Before the 10 mid-year enrollees for Oklahoma’s 2021 class arrived on campus in January, SoonerScoop.com caught up with a bunch of them for one last interview.
It was a wild, crazy recruiting ride for the 2021 class because of COVID-19 altering things like never before, but they’re all in Norman now and ready to get to work.
Welcome to OU – Jordan Mukes.
Mukes was on his way toward really seeing his recruitment take off when he ended things in abrupt fashion with an OU commitment last March.
Despite just one real season of high school football, Mukes had become one of the nation’s biggest risers last winter. OU took notice and made the offer and wasn’t that much longer until Mukes made his call.
There were some incredibly skeptical about the offer because everybody knows when it comes to an in-state offer, you better know you’re willing to accept that commitment right then and there.
The Mukes offer was based a lot on potential, at least initially, but Mukes showed during his senior season that OU was right to have that type of faith in him.
“It was pretty important for me to make my name,” Mukes said. “I had to show people that I could be a defensive back, that I wasn’t overrated. I wanted to show people I was one of the best DBs in Oklahoma. I think I did that. I locked a lot of receivers down.”
Mukes finished the season with 75 tackles and four interceptions and showed versatility playing either cornerback or safety. His performance was a big reason why Choctaw reached the 6A-II state championship game and nearly pulled off the upset vs. Bixby.
The pressure was on for Mukes to deliver, but no doubt a lot of people would have been looking at Lincoln Riley and Alex Grinch if things didn’t pan out.
Grinch can breathe that sigh of relief now, though.
“I had a chance to watch Jordan play basketball in January before everything shut down. But the response, specific to Jordan, quite frankly, was he had to have his best year this year,” Grinch said. “I give him an immense amount of credit. It’s one thing to say, OK, I’m an Oklahoma Sooner, I’ll get good when I get there, but really made tremendous progress in kind of his second year of varsity football and a guy that we’re awfully excited about, position flexibility and that.”
That confidence for Mukes started even before the season. After his commitment, he was already talking about how his senior season was going to be big. He knew back in the summer he was on the cusp of something. The season was just about putting it all together.
Mukes was on the fence about enrolling early because there was part of him that wanted to play one more basketball season for Choctaw.
But a reality set in.
“I thought about it, but it doesn’t make any sense to play because I’m not that guy anymore,” Mukes said. “I want to go down there and get in shape and start my life. I have a lot of pride with what we were able to do in Choctaw. It was cool to make a difference, but it was time.”
Mukes said he’d love to play cornerback, but it’s pretty much accepted he will begin his OU journey at safety and see how things progress from there.
That versatility is certainly there because his type of athleticism is just something you cannot teach.
“I remember going to watch Mukes practice basketball and was like watching a dunk contest,” Riley said. “We see guys that can play ball and can dunk. It’s not a big deal but this was a little bit different. The explosion, the violence to be able to play DB was very exciting. And very excited about the way he performed here during his senior year.”
Mukes was just one of two in-state signees for OU’s 2021 class. Coincidentally, Mukes and Weatherford’s Ethan Downs are roommates.
It’s obviously not a big OKPreps contingent, but they’re going to make sure they’re not forgotten.
“We have a great relationship,” Mukes said. “Our goals are the same. His head is on straight, my head is on straight. We’re the only two from Oklahoma. That means something.”
