Time for Sooners to Impress

Just over a month ago St. Louis Ritenour linebacker Ayodele Adeoye was little known and waiting for more attention to come his way. Now the the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Rivals250 standout -that everyone calls 'Deli'- has over 20 offers and seems to see more rolling in day by day.

As the younger brother of 2014 Utah State signee Adewale Adeoye there was always an expectation, for some, that his recruiting could become notable. However it wasn't until Adeoye came to that conclusion for himself that everything began to take shape.

"My freshman year I wasn’t going to play football, I thought I was NBA bound. And then a reality check hit me and I just thought; my freshman year I was on the JV and varsity. My freshman year (in football) we made history, winning all of our games, our head coach was saying ‘you guys can be a really special group’ and then coach came to me and said ‘you are better than your brother already and your brother (Adewale) is one of the best to come out of Ritenour'." Adeoye recalled.

"I was a point guard, with what I wanted to do, I’ve got big expectations for myself so with what I wanted to do I didn’t feel basketball could do it for me. My school doesn’t send guys division one in basketball, the only guy they did had to go JUCO (first). So what’s the percentage chance of me doing what I want to do as football and basketball? And you know, football was always more natural to me.

"Then, stuff changed from like two months ago but when Mizzou offered me it just went crazy. It’s been a blessing, I knew it would come eventually if I kept working, so when it came I wasn’t surprised about it because I’ve been working for it and it’s jus showing my hard work."

With offers from Oklahoma as well as LSU, Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, and Missouri, amongst many others, there is plenty of information for the younger Adeoye brother to go over but how will he separate one program for another.

"I want to see who really -I’m not trying to sound cocky- but I want to know who really wants me or who is in the mix because everyone else is. Some coaches throw the offer out and I don’t talk to them again. I’m not going to say the schools but that says they aren’t recruiting me for the right reason. A lot of places see a bigger school get in the mix and they just give up," he said. "I’m not just about what is the biggest school but what school shows me the most love and what school is the best fit for me."

So far he has seen the likes of Missouri, Illinois, and, over the past weekend, LSU. He has plans for more trips with eyes on a potential late summer decision.

"I’ll make it to Norman soon, UCF I’m going there next week while I’m on spring break, Arkansas for sure, Ole Miss, South Carolina, and probably a few others but those are the ones I know right now," he said. "I’ve been on the road every weekend. I’m going to try and hit all of those and from there possibly there could be a commitment by the end of summer. Possibly it could but I’m not going to make any promises but we’ll see from there how everything rolls out."

And looking at all of these schools what is he looking for

"A place that wins, a place that I have a chance to play, and a place that has great coaches," the nation's No. 245 player said. "My coach, mom, dad, brother are all involved in (my) decision."

Adeoye, the nation's No. 8 inside linebacker, says that his contact with Oklahoma has been strong so far but that the Sooners are a staff he is still getting to know better.

"They are talking about really wanting me, but a lot of people are saying that right now, they’ll have to tell me something different," he admitted. "I don’t know much (about Oklahoma) but I know that coach (Bob) Stoops is, well he is one of the best to do it right now."

The No. 5 player in the state of Missouri's historically talented class has heard plenty of buzz about all of the talented prospects, including current Oklahoma offers Kamryn Babb, Daniel Carson, Ronnie Perkins, Michael Thompson, and Trevor Trout, about the group playing together in Columbia.

Adeoye doesn't see that as an impossibility but acknowledges that it's tough to envision.

"I mean (the players) don’t really talk about it much, we just talk most of the time. I’m sure it will come up but the odds that all of us are going to end up at the same place is kind of small. I mean, it’s great if it happens but I’m pretty sure that like Kamryn Babb and I, just for example, are looking at two different things."