Sooners ChampUBBQ is Finally Here

The Sooner Scoop – June 21, 2024

Attention Ladies and Gentleman, I have an urgent and breaking Sooners news story!

Alright as we do every week, let’s start with a look at the Sooners visitor list.

Andrew Babalola – Overland Park (Kan.) Blue Valley Northwest – 5-STAR
Tory Blaylock – Humble (Texas) Atascocita – RB – OU COMMIT
Emmanuel Choice – Lancaster, Texas – WR – 4-STAR
Ryan Fodje – Cypress (Texas) Bridgeland – OT – OU COMMIT
Max Granville – Sugar Land (Texas) Ft. Bend Christian – EDGE – Top 250
Courtland Guillory – Houston (Texas) Klein Oak – CB – OU COMMIT
Gracen Harris – Ennis, Texas – WR – OU COMMIT
Maliek Hawkins – Frisco (Texas) Emerson – CB – OU COMMIT
Trystan Haynes – Midwest City (Okla.) Carl Albert – CB – OU COMMIT
Owen Hollenbeck – Melissa, Texas – IOL – OU COMMIT
Marcus James – Midwest City (Okla.) Carl Albert – OU COMMIT
Christian Jones – Omaha (Neb.) Westside – LB – Top 250
Ka’Mori Moore – Lee’s Summit (Mo.) North – DT – OU COMMIT
CJ Nickson – Weatherford, Okla. – EDGE/TE – Top 250
Smith Orogbo – Houston (Texas) Alief Hastings – EDGE – Top 100
Omarion Robinson – Little Rock (Ark.) Parkview Magnet – S – 4-STAR
Alex Shieldnight – Wagoner, Okla. – EDGE – OU COMMIT
Kevin Sperry – Denton (Texas) Guyer – QB – OU COMMIT
Elijah Thomas – Checotah, Okla. – WR – OU COMMIT
Trynae Washington – Midwest City (Okla.) Carl Albert – TE – OU COMMIT
Marcus Wimberly – Bauxite, Ark. – S – OU COMMIT

Babalola and Oklahoma Quietly Trending?

The highest ranked prospect visiting this weekend, for the second straight week, is an offensive lineman. This week that role falls to five-star Andrew Babalola. There has been a lot of buzz around Auburn, Stanford, and Michigan at various points but it seems the one constant that has kind of hung around throughout his process has been Oklahoma.

The Sooners have impressed him during his two previous trips to Norman and quietly have a real chance to propel him toward his decision during his visit this weekend.

As we’ve alluded to before, he has connected with a few prospects in the class – including a few that are very serious about the Sooners at the moment.

The impression that he gave more than a few of those who have been around him on a few official visits is that Oklahoma may well be the favorite in his recruitment. Taking some of that as ‘gospel’ is always dangerous but there’s no denying that he likes the Sooners and the track record of Bill Bedenbaugh. And from what Scoop has gathered, the NIL situation is something Oklahoma is taking very, very seriously this go around – more on that a bit later.

Sooners Start Fast with Granville

One player who hit Norman early was Sugar Land (Texas) Ft. Bend Christian EDGE Max Granville. The big-time pass rusher and his family hit up Norman and had one thing at the top of their list.

Meeting with the coaching staff. Scoop was told Brent Venables and the Sooners staff spent a ton of time with them. A big part of that visit was a chat with R Mason Thomas, a player that Oklahoma has consistently compared Granville to.

The Sooners are still considered the favorite here but Granville will want to hear a lot about Oklahoma’s plans for him as well as what kind of success he’ll find in Norman. Thomas is a comparison that makes a lot of sense but the Granvilles are well aware that, to date, the production has been hindered by injury.

WR Situation Clearing or Tightening?

So the news on Thursday that Oklahoma would no longer be hosting Katy (Texas) Jordan wide receiver Andrew Marsh was initially seen as a negative. And while that’s understandable considering the surprising visit and commitment of Marcus Harris last weekend it may well have been something we should have seen coming.

It should be noted that Marsh talked about taking a visit during the season but Scoop is willing to be that he and the Sooners are almost certainly headed in different directions. It feels like this could be coming down to a two horse race for the final spot in Oklahoma’s wide receiver class. We’ve debated for a while whether the Sooners would take a fourth and it seems like that’s going to be the plan.

Now it seems we know who the options will come down to, pardon the pun, but Emmanuel Choice and Cortez Mills.

Mills’s visit last weekend went exceedingly well and there is talk that the lead some around Clemson once felt existed may have dissipated. We’re not sure of anything and Oklahoma clearly isn’t either or Choice’s visit probably would have been ‘delayed’ as well.

