Oklahoma and recruiting the Southeast

I wrote at the end of the Edwards commitment post that Oklahoma was making more of an effort to get into Florida. Oklahoma is making a concerted effort to get boots on the ground in SEC territory in general.

Why: Well you go where the talent is.

What's going on? OU's general recruiting efforts are usually concentrated  outside the SEC over  Stoops tenure - Yes Oklahoma recruits national and reaches into the SEC territory anyway but OU consistently pulls more talent elsewhere.(obviously Texas and California) . Oklahoma is committed to mining the SEC turf  more vigorously now for a few reasons

• Recent SEC HTH Success (Bama,Vols2x,Auburn) 
• Facility upgrade leveled the playing field 
• SEC Coaching Instability - Outside of Saban,SEC is a hot mess 
• HS Connection building/blooming- Expecting more ROI over time

OU hasn't been represented at a satellite camp like the one above outside of the state of Texas 

Oklahoma joining up with Memphis and crew for one of these camps in SEC territory is strategic, based on the bullet points above. Memphis has a ton of talent in the 250 mile radius of the city. OU will be able to evaluate talent and if they can get kids to visit, the recruits will find "SEC level" facilities OU lagged behind in.

Will it work: As I said above Oklahoma does reach into SEC territory already, we signed 7 last year from SEC states after all which was somewhat surprising., I expect that number will be less surprising going forward. Oklahoma's has a nice little buzz going on right now, it should only grow over this cycle.

Miguel Edward commits

Playing catch up this week. My apologies


Well Oklahoma stopped the hemorrhaging out this weekend, and Coach Cooks extend his streak of being money on the recruiting trail as Rivals250 Florida Prep prospect Miguel Edwards verballed to Oklahoma.

Miguel Edwards is probably going to end up a borderline consensus four star prospect by the time NSD comes along,Edwards current;y can be called a physical tweener at this point, he can literally grow or be shaped by the nutrition and support staff. Miquel however collected an impressive list of early offers based on his most valued traits: versatility and his instincts. Miguel could project at every secondary position just based on how he physically develops. Edwards collected offers from a host of  teams before committing to Oklahoma including Alabama,Auburn,Louisville and Wisconsin among others.

The commitment also helps strengthens Oklahoma's attempts at reaching into Florida to get commits this cycle. More on that later

#ST2k18 April: #Sooner Recruiting Update

Well the last ten or so days have been a bit rude to the Sooners on the recruiting trail. It's not all doom and gloom as much of it was expected, just that there wasn't any good news to counter out the bad.

Unexpected & Bad: Bryce Bray to the Pokes. Had the kid penciled in as a lock but family ties and friendships won out for now. I expect Bedenbaugh will keep the lines of communication open, but also it's clear he's moving on to secure another interior line prospect.

Expected, yet still sucky: Thompson to the Horns, Proctor to the Buckeyes, Jones to UCLA This was set in motion when Thompson decided to sit on his offer, allowing Rising to verbal. Casey is a great prospect for what Herman does  but Rising fits the OU mode with better arm strength. Urban Meyer is just a machine. I expect OU will still be on Proctor heavily. If there is a coaching change at UCLA at the end of the year, OU will be back in play for Jones but I suspect Oklahoma isn't holding a spot for Jones as they are for Proctor.


Any good news?: The projected good news I had early this month seems to be on its way now on the offensive line as OT Darrell Simpson released his top squads - I expect Oklahoma will be the selection over A&M when he formally announces. DE Ron Tatium will release his top squads tomorrow - Oklahoma will be listed and should be considered the favorite. Oklahoma also sits at the top for several DBs who could announce soon



April Class Projection

Key: RED= Committed, ** = projected verbal, ## =  Work to do to secure

QB: Cam Rising
RB: TJ Pledger + 1 TBD/Future Offer
Flexback/TE  1 TBD/Future Offer
WR Treveon Johnston** (Tech) Brennan Eagles## (A&M)
OT Brey Walker Darrell Simpson**( A&M) Reese Moore##(Texas)
IOL Brandon Finamore ##( Multiple) Tank Jenkins##(Multiple)


DE Ron Tatum**( Alabama,Texas) Miles Emery**(Louisville), Ronnie Perkins(## Missouri,Bama)
DT Jordan Kelly,   Bobby Brown**(A&M), Trevor Trout##(Missouri)
OLB Jalen Redmond**(Nebraska, Arkansas)
ILB Austin Orji##(Texas,Vandy) Ayodele Adeoye##(Missouri) or Future Offer
CB- Jordon Austin, Miquel Edwards**(Miami,Wisconsin), Starrland Baldwin**(OSU,WVU)
S - Patrick Fields, Delarrin Turner- Yell**(Baylor)


Housekeeping

Moved Jordon Austin back into my class projection for now - seems the air has been cleared there.

Still messing around with my class size number. Still contend class will be in the 22-24 range when ink hits paper. Will nail that down next month.

I've posted in the past how Bedenbaugh likes "tweener" bodies on the OL - guys capable of playing inside or outside based on need

Hardest Position to project: Interior OL, Flexback, Safety.. These position are all kinda wtf right now.

As always the above is just a laymans predictions: Consult your 9.95er of choice for more in depth discussion on this.


Next 3 commits: DB ,Darrell Simpson, Ron Tatum,


Tomorrow - Big 12 Monthly update.