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Oklahoma Sooners 2024 commitment tracker

John Williams
·8 min read
3

The Oklahoma Sooners are hoping to follow a pair of top-10 recruiting classes in 2022 and 2023 with another in the 2024 recruiting cycle. The Sooners’ 6-7 season didn’t affect the finish to the 2023 recruiting class, which finished No. 4 in the nation according to 247Sports.

Brent Venables and his staff are hoping to have a repeat of that success or better and have themselves well-positioned to be near the top of the rankings when it’s all said and done in 2024.

Much of the success of this class will be determined by how well the Oklahoma Sooners recruit the defensive line ahead of their move to the SEC in 2024. In a strong defensive line class, the Sooners are in a good spot with a number of highly-coveted prospects. They finally broke the ice on their defensive line recruiting with the addition of Wyatt Gilmore, the No. 2 player in the state of Minnesota and a four-star prospect.

All eyes turn to players like David Stone, Williams Nwaneri, Dominick McKinley, Jayden Jackson, Nigel Smith, Danny Okoye, Jayshawn Ross, Joseph Jonah-Ajonye, and Zina Umeozulu.

They will not land all of their targets, but Venables, Ted Roof, Todd Bates and Miguel Chavis have made a strong impression on an impressive group of defensive line prospects.

Still just over five months out from the early signing period, here’s a look at who is committed to the Oklahoma Sooners as of July 1, 2023.

Jeremiah Newcombe - 4-Star CB - Casteel, Arizona

Jeremiah Newcombe was the first player to commit to the Oklahoma Sooners back on March 25. A four-star prospect that’s one of the top 25 players at the position in the cycle, Newcombe brings size and athleticism to the position.

Newcombe is a fantastic athlete, playing both on offense and defense for Casteel. At cornerback, he displays fantastic play recognition and comes downhill in a hurry on wide receiver screens and in run support. Playing a lot of off-corner, he showed fantastic discipline and awareness in zone coverage. He plays like the fastest player on the field. – John Williams, Sooners Wire

Michael Hawkins - 4-Star QB - Frisco, Texas

After flirtations with Arkansas and then TCU, Michael Hawkins committed to the Oklahoma Sooners on April 8. A four-star prospect out of Frisco Emerson High School, Hawkins is another incredible athlete able to make big plays as both a passer and a runner.

In landing Hawkins, the Sooners get a dual-threat QB with remarkable accuracy. He put that accuracy on display at the UA Next showcase earlier this year, when he took home the accuracy award. – Bryant Crews, Sooners Wire

K.J. Daniels - 3-Star WR - Franklinton, Louisiana

The Oklahoma Sooners added a legit deep threat when the earned the commitment of wide receiver K.J. Daniels. He’s the biggest wide receiver in the class, but Daniels can flat-out run. He’s part of the speed movement Jeff Lebby and Emmett Jones are pushing at Oklahoma. Daniels committed to the Sooners on April 17.

If there’s one trait that best describes the latest Oklahoma Sooners’ commitment, it’s speed. He has it for days. Regularly, he runs away from players, even running by players that appear to have a good angle on him. Even when his break isn’t clean, he has the speed to recover and blow by the defender. – Williams, Sooners Wire

Isaiah Autry - 4-Star OT - Fulton, Mississippi

The Oklahoma Sooners earned their first offensive line commitment of the cycle from four-star prospect Isaiah Autry. Autry is the cousin of former Sooner great Marcus Dupree. He committed to the Sooners on April 21.

Autry showed a knack for displacing defenders in the run game and finishing blocks. That trait will endear him to Bedenaugh and Jeff Lebby as Oklahoma has become a run-first team. – Crews, Sooners Wire

Jaydan Hardy - 4-Star Safety - Lewisville, Texas

Oklahoma’s defensive backs coach continued his blue-chip recruiting with the addition of Jaydan Hardy, one the best players in the state of Texas and top 200 player in the nation. He committed to Oklahoma on April 22.

Hardy is a 6-foot, 170-pound safety that showed the versatility to line up in the nickel and the box as a run defender and showcased the range to play deep for his high school team. He also played corner and doubled as a two-way player that made plays at wide receiver and lined up as quarterback. In short, Hardy is a multi-faceted athlete. For the 2022 season, he was the Texas District 6-6A Co-MVP as a junior. – Crews, Sooners Wire

Zion Kearney - 4-Star WR - Missouri City, Texas

A top-100 player in the country, Zion Kearney was a tremendous addition for the Oklahoma Sooners. He’s the No. 15 player at the position and is a wide receiver that can win in a lot of ways. He has size, speed, quickness and agility.

Kearney also runs track, and his ability to get up to top speed in the open field is very evident on tape. During his junior season, he posted 100-meter times of 10.89 and 10.98 in February. In the fall, he was a unanimous selection to Texas District 20-6A first-team after tallying 39 catches for 765 yards and eight touchdowns in 2022. Kearney also displays an ability to operate as a big slot or out wide. From the slot, he caught bubble screens or ran drags that allowed him to utilize his speed and frame to be a huge target for his quarterback while on the move. –  Crews, Sooners Wire

James Nesta - 4-Star LB - Cornelius, North Carolina

Oklahoma’s football and baseball programs gained a two-for-one package with the commitment of star linebacker and pitching prospect James Nesta. Nesta committed to Oklahoma on June 20 and broke a nearly two-month freeze on commitments. He was the first player out of the ChampU BBQ to pledge to the Sooners.

Nesta hails from North Carolina, where he plays at Hough High School just outside Charlotte. Nesta is a talented linebacker/edge who could play in the box and provide run support while rushing off the edge in clear pass-rushing situations. His athleticism and ability to play in space make him a possible cheetah candidate in Brent Venables and Ted Roof’s defense. – Crews, Sooners Wire

Dozie Ezukanma, 3-Star WR - Fort Worth, Texas

The Oklahoma Sooners’ third wide receiver of the class, Dozie Ezukanma committed within minutes of James Nesta on June 20. He’s an Emmett Jones guy, someone the Sooners new wide receiver coach was pursuing while still at Texas Tech.

Like his older brother, Dozie has the size and athleticism to be a dynamic playmaker at the collegiate level. He’s a three-star prospect with On3 and 247Sports and has notable offers from Arkansas, Miami, Oregon, Oklahoma, Missouri, TCU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Wisconsin. – Williams, Sooners Wire

Xavier Robinson - 3-Star RB - Midwest City, Okla.

The Oklahoma Sooners landed a big-time player in Carl Albert’s Xavier Robinson. The 2022 5A Offensive Player of the Year in Oklahoma brings physicality with a 6-foot-2, 220-plus frame that can break tackles but also has the agility to make defenders miss.

Wyatt Gilmore - 4-Star EDGE - Rogers, Minn.

In Wyatt Gilmore, the Oklahoma Sooners got their first defensive line commitment of the cycle. He’s a strong player with a great first step that will make a difference in both the run game and as a pass rusher for the Sooners.

Ivan Carreon - 4-Star WR - Odessa, Texas

The first thing you notice about Ivan Carreon on the football field is his size. At 6-foot-6, he towers over defensive backs. But that’s not all he is. Carreon is a smooth route runner that has a full route tree to work with. He can win after the catch with great lateral agility for a player his size and has tremendous breakaway speed.

Story originally appeared on Sooners Wire