OU Recruiting Update 12/4

Current Verbals:

1. Blake Bell- QB
2. Roy Finch- RB
3. Brennan Clay - RB
4. Sheldon McClain - WR- Mid Term
5. Joe Powell- WR
6. Trey Franks - WR/KR/PR
7. Justin McCay- WR/ATH
8. Tyrus Thompson - OT
9. Bronson Irwin - OG/OT - Mid Term
10. Austin Woods - OC - Mid Term
11. Adam Snead - OG
12. Darryl Williams - OT
13. Trey Millard - HBack/TE
14. Austin Haywood TE
15. Daniel Noble - DT
16. Torrea Peterson - DT
17. Chuka Ndulue - DE
18. Aaron Franklin - OLB
19. Jarrett Lake - OLB
20. Rashad Favors - MLB - Mid Term
21. Quentin Hayes- DB
22. Eddrick Loften- DB
23. Julian Wilson- ATH-DB
24. James Haynes - DB
25. Aaron Colvin- DB

Recruiting Update:

OU's had a small contingent of new recruits for the recent OSU game;

• Damien Robinson 6-8,320,5.3 OT  Olive, MS
• Christian Jones 6-4, 225, 4.6 OLB/DE Florida

Along with a host of official visits for Sooner verbals. Now I'm not sure either kid has OU out in front, but I always like to see OU play out recruiting with prospects. You never know what can happen (see Nic Harris choosing OU out of nowhere on signing day). Both kids are top 100 national type prospects, Jones I have seen ranked as high as top 30.  Despite some of the negativism game week, all the prospects saw a great game by OU with a great crowd and gameday atmosphere. OU's crowd and gameday atmosphere are always mentioned by recruits as being great, I think it's a really under appreciated part of OU's recruiting appeal.

Bob's been visiting kids around the nation while trying several times to kill ESPN's attempts to make him the new ND coaching job. If you want the clearest indicator that Bob is staying, his desire to kill this story while recruiting for OU should remove any doubts in your mind.

So who is left on the board? I'm going away from the top 5 instead ranking the kids in their order of likely ending up Sooners.

1. Kenny Stills: 6-1, 175, 4.35 WR. Carlsbad, CA. Stills appears to be down to OU and UF. Decision should be coming in the next week. Will enroll early.
2. Tony Jefferson  6-0, 205, 4.5 S/LB. Chula Vista, CA. Has officially left the UCLA commit list. Decision should be coming in a week or so. Down to OU and USC. Will enroll early
3. Darius White: 6-3, 200, 4.45. WR. Fort Worth, TX (Dunbar). Scheduled to visit OU on 12/11. UT is making a huge push. Can OU hold on? Will UT wait until signing day or try to steal Mike Davis from LSU instead?
4. California JUCO OTs Roszell Gayden 6-7, 310 or John Cullen 6-6, 280. OU will take the first one to verbal.
5. Chris Martin: 6-5, 240, 4.6 DE Auroro. CO. Martin has officially decommitted and removed Notre Dame from consideration. OU is battling UF (the presumed leader) and possibly USC (Trojans like OU are afraid about being 2nd best for Jackson Jeffcoat and Ronald Powell). Martin might wait until signing day. He's good friends with Stills and Jefferson, that could put OU over the top. OU is really only school in play for all 3.
6. Jackson Jeffcoat: 6-5, 230, 4.6. DE. Plano, TX (Plano West). The reported trend here is towards USC/UT. Then again Jeffcoat talks to no one. Do I think OU will get Jeffcoat? No. Do I have any clue where he will end up? No. And neither does anyone else.
7. Damien Robinson 6-8, 310, 5.3 OT Mississippi. Still has visits left with various SEC powers. When was the last time OU beat SEC teams for a prospect from Mississippi.
8. Christian Jones 6-4, 225, 4.6 OLB/DE Winter Park, FL. Just visited OU. He's still considering UF, and Miami plus his other official visits (Tenn, Bama, USC). OU came very close to signing both his dad and his older brother. FSU was the presumed leader. Not sure if current coaching turmoil there, impacts that lead or not.
9. JR "Ego" Ferguson: 6-4, 275, 4.8 DE/DT. Hargrave Military Academy.  OU visit has been rescheduled? Does OU have any shot at all?
10. Seantrel Henderson: 6-8, 300, 5.0 OT Minneapolis, MN. Will OU lock down the final visit?
11. Cameron Newton JUCO QB Blinn 6-5, 250, 4.7. Is OU looking to add a juco QB. All kinds of rumors that he may visit. Newton was a five star elite QB coming out of HS. OU recruited him but he chose UF. At UF, he looked like a sure fire replacement for Tebow dominating their spring game and looking great in mop-up action. Newton then screwed up big time stealing a student's laptop and got bounced by UF. He's dominating on the JUCO level. I'm not sure OU will take a JUCO QB, but he appears interested in OU.

Final Notes:

It's really getting down to crunch time for OU in recruiting. If OU can land Stills or Darius White and a JUCO OT, everything else is really just gravy. However, when you have elite prospects like Jefferson or Martin in play, OU has to keep going aggressively. I'm not sure that any of these kids are locks for the Sooners, and OU could realistically get shutout but Bob and Co have to try.  Ignoring the Juco prospects, the remaining kids on OU's board are all top 100 players nationally, and 7 of them are ranked top 50 by at least one service. If OU could land Jefferson, Stills, and Clay this year, it would be a huge validation for David White's early aggressive national recruiting strategy. In addition, those players could be the key in establishing a real presence in California (remember all 3 kids could easily play as freshman for OU). That presence could easily provide OU with talent in years when Texas/Oklahoma are weak at a position or where UT's recruiting has hurt OU.

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