Oklahoma LB commit Marcus James is ready to make ‘a dream come true’ by playing for the Sooners

Five of the nine players in Oklahoma’s 2025 recruiting class are in-state recruits. One of them is Oklahoma City (Okla.) Carl Albert three-star linebacker Marcus James. 

The 6-foot-3.5, 210-pound defender has already made between seven and eight trips to see head coach Brent Venables and his staff. He plans to return to Norman sometime this spring. 

“I really like coach V, his philosophy with the defense, his mindset and how he approaches games,” James told On3. “He’s a linebacker coach and with all the Butkus Award finalists and winners he’s coached, it’s hard as a linebacker to not choose to play for him.” 

James, who was last at Oklahoma on the weekend of Jan. 27, was quickly impressed by Venables’ coaching style and mentality during his recruitment. That is a key reason why he committed to the Sooners on Nov. 2. 

Oklahoma’s campus is also not too far away from home for James. The No. 10 player in Oklahoma’s high school is roughly 35 minutes away from the Sooners’ stadium.

“It’s easy to stay home and play for a hometown team I grew up watching and being a fan of,” said James, the No. 524 overall prospect and No. 57 linebacker in the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking. “It was really a dream come true.” 

Other schools are not giving up on James, but it will be hard to flip him from Oklahoma

There are still multiple schools working to flip James from the soon-to-be SEC program. They include Arkansas, Houston, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State, TCU and Tennessee. 

“They still reach out,” James said. “Back in January, they were always coming up to my school and talking to me. They’re still there and I’m still getting offers from other places.” 

These programs likely have a difficult task ahead of them because James is locked in with Oklahoma. He is currently one of three Sooners commits that attend Carl Albert, along with four-star quarterback Kevin Sperry and four-star athlete Trynae Washington. 

Venables and Co. are also hoping to land another player from Carl Albert in four-star cornerback Trystan Haynes. He announced Oklahoma as one of his top six schools on March 12. 
“It’s home,” Haynes told On3. “I like coach Venables and coach Valai and think the program is headed in a great direction. Coach V being a defensive coach, I feel like I can be coached well there… My family are OU fans and my teammates are going there.”