Rivals100 OL Picks Sooners

Moments ago at an announcement at Ft. Washington (Mary.) National Christian Academy Aaryn Parks announced his commitment to Oklahoma over his two other finalists, Alabama and North Carolina. The 6-foot-5, 294-pound prospect, who was the Rivals 5-Star Challenge offensive line MVP, was previously committed to Penn State but the Sooners continued to work on him particularly after he backed away from his pledge in early June.

Parks chose Oklahoma over the Crimson Tide and the Tar Heels, with Alabama having their chance to sell their tremendous NFL production and North Carolina being home to his grandmother. However Lincoln Riley and Bill Bedenbaugh had really turned up the heat on his recruitment over the last month capping the work with his official visit to Oklahoma for the Houston game earlier this month.

Parks and Oklahoma have been loosely tied together since the spring but around the time of the 5-Star Challenge it seemed he and the Sooners were becoming a far more realistic option.

"Me and coach B talk time to time, he sends me little events, or history of Oklahoma. I feel like I've built a good relationship with him so far," Parks said at the 5-star in June.

Parks, the nation's No. 60 overall player, continued to develop that relationship with Bedenbaugh but it may have been his impressions of the Sooners production of NFL offensive linemen that got things truly started.

"You see how many linemen went in the draft last year? That's something I really want to be a part of," the nation's No. 10 offensive tackle added.

What's interesting is that in recent years what was, in 2012, unheard of for Oklahoma - a prospect from the Washington metro area choosing the Sooners - has become something of a norm.

The movement started in 2012 with the signing of Charles Tapper from the Baltimore area and has since continued with players like Parnell Motley, Joseph Wete, and even just a few weeks ago with the commitment of Anton Harrison - who visited the Sooners on the same weekend as Parks.

Below check out our SCOOPHD interview with Parks from the Rivals 5-Star Challenge.