— Let’s start off with the biggest nugget of this batch: I’m gonna call my shot on Grant Brix. I spoke with the four-star offensive tackle yesterday after numerous conversations throughout the week with sources close to the recruitment. I’ve got enough intel confidence, plus just enough of a gut feeling, to go ahead with a FutureCast for the mauler out of Iowa. Brix had initially scheduled an official visit to Notre Dame that would have begun today, but pulled that off the calendar and will now take his first OV to Oklahoma on the 9th. That’ll be followed by official visits to Kansas State (June 16-18) and Nebraska (June 23-25). However, sandwiched in between those last two officials will be a midweek trip to Alabama. Brix told me the trip is an OV, but also acknowledged that he hasn’t yet received an offer from the Tide and he hasn’t yet spoken with any Alabama coach outside of Eric Wolford. All around, it’s a strange deal, but I don’t think Bama is a viable contender for Brix even if they do offer him on the visit. He’s told me before that he wants to stay within a certain radius of his hometown, and he mentioned Oklahoma as the school that pretty much marks the boundary of that radius. That’s partially why he never took a hard look at Michigan State despite a ton of family ties to the school.
My main concern here is Nebraska, which will get the last official. Brix is a quiet farm kid from western Iowa who’s hardly ever traveled outside the Midwest. If he gets to the end of the process and decides he doesn’t want to stray that far from his little corner of the world, Nebraska looms as the ideal option; Memorial Stadium is just over an hour from Brix’s hometown. However, I trust that the Sooners are prepared to offer answers to any and all of the kid’s inhibitions. If you’ve heard me talk about Brix on the podcast or the YouTube live stream, you know I’m obsessed with the kid’s film and think he could eventually be a first-round draft pick. The feeling is much the same within the Switzer Center. They want Brix badly, and they’re ready to pull out all the stops when he visits next weekend. Having Michael Hawkins present will help immensely, as I know both Hawkins and Brix well enough to know that their personalities will mesh very nicely.
— Spoke to a couple of sources yesterday on Taylor Tatum and Caden Durham. Both players are starting to feel some heat from the Sooners’ current commits, and Hawkins in particular has been in regular contact with both running backs. Things continue to accelerate between Tatum and Oklahoma, but Michigan still lurks and I remain unconvinced that Texas A&M is dead in the water here. Meanwhile, my best sources on Durham get the sense that the LSU hype has flatlined and that things are trending positively for Oklahoma once again. One source admitted that a class of Tatum and Durham looks like a bit of a pipe dream on paper, but also affirmed that it’s a very realistic possibility if things go according to planned at the ChampU BBQ. While we’re on the topic of Tatum, I’ll make one addendum on the East Texas front: I’m starting to cool just a bit on the idea that Casey Poe ends up in the class. By no means am I saying the ship has sailed, because that would be a gross misrepresentation of the truth. But he’s booked seven official visits and doesn’t plan to make a decision until August. It’s the timeline that I’m concerned about here. What happens if Brix, Jason Zandamela and someone like Bennett Warren or Kaedin Massey decide they want to lock in with Oklahoma by mid-July? I’m tapping the brakes on Poe, at least until we find out what next weekend yields with the numerous offensive line visitors.
— Davon Mitchell’s father, Marko, was in town yesterday for the Sooners’ camp. It’s not the first time he’s been on campus without his son in tow; Davon still has another few days of school out at Los Alamitos High in California, but that didn’t stop Marko from spending time around the Oklahoma staff in an informal setting. I’ve already reported that Mitchell intends to take a couple summer visits to Alabama and Miami, but I’m also told that Marko doesn’t really want Davon at Alabama and that Miami’s whole pitch has been NIL-centric. The elite 2025 tight end, who intends to reclassify into the 2024 cycle, will be back to Norman on June 15 to participate in Oklahoma’s final camp session. He’ll then stick around for the ChampU BBQ, and although the Oklahoma staff can’t give him the OV treatment for obvious reasons, that’s of little consequence in the grand scheme. Two and two add up to four. I would be shocked at this point if Mitchell ends up anywhere but OU, and I don’t think it’s out of the question that Michael Hawkins might drag Mitchell up to Norman with him next weekend to hang with the June 9-11 official visit group.
— Got some of the backstory on Zion Kearney’s recruitment yesterday from a source very close to the four-star receiver, and it provides a phenomenal example of OU’s recruiting philosophy executed properly. This spring, Kearney was effectively down to OU and Texas A&M, and there were plenty of ties to A&M that made the Aggies the leader for quite a while. However, circa March, the A&M staff began to prod Kearney to stop taking visits elsewhere and commit, while Emmett Jones and the Oklahoma staff continued to encourage Kearney to see everything he needed to see in order to make an informed decision. The pressure from the A&M staff turned Kearney off, and he essentially decided to commit to Oklahoma then and there. He appreciated the more laid-back approach from Jones and OU, and that approach paid off much sooner than one might have anticipated. The source I spoke with also told me that Kearney is “100 percent committed. No chance he goes anywhere else. He’s so excited to be a Sooner.” To that point, Kearney has been active in Oklahoma’s all-out pursuit of Bryant Wesco; he and his camp are excited about the prospect of him lining up opposite Wesco at the collegiate level. As I mentioned yesterday in my note on Zion Ragins, the fact that Wesco isn’t taking an official visit to OU in June hasn’t shaken the collective faith. The overwhelming belief behind the scenes is that he’ll be a Sooner in the end. A potential commitment from Ragins — which is very much in play heading into next weekend — wouldn’t have any effect therein. The Sooners are ready to take four receivers in 2024 if they can get four worth taking, and Michael Hawkins himself told me yesterday, “I would really like to take four.”