It feels like Oklahoma will get one or the other but who will be first to the finish line?

Oklahoma Hits the Perfect Notes with Lamont Rogers

The midweek visit of Lamont Rogers was a bit of a surprise but it was done with clear intent by both the Rogers family as well as the Sooners. That reasoning is that his mother has a trip planned for this weekend and as such Oklahoma wanted her on the visit with him to Norman so both parties agreed to move it from it’s previous set time of June 21.

“She’s a big deal in this,” one source said.

Rogers was hanging around the Sooners morning session of camp on Thursday and it was very clear that his mother had hit it off with Oklahoma’s head man Brent Venables.

“She’s very outgoing and warm, and very faith-driven. She is about a perfect fit for Brent,” another source chuckled.

In fact, as Scoop heard it, mom may be very much in the Sooners camp when it comes time for her son to make a decision.

Rogers has been linked with Missouri a lot as of late but in speaking to a few well-connected people it sounds like this could come down to Oklahoma and Texas A&M. And while some had wondered if Oklahoma would be able to hit the kind of NIL numbers that have swirled around Rogers, and other other elite offensive linemen they are involved with, one source made it very clear.

“Oklahoma isn’t messing around or taking a backseat to anyone (on NIL) for Rogers,” said one source.

Rogers or not, that has to bode well for Oklahoma with it’s three remaining big offensive line targets.

Can OU Really Make a Run with Fasusi?

Speaking of big men, Scoop has heard for weeks there would be no overlap amongst the trio of Dallas-area offensive tackles – Rogers, Michael Fasusi, and Ty Haywood.

Following Fasusi’s visit to Norman you started to hear rumblings about maybe that changing. Following Rogers’s visit that was deemed a similar overwhelming success you heard chatter of the two maybe having some jokes about the other learning to play something other than left tackle.

In the case of Haywood it feels very much like that ship has sailed though it’s so interesting to think about the inner workings of it all. For months most everyone considered him a Sooners lean. In fact Haywood had given that impression to several of his peers ‘Alabama was a school he talked about as a dream school but Oklahoma was where he always said he liked the most’ was the basic idea from a few conversations Scoop had.

It sounds like Alabama started off a bit behind following the change to the new coaching staff but made a late run and really sold mom a few weeks ago. From there, the visit to Norman took a late hit and frankly Scoop feels that with Florida State being an unlikely choice Alabama won’t be mad that he is in Tallahassee and not Norman this weekend.

Still though with Fasusi the Sooners have made a real run and the idea of him and Rogers while we’d still say is very unlikely, it’s not impossible. In fact we’ve ever heard some rumors of Rogers and Babalola striking up a friendship during a recent Missouri visit.

OU Making a Run at Boucard

With the departures of Christian Evans and Kole Briehler from the Sooners potential defensive tackles in recent weeks it sure feels as though Todd Bates and co. know something.

One player who could be part of that knowledge, at least the Sooners will hope, is Miami (Fla.) Central defensive tackle Floyd Boucard. The big man hasn’t had much to say but he’s a pivotal piece of this class for Oklahoma and the Sooners made the most of their opportunity.

“It was the time of a lifetime, I had so much fun,” Boucard said.

He is set to be at Alabama this weekend which is, obviously, a daunting reality for the Sooners.

Sooners Offseason OL Continues to be Tinkered With

Looking for a little bit of team talk? Well it’s interesting to hear that the Sooners are, even in the summer, messing around a bit with the offensive line we all got familiar with in the spring. That should come as no surprise as Bill Bedenbaugh has always been one who tinkers with his lineup through the early portion of the year.

The lineup we all saw in the spring was, essentially…

Left tackle: Michael Tarquin
Left Guard: Jacob Sexton
Center: Josh Bates
Right Guard: Febechi Nwaiwu
Right Tackle: Jake Taylor

It seems that, as expected, center is slowly turning over to SMU transfer portal signee Branson Hickman who brings loads of experience for the Sooners. Right guard is also moving on to plan as Nwaiwu continues to impress most everyone with his power and athleticism. “He is an NFL guy, he is just so strong,” one source said.

Now, it seems from there we’ve got some variables going on, some that may please Sooners fans. It sounds as though Spencer Brown is starting to come on at right tackle as is Sexton at Left tackle. Meanwhile young Heath Ozaeta, who we know the Sooners really believe in, is getting back into the rotation more and more at left guard.

It always has to be said that summer rotations and playing time in player-led work is going to be tough to take as gospel truth but it does seem like perhaps Brown is finding his feet in Norman – in what would be a big step for the Sooners. If Ozaeta can as well then Oklahoma starts to get a lot more depth and versatility throughout the offensive line and particularly at offensive tackle.