Oklahoma Working Hard to Recruit a Coveted Teammate of QB Commit Jackson Arnold

The Sooners are still trying to land Denton Guyer athlete Peyton Bowen, who suits up alongside Jackson Arnold in Denton, TX.

DESOTO, TX — Brent Venables and the Oklahoma staff have stayed aggressive on the recruiting trail.

The Sooners have already picked up one commitment from a Denton Guyer High School star in quarterback Jackson Arnold, but now their attention has turned to a teammate of his.

Peyton Bowen, a current Notre Dame commit, told Sports Illustrated All-American that OU is still hot on his case despite his verbal pledge to the Fighting Irish.

“I’m pretty locked in (with Notre Dame),” Bowen said at the Battle 7-on-7 Dallas tournament this past weekend. “I’m still looking because I don’t want to shut down everything.

“Shoot, that’s like you’re in the talking stage. You commit to a girl like one week in because you think she’s the one, but at the end of the day there’s a lot of fish in the sea. And I want to still see those things, but Notre Dame’s my home.”

Ryan Chapman / SI Sooners

For Venables and the Sooner staff, they have an ace in the hole as they continue to pursue the 6-foot-0, 185-pound defensive back. 

Ryan Chapman / SI Sooners

Bowen said that he’s very close to his high school quarterback, and that Arnold is helping lead the charge for OU. 

Ryan Chapman / SI Sooners

“Jackson, oh my gosh. You don’t even want to know,” Bowen said. “He’s the lead recruiter for (Oklahoma).”

Bowen said Arnold is trying to sell him on the pitch that they could room together in Norman, continuing their strong bond.

“He’s like, ‘Bro, we can watch movies. Just chill in our dorm room. We can dorm together.’”

In fact, Bowen said things could have ended up very differently for Arnold had offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby not made his way onto the staff at Oklahoma.

“We were honestly going to commit together,” Bowen said. “But then OU came into the picture and shook things up. I feel like he was going to come with me (to Notre Dame), that’s how close we are.”

Bowen went so far as to rolling up to the Elite 11 Dallas Regional this past Sunday to catch passes for Arnold to ensure he had a receiver he was familiar with before leaving the camp to finish off the Battle tournament with his team.

But the Sooners are hardly the only school trying to pry Bowen away from the Fighting Irish.

Bowen said the schools who continue to recruit him include Ohio State, Alabama, Texas A&M and Oregon as well as the Sooners and Notre Dame.

His offers aren’t just limited to defense, either.

Ohio State’s Ryan Day has pitched Bowen on the idea of playing wide receiver for the Buckeyes, and Bowen said both the Sooners and the Ducks have thrown around the idea of playing “a little” offense as well.

The timeline for Bowen is pretty tight, as he said he’d like to be done with his recruitment by the time his high school season rolls around so he can just put 100 percent of his energy into his senior season on the field.

Bowen is going to get to see the Aggies and the Sooners up close and personal, however, as the highly touted recruit said he plans to visit both College Station and Norman in the next week.

Despite the recruiting efforts of Arnold, Bowen said he’s still a Notre Dame guy.

“I’m going back up to my home (in South Bend) on April 23,” Bowen said. “… I’m a Fighting Irish.”

---

Want to join the discussion? Click here to become a member of the AllSooners message board community today!

Sign up for your premium membership to AllSooners.com today, and get access to the entire Fan Nation premium network!

Follow AllSooners on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest OU news.