As Oklahoma Preps for Cheez-It Bowl, Orlando Will be Flush With Future Sooners

Four incoming freshmen will actually practice with the OU football team, while a handful of players who just signed live in Florida and eight others are in town for their own game.
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There are 13 members of Oklahoma’s 2023 recruiting class that are planning to enroll for the upcoming spring semester. But four newcomers will get a jump on the rest.

Defensive linemen Ashton Sanders and Derrick LeBlanc, running backs Kalib Hicks and Chapman McKown are officially with the Sooners in Orlando as OU begins preparations for next week’s Cheez-It Bowl against Florida State.

“Time to clock in,” Sanders told AllSooners, “and get to work.”

Per NCAA rules, they’re not eligible to play in the game, but they will participate fully in bowl practices as members of the team. They’ll even be allowed to suit up and watch from the sidelines.

Sanders is a 3-star prospect from Los Angeles, Hicks is a 4-star from Denton, TX, McKown is a walk-on from Norman and LeBlanc is a 4-star from nearby Kissimmee, FL, a suburb of Orlando.

A number of others from OU’s 2023 recruiting class are expected to be in Orlando at the same time as their future teammates and coaches.

Four-star defensive back Makari Vickers (Tallahassee), 4-star linebacker Lewis Carter (Tampa), 4-star wide receiver Keyon Brown (Tallahassee), 4-star linebacker Phil Picciotti (IMG Academy in Bradenton) and 3-star defensive lineman Markus Strong (Lake Butler) all live in Florida (Picciotti is from New Jersey).

Also, eight future Sooners are signed up to be in Orlando for the Under Armour All-American Game at Camping World Stadium on Jan. 3. That roster includes Carter, LeBlanc, 5-star defensive defense P.J. Adeboware, 5-star quarterback Jackson Arnold, 5-star safety Peyton Bowen, 4-star offensive tackle Cayden Green, 4-star athlete Jacobe Johnson and 4-star wide receiver Jaquaize Pettaway.

NCAA rules prevent all-star game participants from officially attending bowl game practices and don’t allow college coaches to visit the recruits’ all-star practices. The NCAA dead period for football prohibits in-person contact and runs Dec. 19 through Jan. 12. 

Green told AllSooners the timing just wasn’t right for him to attend the OU-FSU Cheez-It Bowl.

“I figured I’m just gonna see them again in like two weeks anyway,” Green said.


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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.