Went out to Washington (Okla.) today to touch base with Roberts in the aftermath of his decommitment from Notre Dame. A few things to note here:
— Roberts says he doesn't intend to rush his decision this time around, telling me that he learned his lesson from the Notre Dame experience and that he "probably committed too early." He originally wanted to have the recruiting process finished before his junior year, but he's thrown that deadline out the window for the time being.
— As we've previously reported, the crux of the issue between Roberts and Notre Dame was that the Irish staff wasn't honest with him. They told the four-star TE that he'd be their only take at the position, but within days of his commitment, they began to pursue a second tight end. The last straw was in late July, when Notre Dame extended an extremely late invitation to their recruiting cookout that made it impossible for Roberts to attend. At that point, he said that he began to ask himself whether he was really a priority for Notre Dame. His parents were also quite disheartened by the way the Fighting Irish handled the process, which ultimately made the decision to decommit a relatively easy one. In Nate's words, "I'm not going to go 13 hours away to a school that both my parents aren't 100 percent about."
— This anecdote ought to illustrate the constant fluidity of recruiting. As we'd reported back when this site was syndicated by another network, Joe Jon Finley offered Nate's older brother Jake when he hit the transfer portal over the winter. Jake was fresh off a breakout year at North Texas, and multiple sources had previously indicated that he'd love to come home and play for Oklahoma if the opportunity presented itself. However, Finley never truly recruited the elder Roberts brother after offering him, which didn't sit well with the Roberts family and left a sour taste in the parents' mouth. Jake eventually committed to Baylor. However, in the months since that fiasco, Nate tells me that "it's all really switched" with regard to the relationship between Finley and the Roberts family. That bond has not only been repaired, but I'm told it's become strong enough that Roberts' parents are actively pushing their younger son toward Norman and toward Finley. Nate himself remarked, "They really want me at Oklahoma."
— Roberts also mentioned that he's built an outstanding relationship with Kevin Sperry and has a lot of respect for the Sooners' four-star quarterback commit. That's helped solidify Oklahoma's place as the top school in the process going forward. It should surprise no one to know that Nate freely acknowledged to me, "Oklahoma is my No. 1."
— He's got some game-day visits in the works this fall, and mentioned Penn State, Ohio State and Tennessee as likely destinations. However, he can obviously be expected in Norman for multiple game days throughout the season. He said he doesn't plan to commit until his official visit, but I think there's certainly a world in which that timeline gets moved up, especially with the parents continually emphasizing their preference to Roberts.
