Samia: You Just Walk by Trophies

Over the past few years much has been made of Oklahoma's recruiting in California and late Friday night Oklahoma picked up it's first commitment from the Golden State when three-star offensive tackle Dru Samia announced his decision to head to Oklahoma on Twitter.

The 6-foot-5, 280-pound offensive tackle visited Oklahoma in early August before going almost completely underground for the following two weeks. Within those two weeks he was expected to make a commitment to UCLA during a previous scheduled campus visit to Westwood.

However, during his trip to Norman his previous notions about UCLA began to change.

"I went into the [Oklahoma] visit, and was obviously a UCLA lean, and while I was there I was thinking 'dang I'm going to need to take some more time'. But I had set a date for myself of Aug. 22 and I was going to follow through with it," Samia said. "I was going to pick then for sure.

"When I called them up they were really surprised, they thought it would be hard to pull me away from UCLA."

Samia, who when he signs will become the first California prep offensive lineman to sign with the Sooners in the Bob Stoops era, says that his trip to Norman left him thinking he had no desire to return to Danville San Ramon Valley high school.

"While I was on the visit, I kept thinking I don't want to go back. The weather was bad in Tulsa but when we got to Norman it was sunny and a beautiful day," he said.

"I talked to Taylor [McNamara]. He talked about playing and he was saying 'man, I came to Oklahoma and I don't miss Cali' and that one thing stood out."

It wasn't just McNamara that he connected with amongst the current players.

"I got a chance to talk to Nila [Kasitati] the guard. It turns out his cousin is married to my dad's brother, so that was kind of funny. I was asking him about the experience, he said the coaches, they were great people and they take care of you," he explained.

"With the players the main thing that stood out to me was how professional they were, everyone knew what they had to do."

And though the players were an important part to the visit getting to see how the coaches are, particularly offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh, was a big selling point.

"The way they did it, showed me what they had, facilities, how they practice, how they treat each other, how they interact with one another," he said. "The thing was, you'd just walk by championship trophies. It was like every day things, it wasn't like boasting about all the stuff they've won, it was just showing how they get their work done.

"The facilities, everything was beautiful, the biggest thing that stood out to me I get to sit in with film with the offensive line. It was just how easy (Bedenbaugh) made it look, if you just fixed this one little thing."

He also was able to find out just where he'll be spending his time on Oklahoma's roster.

"I asked them, where do they think, they were very straight forward with that, 'they said, you're a right tackle, right?'. And the expectation is for me to come in and compete right away," Samia said.

As he mentioned, Oklahoma's success caught him a bit off guard and he admits coming into the visit he thought he knew what football in Oklahoma would be about. However, it may be the first time talk radio helped the Sooner coaching staff.

"It was on a whole different level. Before we came out my uncle kept saying 'you you don't know nothing about Oklahoma football, it's big time. I kept telling him I understood but landing in Tulsa it sunk in quickly that I didn't. The walls at the airport are covered by the Tulsa football players, Oklahoma football players. And then we get in the car and turn on the radio and some reporter is talking about who is going to start for the Oklahoma football team," he explained.

Though he is Oklahoma's first commitment from the state of California for 2015, don't expect any concerns over his recruitment.

"I'm a Sooner, I'm a Sooner until I can't be a Sooner anymore," Samia said. "I'm going to take my one official visit, I think we are planning for Oklahoma State, it just depends when everyone can come. I want to bring my parents, my uncle, anyone who wants to come."