EXCELLENT class for the Sooners. I liked last year's class, but this year is better. NOBODY saw Orlando Brown flipping, and whether he makes it to Norman this year, or goes the prep route, that is a HUGE pick-up for the Sooners. I wanted Clark (mostly because he's an in-state kid), but it appears he really was set on LSU. Best of luck to him. I'll have a wrap-up sometime tonight. Lot's to talk about.
As some of us on this board been pointing out for several years, I don't think we have any choice but to avoid Texas until it starts to stabilize again. I have no idea what the real reason is but something is causing coaches to get bad evaluations on Texas kids. A good chunk of that inaccuracy is most likely from the move from run heavy offenses to pass heavy offenses in the high school ranks. Run-based and balanced offenses tend to give you a much better baseline on football talent than pass based ones (both offensively and defensively). Further exacerbating the situation is the stupid early recruiting that the Texas schools are doing. It makes a murky situation even cloudier. California, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have the desire to move away from those offenses just yet. It still cracks me up that Jalen Saunders was a Wing T blocking TE 6 years ago.
As someone who early & midway in the process was quite critical of our recruiting efforts I'm very pleased how we ended up. I don't think the importance of the Sugar Bowl win can be overstated in that, and I really like some of the guys that we landed late, who while the recruiting services didn't have them super highly ranked, they had offers from many top programs. And I said all along I didn't particularly care where the services might rank someone, or how high they ranked them, but felt it was much more telling who else was after these kids, and we landed some kids that a lot of big-time programs were after. Listening to the coaches talk today I found it interesting how much they talked about the social media aspect of recruiting, and how we seemingly stepped up our efforts in that regard.
Just saw the Bob Stoops Presser. He stated that they had one more signing they were anticipating. Who is it? Did he sign? Also near the very end, Coach alluded to Baker Mayfield. The last I remember was Mayfield lost his appeal, and therefore was not coming to OU. Obviously this changed. What happened?
Deondre Clark, but it appears he has signed with LSU. Mayfield is enrolled at OU, and working out with the team. His appeal was for full release (which would allow him to transfer without losing a year of eligibility). He lost his appeal to Tech, but has a pending appeal to the NCAA. That will probably get denied too (although it shouldn't, but that's a different thread). The appeal has nothing to do with his ability to enroll at another school or walk-on at another program (both of which he did). It looks like he'll have to sit out a year (and lose that year), but will still have two years remaining at OU.
The Sugar Bowl win definitely added momentum, but I think it will play a much bigger role in 2015. I never buy into the rankings 100%. I do think they offer an insight, but that's about it. Even offers don't provide a great picture (of course with the bigger name guys, come more offers), as Eric Striker has proven. It's more about trusting the coaches are looking for specific kids that can play the role they're asked. No question Mike Stoops, Bill Bedenbaugh and Jerry Montgomery are doing a great job of that. As good as this class turned out, I think next year's is going to be better (it's already off to a better start).
I'd be surprised if we didn't. He's a lifelong OU fan that has already been on campus a half dozen times. He's going to get schools coming at him from everywhere (already is), so as long as we stay in good contact with him, we should be fine. But, we are dealing with 18 year olds...
Final ranking on ESPN 13th...Don't know about the others and don't really care. I think it's an excellent class. 'Huge' pickup in Orlando Brown Jr.
Everything I've seen says he is a Sooner fan. He's already said that OU is in the lead, and given that he has an OSU offer, that's be kinda weird.
Could be. I don't pay for any of the "premium sites", and I only base any of the information I've posted here in past years on relationships and/or what's available free online. EDIT: I got hung up on this subject and finally talked to someone that knows. Apparently, Barnett has been somewhat of a Pokes fan. The person I talked to said "he wasn't a die-hard fan, but he did like OSU". So, I learned something new today! I also found out that Barnett has made 7 unofficial visits to Norman since his Sophomore year (including camps). Looks like the Sooners are in a strong spot.