Danny Okoye becomes Sooners' newest — and most surprising — 2024 addition

At the beginning of the calendar year, Danny Okoye was headed anywhere but the University of Oklahoma.

Unlike many adolescents who grow up in the Sooner State dreaming of wearing the crimson and cream, Okoye had no such aspirations. To put it bluntly, he had no interest in the Sooners. He was, by his own admission, completely closed off to the idea of playing college football in Norman.

As he explains it, that had much to do with Oklahoma's 6-7 campaign in Year 1 under Brent Venables, a season marred by putrid defense that did little to dispel the program's ignominious defensive reputation.

But at a certain point, Okoye became curious — and he also became aware of the reality that he wasn't doing enough homework to make a completely informed decision. Thus, the hulking 6-foot-5 defensive end started to ask questions.

He quickly came to the realization that he'd been too hasty to cut Oklahoma out of his recruitment.

“After last season, I started doing more research into what they’re doing, how they were rebuilding from that season," Okoye told KREF in a May interview. "I was talking to people they were recruiting, people who were committed, people who were committed and transferred out, people who had been playing there for a long time. I talked to recruiting analysts, I talked to journalists, I studied the spring game they just had. After all of that I decided that maybe it would be in my best interests to open the communication.”

Months earlier, that communication had dried out between Okoye and the Sooner staff. The Oklahoma coaches had essentially conceded defeat in his recruitment, and told Okoye that they wouldn't badger him if he truly had no interest in OU. Okoye had to pick up the phone of his own accord and re-initiate contact with defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis.

But once he did, it didn't take long for things to get hot and heavy between Okoye and Oklahoma. A May unofficial visit catapulted the Sooners back into the thick of the race, and in the late summer, Okoye scheduled an Oklahoma official visit for Sept. 1-3. At the tail end of that visit, he informed the Sooner staff that he was shutting down his recruitment to come home to Norman.

Less than three weeks later, Okoye is now publicly on board as the Sooners' 23rd scholarship commit of the 2024 cycle — a turn of events that seemed a literal impossibility just four months prior.

"[It's] really just a family," Okoye told OUInsider, "and I can buy into what [Brent Venables] is building in Norman. It feels like home, and I love the vibe and the improvements he has made on defense with Coach Chavis and Coach Bates."

He'd previously planned mid-September visits to Texas and Tennessee, but in keeping with the Sooners' visit policy for commits (yes, even of the silent variety), those trips never took place. He was supposed to be in Austin this past weekend; instead, he was back home in Tulsa, decked out in crimson and making a live appearance on KREF's postgame show.

After the Sooners' 66-17 victory over Tulsa at Chapman Stadium, Okoye joined KREF hosts Tyler McComas and Travis Davidson to provide his analysis of Oklahoma's victory — and to give a few final thoughts on his recruitment in the days leading up to his decision.

One remark in particular drew cheers of enthusiasm from a slew of Sooner fans who had congregated to form a gallery.

"My style of play, I feel, is more aggressive," he explained. "The SEC is the most violent conference, and I like violence."

He'll be right at home learning under Chavis, who famously proclaimed back in the spring of 2022, "You will not play for me if you are not violent."

Okoye, the No. 180 overall player in Rivals' class rankings and the No. 1 prospect in the state, joins an Oklahoma defensive line class that also features David Stone, Nigel Smith, Jayden Jackson and Wyatt Gilmore. The Sooners now hold commitments from three of the top five prospects within state lines (Okoye, Mykel Patterson-McDonald and Xavier Robinson), and are zeroing in on a fourth. Uncommitted blue-chip CB Devon Jordan, the No. 4 player in the state according to Rivals, has the Sooners in his final five.

Remarkably, the Sooners haven't signed the top in-state player in the Rivals rankings since they inked Andrew Raym in 2020, but the drought is now poised to end with Okoye in the boat.