All Sooners

Oklahoma Loses Out on Elite High School Teammate of Jackson Arnold

The Sooners were unable to flip star safety Peyton Bowen, as the standout safety picked the Oregon Ducks on Wednesday.

Ryan Chapman

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Oklahoma’s long pursuit of elite defensive back recruit Peyton Bowen came to an end on Wednesday. 

Peyton Bowen, a 6-foot-0, 185-pound safety, flipped his commitment from Notre Dame to Oregon on Early Signing Day.

Rated a 5-star recruit by 247Sports’ composite ranking, Bowen has heavily been linked with the Sooners since his high school teammate Jackson Arnold committed to OU.

Arnold, a 5-star recruit and the MVP of the 2022 Elite 11 Finals, is the star quarterback and centerpiece of Oklahoma’s 2023 class.

Throughout the season, Bowen has taken unofficial visits to see OU alongside Arnold and his younger brother Eli Bowen, who is rated a 4-star athlete in the 2024 class by 247Sports and holds an Oklahoma scholarship offer.

OU coach Brent Venables was asked how he expects to handle losing a recruit to whom so much time and resources were devoted in the age of the transfer portal. Does Venables need to keep the door open to potentially reconnect in the future? Or is that bridge burned?

"I wouldn't say it's burned. I wouldn't say — I really don't know," Venables said. "I think you would evaluate each situation and how the recruiting went. Haven't really — I mean, in a day in the life of a recruiter, you have to already anticipate what's next. OK, you have this amazing product, this amazing opportunity. But a lot of people have the same things to offer whether we like to see that or not. That's how I've always looked at it.

"So what are you gonna do if that doesn't work? What's the next best plan, or option? What are we going to do? We like to be very individualized and instead of going after three of them for one, in a situation like that, let's go all in and, if we come up short, we know what we're going to do next, but you try to be genuine and sincere with the one that we want. You know, one at a time."

Keeping that door open for Eli Bowen would seem a solid strategy.

Though Venables was unable to pull of the massive recruiting win with Peyton Bowen, he still has plenty of defensive talent that signed with the Sooners on Wednesday.

Edge rusher P.J. Adebawore is rated a 5-star recruit by 247Sports’ composite rankings, and OU also has pledges from 4-star defensive backs Makari Vickers, Jacobe Johnson and Jasiah Wagoner in the class.

The Sooners also have commitments in 4-star linebackers Samuel Omosigho and Lewis Carter as well as 4-star defensive lineman Derrick LeBlanc.

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Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is deputy editor at AllSooners and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK. 

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