really like what they’re doing over there. And I really trust in Coach Venables and Coach Chavis, and I would like to be able to use that to become a better man and a better player. And I feel like that’s a great place to do it. I really believe in what they’ve got going on there. And you could say it’s always been a quote-unquote ‘dream’ or whatever, but I always knew that if that was going to be an option, that I would like to pursue that.”
The Sooners have built a very strong pipeline with in-state recruits during the Brent Venables era, and they’ve been particularly adept at nabbing FBS-caliber players without burning scholarships to do so. Former walk-on Gavin Freeman is the poster child in that regard, as he decommitted from Texas Tech in order to enroll at Oklahoma without an athletic scholarship at the end of the 2022 recruiting cycle. Venables has called Freeman “the best receiver” on the roster at OU as he enters his sophomore year in Norman.
For Kysar’s part, he’s especially impressed by the Sooners’ relational recruiting approach. Venables and Miguel Chavis, in addition to the myriad support staffers within the OU program, helped to make him comfortable when he visited campus last week. He was one of numerous recruits in Norman for the Sooners’ end-of-summer recruiting event, dubbed the Party at the Palace.
“Just the way they really take time to connect with the people,” Kysar said. “A lot of people miss that part — actually taking time and talking to people and building relationships. And I feel like they’ve done a really good job with me, taken time to hear what I have to say. And I’ve taken time to hear what they have to say.”
Kysar says Oklahoma’s plan is to deploy him at defensive end, which means Chavis will be his position coach at the next level. And in Chavis, Kysar sees a coach and a person that mirrors his values and intensity.
“First of all, I love his energy,” Kysar remarked. “As soon as I really got to know him, I was like — man, we’re like the same person. He has a lot of energy. He’s a good guy [with] a good family. And he pushes his people to the limit he knows they can perform at. And he wants you to be the best that you can be.”
As a homegrown Okie who’s on the verge of living out his dream in the crimson and cream, Kysar is thankful for the opportunity, and he’s eager to steward it responsibly. He intends to honor the task of representing the university well on and off the field.
“With the SOUL Mission, giving back to the community — that’s a big thing for me, is taking time to care for the smaller things and the basic things,” he said. “Just helping little kids out, or helping go paint a church — whatever it is, it shows people that you really care. [I want to] become the best man and player that I can be.”
