All Sooners

After Memorable Weekend Visit, 5-Star DT David Hicks Reflects on Oklahoma

Hicks, who said he has a "tight relationship" with OU coaches, is arguably the No. 1 defensive lineman in the nation and one of the top prospects overall.

John E. Hoover

After Memorable Weekend Visit, 5-Star DT David Hicks Reflects on Oklahoma
After Memorable Weekend Visit, 5-Star DT David Hicks Reflects on Oklahoma /

Oklahoma made a lasting impression on one of the top defensive football recruits in the nation over the weekend.

David Hicks, a 6-foot-4, 270-pound 5-star defensive lineman at Paetow High School near Houston, TX, visited the Sooners during the “Party on the Prairie” recruiting event and went home thoroughly impressed, he told ScoreBookLive.com.

“I had a lot of fun talking to coach (Brent) Venables and coach (Jay) Valai and coach (Todd) Bates,” Hicks said. “I’m really close with Coach Bates. I feel like me and Coach Bates been been (talking) for a long time. We've got a close relationship, a tight relationship.”

READ THE FULL STORY AT SCOREBOOK LIVE

Hicks is originally from Katy, TX, and played last year at Allen, TX, north of Dallas.

With 18 current verbal commitments, the Sooners have the No. 6-ranked class in the nation, according to the 247 Sports team rankings, and aren’t close to being finished. Big-time target Colton Vasek, a 4-star edge rusher from Austin (Westlake), TX, has OU in his final four and is widely forecast to be leaning Oklahoma when he announces his verbal pledge at 3 p.m. Monday.

Vasek was in Norman over the weekend, as was 4-star defensive lineman Jordan Renaud, who’s also purportedly leaning toward Oklahoma.

Like Renaud and Vasek, Hicks has a lot of options. Per 247 Sports, Hicks is the No. 1 defensive lineman in the 2023 class and the No. 1 overall prospect in the state of Texas. According to the 247 Sports Composite rankings, Hicks is the No. 7 overall prospect in the country.

Hicks is widely projected to choose Texas A&M, but he also is warm to offers from Texas, Miami, Michigan State, Oregon and Alabama. Hicks has offers from blue bloods throughout the SEC, the Big Ten, the Pac-12, the ACC and Notre Dame.

Although he told Scorebook Live that his seven finalists are currently equal, Sooner fans hope the relationship he cited with Bates is what pulls him to Oklahoma.

“It's really just a family environment,” he said. “That's the main thing, the family environment. They believe coach Venables and coach Bates can do something special.”

Hicks has said he doesn’t intend to announce his decision until January at the Under Armour All-American Game.

Published
John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

Home/Football