My main concern here is Nebraska, which will get the last official. Brix is a quiet farm kid from western Iowa who’s hardly ever traveled outside the Midwest. If he gets to the end of the process and decides he doesn’t want to stray that far from his little corner of the world, Nebraska looms as the ideal option; Memorial Stadium is just over an hour from Brix’s hometown. However, I trust that the Sooners are prepared to offer answers to any and all of the kid’s inhibitions. If you’ve heard me talk about Brix on the podcast or the YouTube live stream, you know I’m obsessed with the kid’s film and think he could eventually be a first-round draft pick. The feeling is much the same within the Switzer Center. They want Brix badly, and they’re ready to pull out all the stops when he visits next weekend. Having Michael Hawkins present will help immensely, as I know both Hawkins and Brix well enough to know that their personalities will mesh very nicely.
— Spoke to a couple of sources yesterday on Taylor Tatum and Caden Durham. Both players are starting to feel some heat from the Sooners’ current commits, and Hawkins in particular has been in regular contact with both running backs. Things continue to accelerate between Tatum and Oklahoma, but Michigan still lurks and I remain unconvinced that Texas A&M is dead in the water here. Meanwhile, my best sources on Durham get the sense that the LSU hype has flatlined and that things are trending positively for Oklahoma once again. One source admitted that a class of Tatum and Durham looks like a bit of a pipe dream on paper, but also affirmed that it’s a very realistic possibility if things go according to planned at the ChampU BBQ. While we’re on the topic of Tatum, I’ll make one addendum on the East Texas front: I’m starting to cool just a bit on the idea that Casey Poe ends up in the class. By no means am I saying the ship has sailed, because that would be a gross misrepresentation of the truth. But he’s booked seven official visits and doesn’t plan to make a decision until August. It’s the timeline that I’m concerned about here. What happens if Brix, Jason Zandamela and someone like Bennett Warren or Kaedin Massey decide they want to lock in with Oklahoma by mid-July? I’m tapping the brakes on Poe, at least until we find out what next weekend yields with the numerous offensive line visitors.
— Davon Mitchell’s father, Marko, was in town yesterday for the Sooners’ camp. It’s not the first time he’s been on campus without his son in tow; Davon still has another few days of school out at Los Alamitos High in California, but that didn’t stop Marko from spending time around the Oklahoma staff in an informal setting. I’ve already reported that Mitchell intends to take a couple summer visits to Alabama and Miami, but I’m also told that Marko doesn’t really want Davon at Alabama and that Miami’s whole pitch has been NIL-centric. The elite 2025 tight end, who intends to reclassify into the 2024 cycle, will be back to Norman on June 15 to participate in Oklahoma’s final camp session. He’ll then stick around for the ChampU BBQ, and although the Oklahoma staff can’t give him the OV treatment for obvious reasons, that’s of little consequence in the grand scheme. Two and two add up to four. I would be shocked at this point if Mitchell ends up anywhere but OU, and I don’t think it’s out of the question that Michael Hawkins might drag Mitchell up to Norman with him next weekend to hang with the June 9-11 official visit group.
— Got some of the backstory on Zion Kearney’s recruitment yesterday from a source very close to the four-star receiver, and it provides a phenomenal example of OU’s recruiting philosophy executed properly. This spring, Kearney was effectively down to OU and Texas A&M, and there were plenty of ties to A&M that made the Aggies the leader for quite a while. However, circa March, the A&M staff began to prod Kearney to stop taking visits elsewhere and commit, while Emmett Jones and the Oklahoma staff continued to encourage Kearney to see everything he needed to see in order to make an informed decision. The pressure from the A&M staff turned Kearney off, and he essentially decided to commit to Oklahoma then and there. He appreciated the more laid-back approach from Jones and OU, and that approach paid off much sooner than one might have anticipated. The source I spoke with also told me that Kearney is “100 percent committed. No chance he goes anywhere else. He’s so excited to be a Sooner.” To that point, Kearney has been active in Oklahoma’s all-out pursuit of Bryant Wesco; he and his camp are excited about the prospect of him lining up opposite Wesco at the collegiate level. As I mentioned yesterday in my note on Zion Ragins, the fact that Wesco isn’t taking an official visit to OU in June hasn’t shaken the collective faith. The overwhelming belief behind the scenes is that he’ll be a Sooner in the end. A potential commitment from Ragins — which is very much in play heading into next weekend — wouldn’t have any effect therein. The Sooners are ready to take four receivers in 2024 if they can get four worth taking, and Michael Hawkins himself told me yesterday, “I would really like to take four.”
