Sooners Getting Settled at Safety
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Last spring Mike Stoops told a host of reporters that in his first full effort at a recruiting class at Oklahoma since the 2002 group of signees that he would need 'at least' five defensive backs in the 2013 class. Some players have shifted around since that time but as the Sooners currently sit with commitments from Hatari Byrd, Stanvon Taylor, Ahmad Thomas it's clear the job is not yet done.
This week the Sooners will find out their fate with another safety, Tyler Foreman, who announced on Monday afternoon that he would be making his college decision between Oklahoma, UCLA, Wisconsin, Utah, California, and Minnesota. So far Foreman has taken trips to Norman, Salt Lake City, and Madison in the past two months and there is some debate about whether his commitment on Saturday will be the official close to his recruitment.
What most people seem convinced of is a battle between the Sooners and Bruins. Foreman's father recently admitted that Oklahoma was his son's favorite which would seem to place Oklahoma in pole position but in the same interview also said that he wanted his son near home which would clearly indicate the Bruins are also in a solid position.
So it comes down to who will get to make this decision, or perhaps a mild upset with the Badgers or Utes having entirely changed the discussion? We'll all know on Saturday as Foreman has become renowned for his recruiting 'poker face'.
Along with Foreman a decision looms for Rivals100 safety Marcell Harris who visited Oklahoma for the Kansas State weekend but has long been thought to be an eventual Florida Gator. His decision date isn't as firm as Foreman's but it does seem to be rapidly approaching.
There are some with an outside chance but few thing the Sooners are among them. Perhaps something strange can happen but few things more surprising have happened in Oklahoma recruiting, maybe ever.
Things Getting Serious at Offensive Tackle
Over the weekend the Sooners hosted a pair of national three-star offensive lineman in West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West offensive tackle Kyle Meadows and Aaron Cochran of Atwater (Calif.) Buhach. Meadows is a thin offensive tackle who looks like many of the Sooners offensive tackle recruits this year while Cochran is a tweener who could take his mountainous 6-foot-6, 320-pound frame to offensive tackle or guard.
Though neither has said much publicly about their visit early reports are that things went quite well with both, and particularly Meadows. At this time it is believed Meadows did not pick up an offer while in Norman though the SoonerScoop.com staff is still working to confirm either way.
Meanwhile Cochran has long held an Oklahoma offer and though many aren't giving the Sooners a great chance due to his brother being a freshman offensive lineman at Cal, Last week's Scoop detailed an interesting connection between Cochran's family and Sooner offensive tackles coach Bruce Kittle.
A Sneaky Visit
Coming into the weekend it was known that Meadows and Cochran would be in attendance but it was on the other side of the ball that Ogbonnia Okoronkwo surprised everyone by showing up in Norman for his official visit. Since returning he has, like the two offensive tackles, said next to nothing about his trip. In fact it's been difficult to even confirm that the trip took place - which is interesting considering Alief (Texas) Taylor's normally open-book style of recruiting.
However, Okoronkwo visited Oklahoma's 63-21 thrashing of Texas last month and has admitted before that in spite of his commitment to Oklahoma State that he grew up a Sooners fan. As such several have speculated that a switch could happen, and could even be imminent.
NOTES:
*It seems that in the last few days that Greg Bryant has finally, again, decided to move on from Oklahoma. When he decommitted from Oklahoma just before the start of the season he said he'd like to stay closer to home before coming back a few months later to say that Oklahoma was back involved. Now, he is again talking about playing in the SEC region. All in all, Bryant was just never likely to leave his region, which was something most of the Scoop staff warned about from the time of his shock commitment during an Oklahoma spring practice back in late March.
*A new name at receiver that is worth keeping an eye on? Former Rivals100 standout JaQuay Williams who signed with Auburn last year before ending up at Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy and has recently claimed some interest from the Sooners. He definitely seems a guy who will stay in the Southeast but Oklahoma has had success at Fork Union and is becoming increasingly familiar with the East coast prep schools - so perhaps a visit is possible?