SEC Battles Aren't New to Sooners

The stories of Oklahoma’s recruiting battles against Texas, Nebraska, and other former conference foes have become almost holy script for the Sooners. But now that the Sooners are headed to the SEC it’s time to dredge up some memories of recruiting battles of years gone by. Some are still fresh in the mind of Oklahoma fans while some are forgotten.

What’s perhaps most interesting is the reality of how many stars of the game either chose Oklahoma or came just short of it. In fact three players listed either won a Heisman or were a finalist for the award.

Sooners Have Fared OK with Dawgs

Names to Know: Brock Vandagriff (2021), Jadon Haselwood (2019), Duke Robinson (2005), Andrew Raym (2020)

Breakdown: You wouldn’t think it to know the success that Georgia has had in the last few years, and to be fair, largely the last 20 years but the Sooners have seen success recruiting in Georgia. Haselwood was a wire to wire battle with Oklahoma kind of living as the underdog throughout before a late win at the, then, Army All-American Bowl.

Robinson was from a bygone era, at a point in time when the Sooners were clearly on top of Georgia as far as success and NFL production. It was a key one for Oklahoma as they fought all the way to National Signing Day eve to land him.

Vandagriff and Raym were opposite sides of the coin for the Sooners and UGA. Vandagriff, a Georgia native, committed to Oklahoma early on but just hours after the loss in the Peach Bowl cited leaving his family as cause to decommit and end up with Georgia. Meanwhile Raym, while the Scoop staff was in Georgia, seemed ready to pick the Dawgs before Bill Bedenbaugh pulled off a late reversal and landed his pledge.

Aggies Have Caused OU Some Pain

Names to Know: Bryce Foster (2021), David Hicks (2023), Adrian Peterson (2004)

Breakdown: A recruiting rivalry that has felt like a series of runs is the one between Texas A&M and Oklahoma. The Sooners had the lion’s share of the wins until roughly 2015 but then as time wore on the Aggies started collecting more and more recruiting victories. The trio of players listed well embody this reality.

For Peterson, Oklahoma was long thought to fight off Texas – which, in some ways is true – but it was the Aggies who continued to try and push in the days before National Signing Day. Still though Oklahoma held on and obviously the rest is history for the Sooners legend.

Hicks and Foster are more clear signs of some of Oklahoma’s brutal beats in the Houston area in recent years. Foster had most Aggies thinking he’d end up in Norman before eventually sticking with his family’s connections and picking College Station. Meanwhile, Hicks is one of the more heartbreaking realities of the Brent Venables era. Coming out of a mid-summer visit the Sooners looked to have landed his pledge and ready to close. Some around him tapped the brakes on any such talk and A&M eventually closed on the prized five-star defensive lineman.

Auburn and Sooners are Unfamiliar Foes

Names to Know: Cam Newton (2010)

Breakdown: Though they’ll face off this year there’s not a lot of history between Auburn and Oklahoma, at least not of notable recruiting battles. The most clear cut one was clearly the guy who would win a Heisman trophy later the same year. Newton, as you’ll see soon, came close with Oklahoma on more than one occasion but the presence of returning starter Landry Jones did little to help the Sooners recruiting cause. Auburn won out in the end and Newton went on to have one of the great years in the sport’s history.

Florida: A Double Dose of Pain for Oklahoma

Names to Know: Lance Mitchell (2002), Cam Newton (2007)

Breakdown: That headline makes you think the Sooners lost twice, no? Well, not exactly though both of these situations had some precarious turns.

Mitchell, out of City College of San Francisco, came down to Florida and Oklahoma but eventually chose the Gators.

But wait, I know you’re asking ‘he played for Oklahoma!’, and you’re right, of course. Mitchell had a course that, under SEC guidelines, didn’t transfer from junior college and as such he kind of fell back into Oklahoma’s lap. It’s still unbelievable to think of what his career could have looked like if not for the knee injury suffered early in 2003.

But it’s Newton that caused the first of his two doses of pain for Oklahoma and thus the headline. Newton wasn’t well known at the time Oklahoma got involved but would eventually become a five-star quarterback that everyone was pursuing. Much like the second time around the Sooners were very much in the race but came up just short of an SEC foe.

Vols and OU Trading Standouts

Names to Know: Robert Meachem (2003), Orlando Brown (2014)

Breakdown: Much like Mitchel above, the case for Brown is largely about Tennessee giving Oklahoma a gift. The Volunteers had Brown committed for quite some time but late in the game the word was they became concerned about qualification. As they started to back away Bedenbaugh and Oklahoma picked up the pace and flipped him on National Signing day. It was seen as an afterthought win for the Sooners but Brown would go on to become two-time Big 12 lineman of the year and a finalist for the Outland trophy.

That gift was probably owed after the heartbreak that Meachem caused around the state more than a decade before. The Booker T. Washington product seemed set for the Sooners even in the hours before his announcement on National Signing Day. But in those days word trickled out in weird ways and through a message board chat – in it’s most rudimentary form – we all learned he had spurned the Sooners for Tennessee. It’s a day that still lives in SoonerScoop infamy.

SEC Neighbors Figure to Get More Familiar

Names to Know: Vickiel Vaughn (2002), Tony Ugoh (2002), Marcus Wimberly (2025)

Breakdown: It will surprise some Sooners fans to see that Arkansas has had the better of them in some big battles. But largely the biggest battles have taken place while Oklahoma was chasing Natural State stars. And that’s a nut that has been tough for OU to crack against their new SEC neighbors.

