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OU football: Three recruiting questions for Sooners entering National Signing Day

Ryan Aber, The Oklahoman
·4 min read

NORMAN — There is little drama remaining for OU in the 2024 recruiting class as Wednesday’s signing day approaches.

The Sooners have 27 scholarship commitments in their first SEC class, and it doesn’t appear there will be any late surprises — though there’s one potential shocker out there.

Here’s a look at three recruiting questions for OU as signing day approaches:

More: Here's where Big 12, SEC football teams are in 2024 recruiting rankings before signing day

Could the Sooners pull a late coup?

OU’s class is pretty well complete.

But that doesn’t mean the Sooners’ coaches have completely turned their attention to the transfer portal or the 2025 class.

The biggest chance for a shocking late addition is five-star defensive lineman Dominick McKinley, who has been committed to Texas A&M since September 1.

The Lafayette (Louisiana) Acadiana product, the No. 7 defensive lineman in the country according to the 247 Sports composite rankings, has kept the door open slightly to the Sooners.

Adding McKinley would be a major addition to a defensive line group that’s already the Sooners’ best — at least on paper — in recent memory.

If McKinley flips, though, it would appear LSU would be the most likely landing spot, but the Sooners have at least remained in touch.

More: Which players have committed to Oklahoma Sooners' 2024 class?

Owasso's Chris McClellan had offers from Alabama, Ohio State, OU, OSU, Texas and Southern California before signing with Florida.
Owasso's Chris McClellan had offers from Alabama, Ohio State, OU, OSU, Texas and Southern California before signing with Florida.

What are OU’s other priorities?

The main one right now is adding through the transfer portal.

The Sooners met one of their major needs Monday by adding Southeastern Louisiana tight end transfer Bauer Sharp, but plenty still remain.

Like their high school signing class, the focus for the Sooners that remains in the portal is focused on the lines.

Perhaps the most intriguing is Florida defensive lineman Chris McClellan, who has appeared in 25 games for the Gators over the past two seasons, with 46 tackles and two sacks.

McClellan is an Owasso product and had a Sooners offer out of high school.

Two other offensive line targets that remain for the Sooners are North Texas’ Febechi Nwaiwu and Michigan State’s Geno VanDeMark. VenDeMark is primarily a guard while Nwaiwu has played tackle.

The Sooners have already added from Michigan State’s offensive line, picking up a commitment from Spencer Brown.

More: Who has OU football added, lost via the transfer portal? Here's the complete list

Centerville 2024 Linebacker Reggie Powers
Centerville 2024 Linebacker Reggie Powers

What’s the sleeper position in the Sooners’ recruiting class?

The Sooners have gotten plenty of attention for their recruiting on the defensive line in particular but how about the job they’ve done on the back end of the defense?

OU has seven defensive backs committed, all ranked four stars by at least one of the major recruiting services.

That includes a pair of safeties that are in the top 170 nationally in the 2024 class — No. 156 Reggie Powers of Dayton, Ohio, and No. 167 Jaydan Hardy of Lewisville, Texas.

The Sooners needed to beef up their defensive line, no doubt, but the leap to the SEC also means they’ll need higher quality in the secondary as well and safeties coach Brandon Hall and cornerbacks coach Jay Valai have OU in strong position in this class.

OU football 2024 recruiting class

Here’s a look at the players committed to OU for football in the class of 2024:

  • Name, Position, Height, Weight, Hometown (School)

  • Josh Aisosa, OG, 6-3, 305, Edmond (Santa Fe)

  • Daniel Akinkinmi, OT, 6-4, 310, Loughborough, England (NFL Academy)

  • Isaiah Autry, OT, 6-7, 300, Fulton, Mississippi (Itawamba Agricultural)

  • Michael Boganowski, S, 6-2, 205, Junction City, Kansas

  • Eli Bowen, CB, 5-9, 165, Denton, Texas (Guyer)

  • Eugene Brooks, OG, 6-4, 320, Chatsworth, California (Sierra Canyon)

  • Ivan Carreon, WR, 6-6, 196, Odessa, Texas

  • K.J. Daniels, WR, 5-9, 150, Franklinton, Louisiana

  • Wyatt Gilmore, DE, 6-4, 240, Rogers, Minnesota (Rogers Senior)

  • Jaydan Hardy, S, 5-11, 165, Lewisville, Texas

  • Michael Hawkins, QB, 6-2, 195, McKinney, Texas (Frisco Emerson)

  • Jayden Jackson, DT, 6-2, 300, Brownsburg, Indiana (IMG Academy)

  • Devon Jordan, DL, 5-11, 168, Tulsa (Union)

  • Zion Kearney, WR, 6-2, 210,Missouri City, Texas (Hightower)

  • Davon Mitchell, TE, 6-4, 245, Los Alamitos, California

  • James Nesta, DE, 6-4, 205, Cornelius, North Carolina (William Amos Hough)

  • Jeremiah Newcombe, CB, 5-11, 175, Queen Creek, Arizona (Casteel)

  • Danny Okoye, DE, 6-4, 241, Tulsa (NOAH)

  • Mykel Patterson-McDonald, S, 5-9, 175, Moore (Westmoore)

  • Eddy Pierre-Louis, OG, 6-4, 320, Tampa, Florida (Tampa Catholic)

  • Reggie Powers, S, 6-1, 200, Dayton, Ohio (Centerville)

  • Zion Ragins, WR, 5-7, 150, Gray, Georgia (Jones County)

  • Xavier Robinson, RB, 6-2, 220, Midwest City (Carl Albert)

  • David Stone, DT, 6-4, 275, Del City (IMG Academy)

  • Nigel Smith II, DE, 6-5, 260, Melissa, Texas

  • Taylor Tatum, RB, 5-10, 205, Longview, Texas

  • Brendan Zurbrugg, QB, 6-4, 185, Alliance, Ohio

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football has few recruiting question marks ahead of signing day