All Sooners

COLUMN: How David Stone's Pledge Changes the Future for Oklahoma

The 5-star defensive lineman from Del City is the Sooners' highest-rated defensive line recruit and will help the program transition to the SEC.

John E. Hoover

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One week before Oklahoma kicks off the 2023 regular season, it could be said the Sooners already have logged their biggest victory of the year.

David Stone’s decision Saturday to verbally commit to playing college football at OU has the potential to change the program — even change the future for Oklahoma.

If Stone signs his national letter of intent in December (Saturday’s verbal pledge is non-binding, and other schools aren’t going to stop recruiting him any time soon), he’ll be the highest-rated interior defensive lineman prospect the Sooners have landed in the modern era, according to the 247 Sports rankings database.

Higher than Jamarkus McFarland, higher than Gerald McCoy, higher than Moe Dampeer, DeMarcus Granger or even Tommie Harris.

David Stone
David Stone :: DENNIS MAFFEZZOLI / HERALD-TRIBUNE-USA TODAY NETWORK

Stone’s current 247 Sports rating of .9968 — that’s on a scale of 1.000 being the highest, and those numbers can fluctuate — is a shade higher than the .9966 attributed to Harris in the 2001 class. Granger’s was .9964 back in 2005, and McCoy’s was .9937 in 2006.

Those, of course, are subjective ratings, opinions of sports writers and self-styled scouts, and and don’t even begin to project on-field success. Many of OU’s 5-star signees over the last two decades didn’t live up to their lofty expectations.

But some did. Like McCoy.

McCoy — an 11-year NFL veteran and six time Pro Bowl defensive tackle after a two-time All-American career at OU — has been recruiting Stone hard for months now. He’s personally invested.

Like Stone, McCoy grew up in Oklahoma City. He was raised rooting for the Sooners. He openly wears his civic pride. And he only wants the best for his alma mater.

Rating OU's Defensive Line Recruits

(Since 2000; ratings per 247 Sports)

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And Stone is the best — the No. 10-ranked player in the nation, per 247 Sports, and the No. 3 defensive tackle. ESPN — which carried IMG Academy’s game on Saturday at St. Joseph's Prep (PA) — ranks him No. 6 overall nationally and the No. 1 d-lineman.

Stone picked OU over Miami, Michigan State, Oregon, Texas A&M and about 30 other major college offers.

He told AllSooners last fall that his connections with the Oklahoma coaching staff would weigh heavily in his decision.

“The energy and passion that they bring to the table, plus the understanding and knowledge of the game mixed with their prior success at Clemson seems second to none,” Stone said.

Stone loves defensive tackles coach Todd Bates, who immediately spoke to his heart. Bates has been a key contributor to the recruiting efforts of Brent Venables' staff, which landed the No. 4 class in the nation last year and is well underway in this year's cycle, as well as next year's. But Stone counts as Bates' first 5-star trophy as an OU recruiter. It's a big moment for Bates indeed. 

Stone has the kind of profile — athletically and personally — that Venables values in recruiting. He wants talented players, of course, but he also wants selfless young men who place the team above themselves and show the capacity to love their teammates.

“That's what it's all about to me,” Venables said this summer. “I think when you recruit the right people who are seeking those things, that'll nurture that type of an environment.

“A lot of people are not like that. They're worried about who you just brought in. They're worried about the guy next to them. They're worried about ‘How you talk to him and how you talk to me.’ And that's a very dysfunctional place to be. And a lot of it is because people want to compare themselves to everybody else.

“Coach and player alike, we can't worry about the opinions of people — no offense — who we wouldn't seek advice from. To get the players (to think) that way is not an easy thing to do because they live in the comparative world. Whether it's recruiting rankings or scholarship offers or opportunities or the burden of expectations from their parents. They go to the camps and they're getting compared nonstop. I think it's the thief of all joy, comparing yourself.”

Maybe that’s where recruiting rankings can become a treacherous thing. Putting Stone in the same class as McCoy or Harris — or Granger or Dampeer — can be folly. There are natural similarities, but to say he’s one or the other is premature at best.

There are three elements about Stone committing to OU that stand above everything else.

One, he’s an in-state talent. Home grown. Losing another of Oklahoma’s best — especially to a rival or future rival — is a failure by any measure.

Two, Stone assuages Sooner Nation’s ongoing angst over recent misses as Venables has tried to rebuild the defensive line, players like David Hicks and Xadavien Sims (also Oklahoma grown) and Williams Nwaneri — all hard and heavy OU recruits down to the 11th hour who chose to go elsewhere. (Nwaneri, who committed last week to Missouri but is still being heavily pursued by Venables and his staff, had a higher 247 Sports rating than even Stone's, .9987 compared to .9968).

Three, and maybe most importantly, the 6-foot-4, 270-pound Stone is exactly the kind of player Oklahoma needs — and, frankly, has been missing since McCoy graduated in 2010 — as OU transitions into the SEC.

If Venables wants to beat Alabama and Georgia and LSU, he’s going to need the kind of players who have historically gone to Alabama and Georgia and LSU. Stone certainly checks that box.

A commitment from a player of Stone’s caliber already has other elite defensive recruits thinking about the future.

In Venables’ eyes, that's not as simple as it sounds, switching conferences and upgrading the roster.

“Regardless of the conference affiliation, these are the improvements we need to make,” Venables said. “We need to make improvement in every single area in regards to this program. We have to continue to develop our roster through recruiting and development of our program — strength and conditioning, fundamentals, scheme development, football intelligence, continue to support all the areas of our program — the nutrition, the recovery, the academic support, facility. These are all things that are important for Oklahoma to be a championship program — regardless of the transition from one conference to the other.

“Had we not made the move to the SEC, every single thing still applies right now as a program. We recognize everyone is going to talk about this conference and the differences. For us trying to implement the blueprint for a championship program, this is our vision. It’s not a deal where you have this for the Big 12 and then it’s a different template when you get the SEC. It’s about being a championship program, and it’s all the same to us.”

As he’s done all along, Stone now must get back to work. He’s worked hard to get to this point, but even for a 5-star at a place like IMG, he’ll have to make major improvements to play at a place like Oklahoma.

But a year from now, Stone most likely will be asked to be one of those feared 3-techniques from the SEC — maybe from the first day he steps on campus.

It happens differently for everyone. McCoy redshirted and needed a little more time to develop into a generational player. Harris was an immediate starter had a quarterback sack on his first collegiate snap before his decorated NFL career.

However Stone’s college career plays out, he is home. Del City High School is just 22 minutes up Sooner Road from Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. His family is nearby. His friends — some off them on the OU team — are close.

Stone told AllSooners months ago it was just one of the many things he loves about OU.

“Honestly, I can’t find nothing I don’t like about them,” Stone said. “It’s just a wonderful place all around.”

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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.

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