A lot of the of talk about when Oklahoma hired Jamar Cain as its defensive ends and outside linebackers coach was his connections to the state of California.

There are zero questions Cain is working the west coast, but for his first big commitment? It’s to a familiar place for OU fans in the state of Texas.

Texarkana (Texas) Texas linebacker Clayton Smith becomes the initial pledge for Cain’s tenure, announcing his commitment Friday afternoon.

Smith, ranked No. 211 in the Rivals 250, had plenty of choices, but this really came down to OU, LSU and Texas and shows just what a great job Cain and the rest of the OU staff did in landing its first Rivals 250 defensive commitment for #LincUp21.

The addition of Smith is just icing on an already delicious Friday cake for the Sooners that began with a five-star commitment in the morning from Plant City (Fla.) High wide receiver Mario Williams.

OU entered the day with just one four-star commitment but end Friday with a five-star and its second four-star pledge as the calm before the recruiting storm is just about over for head coach Lincoln Riley.

OU fans are accustomed to winning battles for guys like Williams. When it comes to offensive stars, Sooner fans always believe they’re in the hunt and always believe they should be the choice.

Defensively has obviously been another story. That was the goal for defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, and now you’re slowly starting to see that be accomplished.

It’s not every day OU can win a legitimate battle against LSU and Texas, especially when it looked like the Longhorns were the clear favorite entering this month.

Smith is a shot in the arm to defensive recruiting and one heck of an introduction by Cain to the rest of the conference and beyond about what he can accomplish now that he’s in Norman.