We are eight days away from the decision for Antoni Ogumoro, and as his recruitment enters its final hours, I made the trip down to Elgin this afternoon to touch base with him. Ogumoro is fresh off an official visit to Kansas State, and will take one final OV to Missouri this weekend before committing next Tuesday. His OV at Oklahoma, for those that recall, occurred over the spring-game weekend. Ogumoro is unable to take any visits in June due to his family's long-standing plans to spend the month in Saipan, a tiny island in the West Pacific that the family calls home. So he's getting all his OV's, and his commitment, out of the way before the trip back to Saipan rolls around.
Ogumoro maintains that he has not yet made a final decision, but that the last three schools standing are Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Tennessee. I don't expect Missouri to make much headway this weekend, and Kansas State didn't move the needle for him last weekend. North Carolina has also been eliminated from the race. It's worth noting that both Tennessee and Oklahoma State are currently rostering several "island boyz," as Ogumoro calls them. During his official visits in Knoxville and Stillwater, he got to connect with several players who share his Polynesian heritage, and that helped both schools make a strong impression. However, he told me that the biggest factor in his recruitment is his brother, who is nine years old and has autism. He wants to play at a school that will cater to his brother's needs and offer a welcoming atmosphere, because to an extent, his brother will grow up on the campus of Ogumoro's eventual school of choice. One thing Ogumoro has stated repeatedly is that Oklahoma has done a phenomenal job with his brother on each visit, especially the OV. That, in addition to Bill Bedenbaugh's penchant for NFL development, has me feeling pretty secure with my FutureCast to Oklahoma.
There's a strong belief within the Switzer Center — and among the Sooners' current group of commits — that Ogumoro will pick Oklahoma next Tuesday. That alone isn't an irrefutable indicator of the outcome, as that same belief certainly existed in years past with guys like David Hicks and Williams Nwaneri and even Jordan Renaud. However, those recruitments very much tend to be the exception and not the rule. It looks and feels as if the Sooners are on the verge of adding another coveted offensive line prospect next week. If this thing takes a left turn, I'll keep you apprised, but I like where Oklahoma stands a little over a week from the finish line.
