The last month has seen Oklahoma basketball bring in a list of who’s who for top recruits for official visits for the 2022 class. Every single weekend there were elite guys in town.
One after another, close but oh so far. The theory never changing – that if one jumps, the rest of the class will fall into place.
Well, the first one has jumped. Somerset (N.J.) Blair Academy four-star guard Otega Oweh became OU’s initial commitment for the 2022 class, announcing Friday afternoon.
That’s not a bad way for first-year coach Porter Moser to make his name. He didn’t go to the Chicagoland area or the Midwest. No, he gambled in going to the east coast where OU has done essentially zero work in years and made something happen.
Oweh, ranked No. 76 in the Rivals 100, made a few visits in recent months but almost everybody felt this was a race between OU and Penn State. And almost everybody, even as late as two days ago, thought the Nittany Lions were the clear winner.
The Sooners never backed down, though. OU brought Oweh in for his visit, a mid-week visit that started Sept. 1. It was the last of three visits in a week for Oweh, starting at Illinois, then to PSU before ending in Norman.
Moser and staff did a fantastic job during the two days. However, as time went on, it seemed like there just wasn’t anything OU could do to sway Oweh to the Sooners compared to the Nittany Lions.
Things started to change in the last 48 hours, and it’s a credit to Moser and his staff for not throwing in the towel when there really was no reason to keep going forward in the last 2-3 weeks.
Oweh is built very well for his 6-foot-3 frame. He can be a catch-and-shoot 3-point guy, but his best asset is using his strength to get to the rim. That strength carries over into other facets of his game, like being physical on defense and not being afraid to go down low and get rebounds.
OU still isn’t slowing down, hosting visitors this weekend, too. Everybody knew Moser and staff were going to have to play catch-up for 2022, but their tireless efforts have been rewarded with Oweh making his call.
There are a lot of spots left to fill, but OU can check off one mega-priority with the early signing period coming next month.
