Oklahoma poised to add two major commitments in the month of September
Oklahoma entered the month of September sitting just inside the top-15 of the On3 Industry Football Team Recruiting Rankings. But by the time the month lets out, the Sooners could be sitting comfortably inside the top 10 with a couple of key additions added to their 2024 class.
Two major recruiting targets are set to announce in the next few weeks: four-star Melissa (Texas) defensive lineman Nigel Smith and four-star Tulsa (Okla.) EDGE Danny Okoye. And according to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM), OU is trending heavily to land both.
The first to come off the board will be Smith, the No. 100 overall prospect in the On3 Industry Ranking, who makes his commitment decision on Friday between Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M and a handful of other finalists.
He took official visits to five schools in May and June. And he recently stopped at Texas last weekend for the Longhorns’ season opener. However, the Sooners have been trending for most of the summer and look to be the favorite heading into his decision.
The 6-foot-4, 265-pounder was named second-team Max Preps Junior All-American last year, as well as earning nods as the Texas District 7-5A-II Defensive Lineman of the Year and Texas Sportswriters Association Class 5A first-team all-state honors in 2022. He was also the Texas District 7-4A-I unanimous Defensive Lineman of the Year as a sophomore after being named the district’s newcomer of the year as a freshman.
Sooners trending to keep another top in-state target home
As for Okoye, Oklahoma has been in the mix in his recruitment for some time. But it looked to be running second to Tennessee going into his official visit this weekend. The pecking order has changed though, according to On3’s Chad Simmons.
“Entering September, the buzz was around Tennessee,” Simmons wrote on Monday. “He had been on campus multiple times. And behind the scenes, the Vols were viewed as the team to beat. Okoye then took his official visit to Norman over the weekend. There was buzz while Okoye was on campus that the visit was going well. But now that the visit has ended, the visit may have been strong enough to change the leader at the top of his list.
… Brent Venables, Todd Bates and Miguel Chavis are all involved with Okoye. Each spent one-on-one time with the elite pass rusher over the weekend and the connections got even stronger. Okoye feels comfortable around the staff. He likes the environment in Norman, and he sees an opportunity to get on the field early.”
Okoye, the No. 73 overall prospect in the On300 rankings, initially planned to commit in October. But he told On3’s Sam Spiegelman, “I don’t think it’s gonna be in October anymore. It’ll definitely be sooner.”
Since then, Spiegelman, Oklahoma football recruiting insider Josh McCuistion and Texas insider Gerry Hamilton have all logged expert predictions in OU’s favor.