— Blue-chip 2026 safety Isaiah Williams had an outstanding experience at Oklahoma over the weekend, and in speaking to a couple of sources close to that recruitment, I’m close to entering a FutureCast in the Sooners’ favor. It’s probably a little early in the process to do so, which is my hesitation. Texas and Texas A&M are also heavily in play, so with over a year and a half to the finish line, I don’t want to start creating an expectation that Williams winds up in the class. But I’m told he will be back on campus this summer and that the Sooners are firmly in the lead for the time being.
— Spoke with Kole Briehler again today. Oklahoma will be out to see him on May 7, represented by both Todd Bates and Miguel Chavis. The Sooners have stayed in hot pursuit of Briehler throughout the spring, and despite a recent visit to Ohio State and an offer from the Buckeyes, Briehler is still a definite OU lean. He’s not really entertaining any schools from outside his top three (OU, tOSU, Stanford) right now, although Oregon has established contact with him recently. We’ll see if the Ducks pull the trigger with an offer, but not much has changed with Briehler otherwise, and Oklahoma is a destination with which his entire family is on board. Especially given that the Sooners get the last OV here, I feel pretty solid about my FutureCast to Oklahoma. Any initial worry about Ohio State’s late entry into the sweepstakes has ebbed.
— If the recent predictions elsewhere that favor Oklahoma for Antoni Ogumoro aren’t enough of an indication that the Sooners are in good shape there, I’ve got a couple of quotes from the three-star OL to pass along. The Sooners hosted him for an official visit this past weekend, as we had previously reported would be the case. Here are two particularly relevant comments he made about the visit when I spoke to him.
“Creed Humphrey and Ben Powers, they messaged me, just letting me know they hoped I’d enjoy the visit. And I thought it was fake at first! I didn’t believe it, and I messaged back and said, ‘I appreciate that. I appreciate you hitting me up.’ And I wasn’t expecting an answer back, but they were actually having full conversations with me. I was like, ‘Oh, dang! I’m really talking to these guys right now!’ And they were just giving me tips and letting me know what the program’s about. And man, I really appreciate that.
“And Coach Venables, I really appreciate him because not only did they really help with my little brother, but he didn’t try to pressure me in any way. A lot of coaches sometimes on these visits — and I get it; it’s part of the recruiting process — but they try and pressure. He didn’t. He told me he respects what I’m doing in staying true to my word and taking these visits and come to a decision together [with my family]. He understood where I was coming from, and I really appreciated that.”
Should you need some help reading between the lines there, know that Ogumoro will take the remainder of his OV’s, but that Oklahoma is in the pole position and I don’t expect anything to change in that regard.
— Caught up the other day with four-star TE Chase Loftin, who is in the process of setting up his official visit to Oklahoma. He’s already got June OV’s booked to Florida State, Texas A&M and Nebraska, with the Nebraska trip falling on the weekend of the ChampU BBQ. I know Oklahoma would prefer to have him on campus that weekend, but they’ll make arrangements for a different set of dates if he’s unwilling to budge on his Nebraska OV. Loftin is also kicking around the possibility of an official to Miami, but one way or another, expect a decision in late June or July. This one won’t last too long after OV’s. I think Oklahoma still has an edge here, but not enough of one that I’d be comfortable entering a FutureCast, because I’ll also acknowledge that the door has opened significantly for FSU and A&M over the last couple of months. I still have a hard time believing Loftin stays home with the Huskers.
OU has the advantage of having been Loftin’s first offer, and he’s told me that they had the most impressive game-day environment among the schools he’s visited. Ultimately, I think this is a classic case of a recruitment that’ll be decided during OV season; I don’t think there is any program that has a clear-cut advantage here, even though I’d probably give OU the highest odds by a slight margin. I will add that Loftin’s girlfriend is signed to run track at Dallas Baptist — which, one would imagine, bodes well for OU and A&M in particular.
