Oklahoma not giving up pursuit of Five-Star Plus+ DL Williams Nwaneri

Oklahoma swung and missed on arguably its top target in the 2024 cycle, as Lee’s Summit (Mo.) North Five-Star Plus+ defensive lineman Williams Nwaneri committed to Missouri over the Sooners on Aug. 14.

Nwaneri, the No. 3 overall prospect in the class — per the On3 Industry Ranking — was often trending towards a pledge to Brent Venables and Co. Instead, Eli Drinkwitz and the Tigers managed to cross that finish line first and nab one of the highest-ranked commitments in program history.

“It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made,” Nwaneri told On3. “But I had to do what was best for me.”Really, I felt like I was most comfortable with that coaching staff. It’s close to home and all that, so I felt like it was the right decision for me at the time.”

Oklahoma has since rebounded, adding Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy Five-Star Plus+ DL David Stone and top-100 Melissa (Texas) four-star DL Nigel Smith II to its pledge list, pushing the Sooners’ recruiting class up to No. 9 in the nation, per the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Ranking.

Eyes in Norman are still locked onto Nwaneri, however. Verbal commitments mean nothing to coaching staffs until pen meets paper, so Oklahoma isn’t giving on up bringing another trench monster to Memorial Stadium next season.

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Nwaneri not shutting down recruitment

Just three days after committing to Mizzou, Nwaneri quickly gave Oklahoma fans hope that a flip wasn’t impossible. In a preseason game for Lee’s Summit, the elite lineman took the field in OU gloves and cleats.

“I’m just having fun with it. Showing love and all that,” Nwaneri told Sooner Scoop. “I had to show love… They’re still recruiting me and all that, but I’m going to let everything play out, let the whole season play out, but I don’t know. I’m committed to Mizzou, though.”

As rudimentary as monitoring a high school football player’s gloves may be, it’s something that the Sooner faithful has taken notice of, especially since it wasn’t a one time thing. Nwaneri has dawned the OU gloves on multiple occasions, pulling all of Norman’s finest social media sleuths out of the woodwork along the way.

“With Williams Nwaneri, we have glove gate in Norman. People are tracking the gloves he’s wearing every week,” Sooner Scoop’s Josh McCuistion told On3’s Josh Newberg. “I think it’s a lot of people trying to connect dots, but there’s no question: Oklahoma’s not gonna give up in that pursuit. I think there’s some thought that if things go sideways at Missouri, maybe he could be shaken from his decision.”

Plenty of Oklahoma connections around Nwaneri

Dipping into the state of Missouri is not uncommon for Oklahoma. Its 2023 class included two Missourians, including Nwaneri’s former Lee’s Summit teammate, four-star offensive tackle Cayden Green.

The Sooners’ 2025 pledge list includes another Lee’s Summit product in three-star DL Ka’Mori Moore. Lee’s Summit 2025 four-star wide receiver Isaiah Mozee is also trending towards a commitment to OU, per the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM).

It remains unclear if Nwaneri will make his way down to Norman for a visit this fall, but he’ll have plenty of voices around him likely urging him to do so. He was in Columbia to watch Mizzou defeat Middle Tennessee State last weekend.

“There is a lot of talk — we talked about it through his recruitment, you had so much connection between Lee’s Summit North and Oklahoma. Isaiah Mozee, he’ll almost certainly be down for a game. You have Ka’Mori Moore, one of Williams’ teammates on the defensive line that’s already committed to Oklahoma,” McCuistion said. “He’s gonna have multiple chances to catch a ride to Norman if he wants to. It’s just going to be a matter of does he feel like he can do that?”