*** Let's begin with 2026 Rivals100 DL
Deuce Geralds.
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The 28th overall player in the 2026 class made his return visit to OU for the Sooners Under the Stars and to say Oklahoma made a huge impact might be an understatement.
As we alluded to in our original post on Geralds before the SUTS event, his mom and family were very complimentary of Sooners' DL coach
Todd Bates.
“Anyone of my kids can go and play for that man,” she said. “We love Coach
[Todd] Bates. That’s a good man right there.”
The potential 5-star DT told OUinsider that the visit was more than he expected and even talked about a return a visit soon.
"OU was incredible. The staff had so much energy and me and made my family feel so welcomed," Geralds said. "I enjoed meeting the other families of the commits, coaches and players on the team. That stood out to me a lot. I will most definitely be back soon."
So, with Geralds saying he will be back soon, does the elite 2026 DT from Georgia have a particular date or game in mind?
"We have plans to come back for the Tennessee game in late September," Geralds said.
Sources that I spoke with over the last 24 hours seem to feel the Sooners are in a good spot here. Not to say they lead. Thinking such a thing this early would be foolish, with Geralds being, one, from Georgia and, two, being an Ole Miss legacy. Teams like Alabama, Clemson, Texas, Ole Miss and Miami. The latter team, in Miami, will be getting a visit from Gerlads after he leaves OKC.
With
Brent Venables also taking an invested interest here, it's a name that should be filed away by Sooners fans. Also of note, UGA has yet to offer Geralds and the longer that offer drags out, the harder it will be for the Bulldogs to close the gap once they do offer. It's not out of the question that they can do so, but in talking to sources around UGA after the Rivals 5-star Challenge, it was made clear that Geralds has made note of the lack of interest up to this point and some feel it could be too little too late if
Kirby Smart and company do try and make a late push.
Again, I am a believe it when I see it type, but something of note as Geralds heads into his junior year and has already been taking visits and building relationships up to this point.
Lastly, Sooners 2026 Rivals100 QB commit,
Jaden O'Neal, has also started to build a strong relationship with Gerlads. O'Neal made his trek down to Norman to hit the ground running recruiting. The two hit it off and even set up return visits to the Tennessee game together. That game will be huge for recruiting and visits, due to it potentially being at night and it obviously being the Sooners first home SEC game with the prodigal son, Josh Heupel, making his return to Norman for the first time since being let go as the Sooners OC after the 2014 season.
As for the the Sooners and DT recruiting in 2026, Geralds will be one that OU is going to push hard for and he showed reciprocated interest in the Sooners as well. Long way to go, but with a return visit in store, Todd Bates and Oklahoma seems to at the very least be definite player for the big-time 2026 DT.
*** More to come later, but the Sooners definitely made their mark with several big-name 2026 and 2027 targets.
