Oklahoma trending for more elite prospects in its own state

Year 2 at Oklahoma under Brent Venables is off to a scorching start, with the Sooners strongly in contention for the College Football Playoff. The recruiting momentum has been just as impressive — if not more so — in both the 2024 and 2025 classes.

OU already has a top-10 class in this year’s cycle, but 2025 might be their best chance to contend for a top-five recruiting class. And a big part of that will be locking down their home state.

In 2024, the Sooner State has only two prospects who rank among the top-300 in the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

In 2025 though, that number is eight, and the Sooners are trending to land each of the top seven on that list. Four — receivers Jaden Nickens and Elijah Thomas, athlete Trynae Washington and quarterback Kevin Sperry — are already pledged to Venables and Co. That’s in addition to high three-star linebacker Marcus James, who along with Washington, committed to OU on Thursday night.

Here’s where things stand with the other three major blue-chip Sooners targets:

4-star athlete CJ Nickson

School: Weatherford (Okla.)
On3 Industry Ranking: No. 59
On3 RPM: Oklahoma 74.3%, Oklahoma State 3.1%, TCU 2.7%
The Skinny: The top prospect in-state in 2025, CJ Nickson is a dynamic playmaker that could project on either side of the ball at the next level. Oklahoma got the 6’5, 216-pound athlete on campus twice this summer and looks to be in pole position right now.

4-star TE Nate Roberts

School: Washington (Okla.)
On3 Industry Ranking: No. 102
On3 RPM: Oklahoma 89.6%, Baylor 2.0%, Notre Dame 1.1%
The Skinny: Nate Roberts was an early pledge to Notre Dame, but backed off that commitment earlier this fall. Penn State, Ohio State and a handful of others are involved as well, but the home-state program is expected to be tough to beat.

4-star CB Trystan Haynes

School: Midwest City (Okla.) Carl Albert
On3 Industry Ranking: No. 132
On3 RPM: Oklahoma 95.0%, Iowa State 1.5%
The Skinny: Trystan Haynes recently picked up a prediction in favor of Oklahoma from On3 national recruiting analyst Sam Spiegelman, and he looks to be another one that will be tough to get out of OU’s hands.

The Sooners’ strong start to the season has also created some buzz around some other 2025 recruits on the defensive side of the ball, including Trystan Haynes and Trynae Washington. I’ve followed suit with an RPM for Haynes, another in-state piece that’s trending toward Oklahoma.