Sooners with a ST-ea-L

The new term that popped up during January was best available recruit heading into national signing day.

With so many schools checking off the boxes based on what they did during the early signing period, the last six weeks was about finding the best of the best that was still out there.

For Oklahoma, it can cross off best available and position of need with its huge addition Wednesday. St. Louis Parkway defensive tackle Michael Thompson chose the Sooners at a signing ceremony, picking OU over in-state Missouri.

Thompson is a four-star prospect ranked No. 96 in the Rivals100 and really wasn’t even in the conversation with the Sooners during the early signing period.

OU offered Thompson a long time ago, but there was a strong feeling back in the summer that Thompson wasn’t going to be able to qualify academically.

Following the season, OU’s staff went back and decided it was time to make a run. The Sooners went as all-in as you can with Thompson during late-December and hit the gas in January.

Thompson felt like a Mizzou commit waiting to happen. However, the longer he delayed his choice, the more you wondered if OU could make a dent.

The Sooners did just that during Thompson’s official visit last month. OU did a tremendous job of answering Thompson’s questions. The Sooners received a boost with mid-year enrollee Ronnie Perkins being on campus, too, since Perkins and Thompson are good friends.

The addition of Thompson caps a fantastic defensive line class put together by Calvin Thibodeaux and Ruffin McNeill.

OU had to have been caught off guard with the early departure of Du’Vonta Lampkin to the NFL Draft, but getting Thompson will ease the pain there in a big way.

In the 2017 class, OU was still finding its footing with defensive line recruiting. In landing guys like Thompson, Perkins, Jalen Redmond and Ron Tatum, the Sooners were able to secure four four-star prospects for Thibodeaux and McNeill to work with.