Going Back to the Canyons
Though they may have come from different parts of the Southeast the bond between South Carolina native Dorian Gerald and current Sooner sophomore receiver Marquise Brown is something the former can’t deny. The recent Sooner EDGE rushing offer met Brown while the two were freshmen at Santa Clarita (Calif.) College of the Canyons.
And, in clearly a bit of good news for the Sooners, since then the two have become the type of friends that speak every day.
“I had a relationship [Oklahoma] before (the offer). A guy from my school left here and went to Oklahoma; Marquise wanted me to come with him to school. We talked about ‘we should go together’ just the normal stuff. I knew Oklahoma was going to offer me I just didn’t know when,” Gerald said.
“Marquise is my guy, we sill talk every day to this day. I’m not going to say Marquise is going to win me over but he’ll give me the honest truth and he’ll know [if] I am going to like something.
“The No. 1 thing with me is relationship and honesty. If Marquise is telling me the same thing as coach, then I know I can believe that. That’s a real relationship, that’s the only role (Marquise) really plays.”
While Brown had the rare story of simply being under recruited and that leading him toward the California junior college ranks, Gerald’s story is a bit more common – if more complicated.
“Graduating high school I was a non-qualifier. Actually they thought I was a qualifier, I went to a prep school and that was the only reason I went – because they thought I was a qualifier. But they found out I was a non,” he recalled.
“So I had to find a JUCO and it was real late so I decided if I was going to pay for it any way I was going to go to California, go somewhere I have never been before.
“It wasn’t even the grades, again they thought I was a qualifier. I just didn’t get recruited at all. The crazy thing about it, I didn’t know it until I read a story recently – I was the sack record holder at my high school. I was the same person, doing the same stuff. I had 16 sacks my senior year.”
Gerald may already have a bond with a member of the Sooner program but that doesn’t mean the Sooners aren’t doing their best to make sure he builds a rapport with the Sooners second year defensive line coach Calvin Thibodeaux.
“I’ve been talking to the DL coach,” he said. “He expressed a high need, he knows it’s a high need for me. He says I’m a priority for him and for Oklahoma – the whole staff. I’m supposed to talk to the rest of the staff this week. He thinks I’m a high priority for him and the team.
“Pretty good guy, really straight forward, he talks to me about everything. He talks to me about what he expects out of me if I go to Oklahoma.”
And with his comments about Brown being able to verify what the Oklahoma staff is telling him – what does he make of Thibodeaux’s thoughts on Oklahoma’s current situation at defensive end?
“It’s legitimate, I’ve talked to Jet and it’s legitimate need for me at Oklahoma. There is no guy right now, coach has told me he needs me and Jet has said the same thing. “
Thibodeaux, along with the rest of the defensive staff has made it clear they’ll be using multiple fronts in 2017. And Oklahoma’s new scheme has caught Gerald’s eye but he says there is one role as a pass rusher that is a bit more comfortable for him.
“I’ve tried both (defensive end and outside linebacker) before and I feel more explosive with my hand on the ground but I can do either one,” Gerald summarized.
“I feel like the reason why I’m highly recruited is my pass rushing ability. Of course I’m going to have to play defensive end jobs, play gap football sometimes. Every school has said the same thing ‘you’re a great pass rusher, that’s where we want you’.”
The South Carolina native already holds a large number of offers and though he is adamant about how open he is to the process he also acknowledges the all too familiar Gamecocks offering him is a special scenario.
“With your home state offer that’s huge, that’s amazing, that’s every kid’s growing up dream to offer them. But as far as ‘does distance matter’. No, it doesn’t. I’m already in California you can’t get any farther than that,” he said. “South Carolina is definitely a school I’m looking at and I talk almost every day with the coaches, like coach (Will) Muschamp.”
Muschamp will hope to lure the prize defensive end back across the country but the job will be somewhat simplified with Gerald returning home this summer, at least for a short while.
It’s a time that will see Gerald visit Columbia but it won’t be his only trip to nearby programs.
“I plan to go to a few places this summer, we don’t have a lot of time, so I can’t take a whole bunch of visits. I’m going to be driving my parents car. I’ll probably get to South Carolina; Tennessee is not far from me, Florida State, Louisville. Schools that are around like five hours. I don’t want to drive 10 hours, that’s not what makes sense right now with my visits,” he explained.
“Honestly I was supposed to be announcing my top 10 on June 1. They say top 10 but it’s whoever, I’m trying to cut down, a lot of people are coming at me. I’m trying to narrow down what schools I’m really looking at.”
He admits his list could be 10, 12, or some variance in that range, but is clear that the schools aren’t currently active in his recruiting will have a hard time catching up.
“This is the time that you find the guys you really need, unless someone gets hurt or something. I feel like if you were genuinely interested and wanted me you’d offer me now,” he said.
“I’m just talking to coaches one on one, right now. A visit for me isn’t a deciding factor. I’m going to commit, right now isn’t that time – I m going to be building relationships with people and everything.”
Gerald, who will be a true sophomore at CoC this fall, has hopes of graduating at mid term thanks to a heavy summer class load.
If that can happen he realizes his decision process will have to be sped up. And though he isn’t yet ready to make a decision he says he’ll know when that day comes.
“I feel like with me, I’m the type of guy, when my heart is set, it’s set and there won’t be any changes. I may make a list on June 1 and then I visit South Carolina or whoever else I visit, I may commit,” he said. “There is no real date to it.
“If I go and say ‘that’s where I want to be’ when I get home, that’s when I commit. I try and not get caught up in the hype of dates or lists too much.”