Elite LB Anthony Hill Already Liking What he's Seeing Out of Brent Venables' Oklahoma

One of the top defensive recruits in the country has Brent Venables and the Sooners on his radar entering his senior season.

DESOTO, TX — Brent Venables has already made an impression on top defensive recruits across the country.

Anthony Hill Jr., a top linebacker prospect from Denton, TX, is no different.

The 6-foot-2, 225-pound recruit named Oklahoma to his top six schools, alongside Texas, Texas A&M, Alabama, Miami and USC despite the fact that OU just had to install a completely different defensive staff.

But Venables’ track record has followed him back to Norman, something that Hill said stands out.

“OU… I feel like they did a good job replacing the old staff and bringing in a new one,” Hill told SI Sooners ahead of the Battle 7-on-7 tournament last weekend in Dallas. “And I feel like with that and what Coach Venables has been doing with defense, I feel like that’s real big in my decision with putting OU (in my Top 6).”

Ryan Chapman / SI Sooners

Not only has Hill been impressed with the new coaching staff in Norman, he said it’s impossible to ignore the allure of playing linebacker under Venables. 

Ryan Chapman / SI Sooners

“I feel like that’s real big,” Hill said. “I feel like a lot of the defensive players he’s been putting into the league the last couple of years and I definitely feel like he can develop me well.”

Ryan Chapman / SI Sooners

Hill doesn’t just have to take the coaches’ word for it, however. 

Playing at Denton Ryan High School, Hill has a unique insight to the program as he is close to his former teammate, Billy Bowman.

Bowman has been talking to Hill, telling him how he thinks things have changes around Norman since the new coaching staff arrived and spring practice got rolling.

“I feel like they’re working a little bit harder,” Hill said. “Billy’s been telling me about how they’ve been working a little harder.

“(Venables’) been not hard on them, but just trying to get the best out of them every practice.”

Though he’s narrowed his list of schools down to six teams, Hill said he’s not in any rush to make a final decision.

The highly touted linebacker said he’s planning on taking some visits in April, starting with the Texas Longhorns on April 2. 

Following his visit to Austin, Hill said he’ll take a trip to College Station the next weekend, and that his goal is to be in Norman for the Spring Game on April 23.

“I’ve not been focusing on (committing),” said Hill, “I’ve just been trying to get down to the schools and seeing how I like every one of them.”

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