— Let's start with the big one, and that would be Williams Nwaneri, the No. 3 overall player in the nation. He is still making his way back to the Kansas City area after spending the weekend in Georgia, so I haven't had the chance to touch base with him directly. However, I did speak to a source very close to Nwaneri's recruitment this morning and was told that a commitment can be expected in the not-too-distant future. That source indicated to me that a decision should be finalized behind the scenes in the next week or two, and that the September visit to Oregon is unlikely at this point. There is still a strong OU vibe here, and that has yet to change. I know many are gun-shy in the wake of his trip to Georgia, but I have no concrete reason right now to suspect that Oklahoma has lost the lead in the race for the five-star DE. Could things change down the line? Absolutely, and anyone taking Nwaneri's pledge to the bank is naive. That said, I still have OU pacing the field, and I'll put my sources up against anybody's on this one.
— Okay, so how about Davon Mitchell? I talked to multiple sources close to the elite tight end prospect this morning and was told that the Miami visit did indeed move the needle, but no source seemed to indicate that the Hurricanes had taken the lead. For those that have been following Mitchell's recruitment in recent weeks, the news of a Miami surge should come as no surprise, and I can say with relative authority that an NIL pitch is involved here. However, Michael Hawkins and the crew have kept Mitchell's phone buzzing with OU propaganda, and this is a race in which OU fans simply have to trust that relationships and proximity will win out in the end. That's easier said than done, and I understand that. For what it's worth, I'm also told Jeff Lebby is scheduled to converse with Davon and his father later this week. And to be honest, I don't believe that Mitchell would tell a reporter that Miami was his No. 1 school if that were true. In my interactions with him, he's never been the type of kid to lay his recruitment bare on the record. Back in the spring, he was touting Tennessee and Penn State as major contenders when microphones were placed in front of him.
— It's been a quiet process, but I'm told by multiple sources that it's become an OU/UCF battle for four-star offensive tackle Eddy Pierre-Louis. UCF has the proximity advantage, and obviously OU is selling every other angle in the book. This is a race that Oklahoma should win if current trends hold, and the Oklahoma staff and commits are working hard to reel in the Tampa native. On paper, I like the Sooners in the long run.
— I continue to get the sense that OU is fading in the race for Kaedin Massey. A decision should be coming within the week for the Lyndon (Kan.) offensive tackle, and I believe Nebraska and Kansas State are the two schools at the top of the list right now. His recruitment has simply been different, and academics have really emerged as the top priority for Massey as this thing has unwound. By his own admission, K-State and Nebraska have done the best job selling the academic side.
I don't feel that anybody truly has a grasp on what becomes of the Ivan Carreon situation. There's various degrees of confidence coming from the Texas Tech camp, the Purdue camp and the Oklahoma camp right now. Moreover, the kid's gone dark on most everyone else throughout this whole process, so getting anything from the horse's mouth has been impossible. Until further notice, my advice would be to proceed as if Carreon doesn't end up in the class, but treat it as a pleasant surprise if he does. A flip, were it to happen, would probably come out of the blue without much pomp and circumstance.
Much more coming tomorrow as we continue to dredge up information coming out of this past OV weekend.
