Grabbing, and Holding, the Lead
Though it took eight days from the time he left Norman, four-star wide receiver Marquise Brown left campus with a feeling he might know his eventual college choice. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound Santa Clarita (Calif.) College of the Canyons playmaker hadn't reached a decision as he headed home on Dec. 4 but was feeling confident about the Sooners.
Then last Wednesday he hosted both West Virginia and Oklahoma and felt more certain than ever about his decision of Oklahoma.
"When I took my visit, I was confident leaving there. After the home visits, again meeting with them and really the main thing they are bringing me in for a purpose. I want to win a national championship and they want to win one. So really, I mean after the in-homes, I like what West Virginia had to say but in my heart I was feeling Oklahoma," Brown admitted.
Though the Sooners had been thought to be the leader, Brown says they weren't aware of his decision until Xavier Williams' tweet of his commitment Monday afternoon. But when he spoke to them after his announcement there was no longer a reason to contain their excitement.
"They were fired up, all the coaches were fired up, they were yelling and screaming – it was a great feeling," he said.
Two other people who are likely excited are Brown's future wide receiver teammates Cedarian Lamb and Charleston Rambo and in return Brown feels good about the future with the two Rivals250 members. But it wasn't just the two receivers who welcomed him to the 2016 class.
"With Lamb and Rambo and all of those guys with me – they aren’t going to be able to throw double teams on me the way they did at the junior college level," he said.
"Actually all the commits are in a group chat. They all welcomed me to the family, it was great."
Unlike Lamb and Rambo, this time next month Brown will be on campus in Norman and says that he 'would leave now if I could', but what about mom?
"I already got my gift out of the way, gave her the best gift (I could), a scholarship offer," he chuckled. "When I get (to Oklahoma), I’ll get some [Oklahoma] gear to give to them – I don’t have any yet."
But the only gift the Sooner staff plans to send Brown is a workout regimen following Brown signing with the Sooners on Sunday.
"After Wednesday they are going to send me the winter workout plan. After that I’m just going to grind to get up there," Brown explained. "I want to improve on everything, I’m fast but I want to get faster. I want to get stronger, I want to have better technique, I want to block better. Really I want to improve on everything."
With his future in Oklahoma now set in place there was one aspect of his recruitment that surprised many people, when Brown chose not to take his planned USC visit for last weekend.
"It came like, after talking to coach (Bob) Stoops and all those guys and coach Dana (Holgorsen). It came down to ‘do I really want to take that USC trip?’. (USC) coach Tee (Martin) called me that day and told me that I would have to (enroll) in June. So that made it easier, I decided, I’m not going to take that trip, I’m going to focus on those two schools, which is what I wanted to do anyway."
And part of helping him focus on Oklahoma was the reality that he'll be playing on a big national stage against some players that he clearly would like to meet up with again.
"It was the role [in the offense], being able to play special teams on a big stage. We play Ohio State next year – I’m really looking forward to that game," he said. "Yeah I do [want to see some guys again]. Them guys are big time over there, we’re going to come in and do some work."
Though everyone can talk about the recruiting process and the decision of Brown one of the most meaningful aspect of the entire process for the highly-ranked junior college was going back to his high school, Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna, to announce his decision. For a player that felt he was overlooked just a year ago as a Lions product it was a special moment.
"It was a great feeling, all the players, the coaches, they kept in contact with me."