All Sooners

Oklahoma Target Named No. 1 Prospect in 2024 Class

On3, one of the biggest recruiting services covering college sports, released its latest 2024 class rankings on Monday, and one of the Sooners' top targets took the top spot.

Randall Sweet

Williams Nwaneri via Twitter
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Williams Nwaneri, a 5-star defensive lineman from Lee's Summit North (MO), was revealed Monday as On3's No. 1 prospect in the 2024 class.

Previously ranked No. 3 in On3's 2024 rankings, Nwaneri jumped two spots in the most recent rankings update. The 6-foot-6 and 260 pound edge rusher is rated one of the nation's top three players by On3, 247Sports and Rivals. 

“Williams Nwaneri moves to the No. 1 overall spot in this updated On300 in what is a fluid and wide-open race heading into the fall,” On3 Director of Scouting and Rankings Charles Power said of the rankings update. “He’s the No. 1 overall prospect at this point in the cycle in large part due to his immense physical skills. I think he has an argument as the most physically gifted prospect in the 2024 cycle. He measured 6-foot-6, 265-pounds with elite length and arms ... over 36 inches and an 11-inch hand. He’s an outstanding athlete at that size running an electronically-timed 4.98 40-yard dash.”

Former Sooners' running back and Lee's Summit North head coach, Jamar Mozee, said that Missouri, Georgia and OU are currently Nwaneri's top three schools. Mozee also mentioned that the star defensive lineman is planning to announce his commitment on August 1.

Nwaneri is believed to be favoring the Sooners, and would be the biggest victory Brent Venables has secured on the recruiting trail since taking over at OU. The talented pass rusher has taken multiple trips to Georgia, however, and the Bulldogs are believed to be Oklahoma's biggest competitor in the battle for Nwaneri.

Mozee said Nwaneri loves the relationships he has with the OU coaching staff, saying that Venables, Todd Bates and Miguel Chavis have formed a great bond with the nation's top player. 

"Oklahoma is the relationships," Mozee told 247Sports. "He’s got a great relationship with coach (Miguel) Chavis and coach (Todd) Bates, those are the D-line coaches. They’ve done a great job getting to know Will. He responds to them. Knowing Will, that’s hard. He responds to them. Relationship-wise I think Oklahoma has done a really good job with Will."

If the relationships that the Sooners' staff have built are strong enough to get Nwaneri to Norman, concerns about OU's 2024 class would feel like a distant memory. Bringing in the nation's No. 1 prospect would be a huge aid in fixing the culture and performance of the Oklahoma defense, which still needs reinforcements before joining the SEC. 

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Randall Sweet
RANDALL SWEET

Randall is a recruiting analyst and staff writer at AllSooners focusing primarily on OU Football and the recruiting trail. Working as a journalist, Randall has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and high school sports across the state. A 2022 University of Oklahoma graduate, Randall hails from Lubbock, TX. While in college, Sweet wrote for the OU Daily in addition to working with Sooner Sports Pad and OU Nightly. Following his time at OU, Sweet served as the Communications Coordinator at Visit Oklahoma City before leaving to join the team at AllSooners. The West Texas native has bylines in the Norman Transcript and is a Staff Writer for Inside the Thunder. Randall holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. 

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