— Mentioned this earlier in the week, but I’ve done some more digging and I’ll reaffirm that Oklahoma is a very real threat to flip four-star 2025 LB Mantrez Walker from Michigan. I don’t expect that it will take long for that flip to occur. The Buford (Ga.) native is enamored with Oklahoma and the Sooner staff, and he intends to visit Norman later this fall. I think by year’s end, the odds are that Walker is committed to OU. To that point, a well-placed source informed me that there’s a “very high chance” he flips to the Sooners sometime during the upcoming season.
— Many of you noticed Zina Umeozulu amongst those that took to Twitter to celebrate Jayden Jackson’s commitment yesterday. It should come as no surprise to those that have tracked Umeozulu’s recruitment over the last couple of months, but the Sooners remain a huge player for the four-star defensive end. We’ve long considered Nigel Smith a mortal lock to end up in Oklahoma’s class, and with the Sooners favored for David Stone and Williams Nwaneri, the ceiling for this defensive line class is Sistine Chapel-esque. As Brandon reported yesterday, the Sooners would love to have a surplus of elite D-linemen in this cycle, and Umeozulu is as coveted within the Switzer Center as any defensive end not named Nwaneri. If Oklahoma continues to heat up on the trail, expect their push for Umeozulu to ramp up all the more. The biggest question is whether his timeline carries into the late stages of the process, or leads to a commitment within the next 6-8 weeks. There's really no indication one way or another to that effect.
— Spoke to a couple of sources and I favor Oregon right now for Brayden Platt. The feeling seems to be that proximity to home could be what swings this battle between a pair of schools that have both done an outstanding job recruiting Platt. As we’ve said many a time, Oklahoma will take Platt in a heartbeat if he wants to come, but the Sooners are more than content if James Nesta is their only LB pledge in the cycle. Keep in mind the Sooners just signed four linebackers in the 2023 class, and all four have made strong early impressions. Even Taylor Heim, the absolute last eval and offer of the past cycle for Oklahoma, earned some specific and unprompted praise from Brent Venables at media days this week. I’ve got it on good authority that throughout summer testing, Heim has proven to be as fast as any linebacker on the team — yes, even Jaren Kanak. Thus, linebacker is not what you’d call a position of need for Oklahoma right now.
— I don’t have an exact date for the announcement yet, but I think four-star OL Eugene “BJ” Brooks is one of the Sooners’ next three commits. Whereupon Brooks is in the Oklahoma class, the Sooners’ focus turns almost exclusively to closing out Grant Brix. I don’t think OU is completely out of it for Eddy Pierre-Louis, but UCF has the inside track in that recruitment of late. With Josh Aisosa set to visit OU at the end of the month and Daniel Akinkunmi intent on a fall trip to Norman, it can be safely assumed that one of the two ends up a Sooner. Oklahoma is easily the most prestigious offer for both players. Thus, it’s Project Brix as soon as the Brooks recruitment is a wrap. I’ll have another update on Brix forthcoming, but I still like Oklahoma there by a slight margin.
