The Sooners are effectively angling to make Carl Albert High School their feeder program, and they've officially landed another one of the Titans' finest prospects in three-star 2025 linebacker Marcus James. The versatile 6-foot-4, 215-pound phenom went public with his pledge to Oklahoma on Thursday night, becoming the sixth commit of the 2025 cycle for Brent Venables and his staff.

In an exclusive interview with OUInsider shortly before his announcement, James laid out the reasons why he felt so comfortable shutting down his recruitment midway through his junior year to lock in his spot with the Sooners.

“It made sense for me because I grew up watching OU," he explained. "I’ve always been a huge OU fan. But the one thing that I didn’t like about OU in the past is the defense, because they wasn’t known for having a great, outstanding defense. But now with Coach Venables here, already making the improvement he has so far — I just know he’s going to take this program to the next level and win a national championship. So that’s probably why I hopped on board. I know he’s going to turn me into a Butkus Award winner… As a linebacker, who’s better to play for than Coach Venables?”

Steeped in the Sooner tradition from an early age, James always had a pretty good idea that he wanted to wear the crimson and cream. But throughout the recruitment process, he picked up a series of major offers that provided Oklahoma with legitimate competition. TCU, Texas A&M, Utah and Arkansas all made James' final five. In the end, though, a blue-blood program on the up-and-up just a half hour down the road proved impossible for James to turn down.

“Probably the best thing about being an Oklahoma Sooner is staying home," he remarked. "Staying home and being close to my friends and family. Because why not be a hometown hero, you know what I’m saying?”

A two-way standout for Carl Albert High, James joins forces on on Friday nights with four-star Oklahoma quarterback commit Kevin Sperry, who did his share of peer recruiting in order to coax James to Norman. The Titans' roster also includes three-star 2024 RB Xavier Robinson, himself an Oklahoma commit — and the Sooners aren't done mining Carl Albert for elite recruits.

“Me having the connection with Kevin, X and probably a few other of my teammates that we’re trying to get to come to OU, that’ll be awesome," said James. "Because we already know each other, so once we get on campus… we’ll just pick up where we left off, you know what I mean?”

As he looks forward to a college career spent under Venables' tutelage, James has immense confidence that he can morph into a star. In fact, he made the decision to commit after watching the dominance of one specific Oklahoma defender, a player whom James seeks to emulate at the next level.

“The moment that it clicked for me would probably be the Iowa State game, right before they played Texas," he recalled. "I was talking to the players, talking to the coaches, talking to Kevin, Trynae [Washington], X. And I’m just sitting back there thinking in pregame, ‘I don’t really think I have to go anywhere else other than OU.’ Because I’m watching this defense play, I’m watching the game unfold, I’m watching Dasan McCullough and he’s over there making plays left and right. I’m like, ‘That could be me.’ And that’s when it clicked for me and I knew I wanted to go to OU.”

Watching the Sooners race to a 7-1 start has only reinforced James' belief in what Venables is building at Oklahoma, and he's eager to be part of the resurgence. As he sees it, the Sooners are laying the foundation for a juggernaut that will soon be capable of going toe-to-toe with any program in the nation.

“Year 1, new coach, new defense and all of that — you’re not really going to execute how you want to," said James. "And then Year 2, you’re still fixing little bumps and bruises. You’re just building up and up. By the time I get to college, it should be straight; by the time I get there, we’ll all know the defense in and out. It’ll be performed perfectly like he wants it to be. And I just know that’ll be huge.”

In refreshing contrast to his predecessor, Venables has taken a particularly active role in recruiting the next generation of Sooner stars. That's one thing that stuck out to James throughout the process, and there's been plenty of internal talk about the Sooners contending for the No. 1 overall recruiting class in the 2025 cycle. That effort starts with cleaning house within state lines, as the 2025 class in Oklahoma is as star-studded a group as the state has produced in the 21st century.

“Coach Venables, he’s doing some heavy recruiting," said James. "Like, I’m talking to some of the OU recruits that he’s recruiting, and I just can’t wait for it to unfold. Because I know a couple people that might head over to OU if we just keep on doing our thing. I feel like the sky’s the limit. I feel like we can win a national championship my first or second year. I have high hopes for this team and high hopes for the recruiting class.”

James is the second defensive commit of the 2025 cycle for Oklahoma, joining three-star Missourian defensive tackle Ka'Mori Moore.

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