Oklahoma Football Recruiting: Sooners Closing Strong

The Oklahoma Sooners will be holding their first junior day this weekend for several of their top 2013 recruiting targets. Expected to be in attendance are two of the top 2013 quarterback recruits in the country, Tyrone Swoopes and Kelly Hilinski.

Swoopes is a dual-threat recruit out of Whitewright, Texas and is already drawing comparisons to guys like Vince Young and Cam Newton. Hilinski is a big (6’6”) pro-style quarterback prospect who is more of a traditional pocket passer.

More: Let’s listen in on a recruitment falling apart, shall we?

This stings doubly for Arkansas, which also missed out on the nation’s No. 1 recruit, receiver Dorial Green-Beckham. He took his final visit to Oklahoma over the weekend, casting doubt in the minds of many on his status, and, yep, here we are.

6’6” 230 pound Edmond Santa Fe defensive end Michael Onuoha had originally stated that he intended to wait until Wednesday to announce his college destination, however the anticipation got the better of him late Tuesday night. As so many recruits seem to do these days, Onuoha took to his Twitter account with the simple but oh so effective “#BOOMER SOONER!”.

The Sooners have made a habit of flipping recruits in recent days taking TE Sam Grant from Michigan and CB Zack Sanchez from Baylor. Onuoha now makes another after long being considered a Missouri lean. The Tigers were the first to offer and had put in a considerable amount of work, but apparently the in-state Sooners were just too much for the raw but talented DE to pass up.

National Signing Day will be some degree of crazy for teams all across the country, but the Oklahoma Sooners got a preview of said craziness on Monday. The first of several developments came when tight end Sam Grant very quietly let it be known that he had verbally committed to Oklahoma after many expected Michigan to be the choice. Grant was never one for many interviews during the process, so few people knew where he was leaning, so his commitment came out of left field.

Then the Sooners were waiting on announcements from two of their remaining targets that took place almost simultaneously. Cornerback Zack Sanchez announced via his Twitter account “Officially a Oklahoma Sooner!!!” just minutes before five-star OT Zach Banner, on a live webcast mind you (oh, technology!), disappointed some OU fans who had held out hope that USC would not be the choice (it was).

[UPDATE] - Sanchez has announced through his Twitter account, that he will make his decision known Monday at 4:30pm CST.

For more on the Baylor Bears, visit Our Daily Bears. For more on the Oklahoma Sooners, visit Crimson and Cream Machine.

Crimson and Cream Machine has a breakdown on the latest addition to the Sooners’ 2012 class.

As mentioned, Grant had been strongly considering Michigan while also holding offers from Arkansas, Boston College and Cincinnati.

Zach Banner, the massive offensive tackle from Lakewood (Wa.) is announcing his college destination Monday afternoon at 5:15 EST. Banner stands 6’9” and weighs in at 310 pounds. Banner is the son of former NFL All-Pro tackle Lincoln Kennedy and is one of the better offensive tackle prospects in the country. Here’s our take on Banner from the Top 25 Uncommitted Recruits article:

Zach Banner is yet another top offensive lineman from the West Coast The 6’9”, 330-pound offensive tackle is considering much of the Pac-12, but USC is thought to hold the lead. While he didn’t improve as much as some expected during his high school career, Banner is still a consensus four-star player.

Crimson and Cream Machine has more on the Sooners 20th verbal commitment for the 2012 class.

Latu is the top JUCO offensive lineman and a Top 10 overall player according to the latest JUCO rankings. Latu had been considering Auburn, Arizona State, Arkansas State, and Utah before committing to Oklahoma.

Crimson and Cream Machine has all the details on the four recruits who will be in Norman, OK this weekend.

At 6’3” 215 pounds, Gardner has the size to over power smaller defensive backs and with reported forty times in the 4.4 second range he also has the speed to get behind the defense. Gardner is a Top 15 JUCO prospect and in addition to Oklahoma and Arkansas, the talented wide out also holds offers from Auburn, California, Florida, Florida State, Utah, and Washington among others.

Dorial Green-Beckham, the top receiver recruit in the country, has arrived for his official visit to Missouri, according to SB Nation Kansas City. He’s being accompanied by his his family, according to Pete Scantlebury.

Green-Beckham is 6’6”, 220 pounds, with excellent speed and athleticism, etc. He’s considered the top receiver prospect since Julio Jones and A.J. Green in 2008. And many think he’s better. And he’s the best prospect in the state of Missouri in forever. Oh, and nobody says anything negative about his character. The consensus five-star recruit is humble, quiet and polite. DGB, as he is known, is considering the Arkansas Razorbacks, Missouri Tigers, Texas Longhorns, Oklahoma Sooners and Alabama Crimson Tide. The former three are considered much more likely destinations than the latter two.

He’s one of six players enrolling early at OU, counting Juco transfers. As he’s still a five-star recruit, he boosts OU’s haul into Rivals’ top 10 classes. He’s the Sooners’ highest-rated 2012 recruit, with three four-star receivers following close behind -- and they’re still in the running for Dorial Green-Beckham, another five-star receiver. So, yeah, this is pretty big news. You’ll excuse Oklahoma fans for getting excited:

For more on the Sooners, visit Oklahoma blog Crimson and Cream Machine.

Colin Blake, a talented defensive back recruit from San Antonio Brandeis High School, has decommitted from the Texas A&M Aggies. Blake released this statement from his public Facebook page:

”I will no longer be playing football at Texas A&M next year. I hope all the aggie fans and supporters out there can respect my decision and understand that it’s my life and I need to do whats best for me. God bless.“Blake had committed to Texas A&M on September 3rd, 2011, but his commitment was to since-fired Mike Sherman’s staff.

The experts at Crimson and Cream Machine also have fairly serious concerns about the lack of recruits being brought in on the defensive side of the ball. Is this a result of the defensive coordinator shakeup in Norman? C&C Machine investigates:

They actually look at each individual position and break down the total number of players on campus as well as any current 2012 recruits. Then, they look to the future and project needs for 2013, accounting for possible NFL early entries. This is a must-read for any Sooners fan!

Illinois running back recruit David Smith is visiting Oklahoma this weekend. Head to Crimson and Cream Machine for more!

He is rated four-stars by most major services, and all evaluators rank him as one of the top 15 corners in the country. The 5’1’0”, 160-pound Harris possesses a lot of good attributes for a cornerback recruit.

The best part of Harris’ game? Quickness. Harris might not possess world-class speed, but he reaches top gear faster than just about anyone else in this class.

Florida State commitment Mario Edwards, the nation’s top defensive end out of Texas, apparently did not enjoy his recent visit to Oklahoma:

Oklahoma has had a lot of transfers lately, and apparently Edwards got mixed in with some of the malcontents.

Oklahoma currently sits at 20 commitments. Jordan expects this class to get much better:

And Jordan has noticed a pattern about this Oklahoma class:

Why did McNamara choose the Sooners? SB Nation’s Crimson and Cream Machine weighs in:

Oklahoma also has commitments from two other tight ends, but they are of the in-line blocker mold, while the 6’5”, 240-pound McNamara is more of a receiving type.

Offensive tackle Zach Banner of Lakewood, WA’s Lakes High school, is one of the most talented prospects in the country, and he is closing in on a decision between Washington, Oklahoma and USC, he told the Seattle Times:

But in a conflicting report, Banner indicated to Justin Hopkins of 247 Sports that he had not just a top three, but a top five:

Everett would have seen a lot of playing time for the Sooners, and this is indeed a big blow to OU.