Kearney: I'm a Perfect Fit

Oklahoma's 2024 recruiting class continues to pick up momentum and on Thursday landed the commitment of the nation's No. 128 overall player, Zion Kearney of Missouri City (Texas) Ft. Bend Hightower. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound prospect visited Norman last weekend for the Red-White game and simply enjoyed himself knowing a decision was upcoming.

For Kearney, much like many others, he bought into the future of Oklahoma's program under Brent Venables.

"Man I fell in love with the winning culture at OU. At Junior Day I could see the staff is all about family. Coach V is a good motivator. Coach (Jeff) Lebby and (Emmett) Jones watched film with me and showed me how I fit in their offense.

"I feel I’m a perfect fit."

And though first-year assistant Jones was a huge piece of the decision process for Kearney it was the overall culture in Norman that pushed him toward the Sooners.

"Those guys have been genuine and recruited me and my family hard from day 1. I connected with Jones at Texas Tech. So he wasn’t really a stranger to me at OU. I always wanted to play in the SEC too," he explained.

Kearney loves what he sees from Oklahoma's football program but admits it's the structure around it that helped considerably in helping him adjust to his future home in Norman, Okla.

"I like the SOUL mission program too. I've really only seen one other school that has something similar. But OU's is different. They don’t just get you career ready but it’s opportunities to travel and serve while still getting college credits," he explained.

So much of the inner workings of Norman impressed Kearney but it was one of the most numerous groups that wowed him during his trip to Norman.

"The OU fans are crazy locked in! They show love for real in real life too. When I got out there it’s like they knew who I was," he laughed.