However, Wimberly has given Oklahoma cause for hope and is even hoping for another win later this week. The talented safety was a one-time Razorbacks commitment but as soon as Oklahoma got involved it seemed a commitment was coming.

Vaughn and Ugoh were a pair of Texans that Oklahoma seemed close to getting at various points in their recruitments but Houston Nutt did an outstanding job selling them on the SEC. Ugoh, notably, would go on to be an All-SEC performer and second round NFL draft pick.

Big Name Battles on the Bayou

Names to Know: Trent Williams (2006), Jacob Phillips (2017), Rufus Alexander (2002), Caleb Williams (2021), Rueben Randle (2009), Phil Loadholt (2007)

Breakdown: When these two have squared off it has largely been about chasing big fish. Of the players listed three were five-stars and two were, and are, long-time NFL starters.

The only one who doesn’t fit into that breakdown? Alexander would go on to be Big 12 defensive player of the year and a first-team All-American in 2006. The Sooners fought off Texas and LSU for the late win in his recruitment.

Williams, a future NFL hall of famer, was an after thought win at the time for Oklahoma. And the Sooners owe a ton of credit to his former Longview, Texas teammate Malcolm Kelly for staying in the staff’s ear to bring Williams to Norman.

Caleb Williams and Jacob Phillips were something of a reversal of roles. While Williams was high on Oklahoma, once they landed the commitment of Vandagriff Oklahoma largely backed away from him. In spite of comments to the contrary they had shifted their focus to LSU and the Tigers seemed heavy favorites. But the door re-opened when Vandagriff left the class in January of 2020 and Joe Brady left LSU for the NFL.

Meanwhile, Phillips was a long-time Oklahoma pledge but when LSU’s staff went through some turnover a little-known, at the time, recruiting assistant went on the road and developed a strong relationship with Phillips and those around him. He tried to keep an official visit to Baton Rouge quiet – even denying it at times in the week leading up – but after it happened LSU was in the driver’s seat and would flip his commitment.

Randle is an interesting inclusion as few connect him with the Sooners. The night before National Signing Day the Sooners thought they had stolen him away from the Tigers. Whether that was real or not may never be truly known but there’s no denying Oklahoma made a surprising run.

Finally, Loadholt, the lone Colorado native on this list, was an LSU commitment before Oklahoma got involved. As time wore on they were able to flip him away. He would help the Sooners to one of their best lines in school history.

In short if LSU and Oklahoma come down to the wire, there’s a good bet that player becomes someone important.

Sooners Haven’t Had Much Luck Stopping the Tide

Names to Know: Julio Jones (2008), Drew Sanders (2020), Jase McClellan (2020)

Breakdown: The Crimson Tide have run the SEC for most of the last 15 years. As such, so it’s no surprise to see the Sooners take some tough beats.

Though he’s not the biggest ‘football name’ on the list, Sanders was probably the most painful. A one-time Oklahoma commit he seemed all in with the Sooners. However, Nick Saban and co. convinced him linebacker was his future, not tight end. A pitch that many felt would hurt the Sooners came back to bite them.

But he wasn’t the only elite 2020 Texan that spurned the Sooners late in the game. McClellan was one of the wild stories of the class after committing to Oklahoma very early on. He stuck with the Sooners and gave numerous indications of being sold on OU. However, as time wore on Alabama just kept picking up momentum. And in spite of protestations of his family, what everyone knew was going to happen, finally did.

The one that many forget is how interesting Oklahoma made it with Jones at the end. The nation’s top wide receiver – in a class that included A.J. Green – visited Oklahoma late and was high on OU. The Sooners even thought, for a minute, that they might have done enough. But once he returned home he joined Saban’s first full class.

5-Stars Litter the the Sooners/Mizzou Battle

Names to Know: Luther Burden (2021), P.J. Adebawore (2023), Cayden Green (2023), Jeremy Maclin (2006), Dorial Green-Beckham (2012), Williams Nwaneri (2024)

Breakdown: It’s no surprise that the neighbors and Old Big 8/12 foes have plenty of history on the recruiting trail. Much like Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma rarely get locked into battles outside of the state of Missouri. And as such the Tigers have gotten the best of Oklahoma on more occasions than some might expect.

Of all the talents on the list Nwaneri and Green-Beckham are probably the two that stick out to Sooners. Each were in competition for the No. 1 spot in their classes and both ran it out until moments before their decision. Nwaneri was thought to be an Oklahoma lean for some time but Missouri closed late in the process. Meanwhile Green-Beckham was seen, at one point, as a near certainty for the Sooners. He’d later end up in Norman after a scandal ended his time in Columbia. Little would come of it and Green-Beckham, in spite of his prodigious talent, never became who many expected.

Burden and Maclin are also parallel stories. Players that were highly thought of but due to great college careers seem even bigger losses in retrospect. The Sooners held commitments from both players during their high school career. In both cases the Tigers were able to pry them away enjoying, arguably, the program’s two best receivers.

And in this pattern of pairs, Oklahoma came away with two huge wins in 2023 in Adebawore and Green.

Green was a big win as the Sooners fought off some sizable NIL work from Missouri. He shined as a freshman, and cemented himself as a future star at guard, before leaving the program abruptly.

Adebawore was offered as a three-star but as time went on became one of the nation’s truly elite defensive prospects. Missouri was one of several programs who made things interesting but Oklahoma closed the deal in the summer of 2022.