Oklahoma's Florida Connections Helped 5-Star WR Brandon Inniss Choose to Leave Florida

Tampa's Mario Williams facilitated Inniss' communications with the OU staff, and Jacksonville's Treyaun Webb influenced his friend from Fort Lauderdale.

With seven players from the Sunshine State on the Oklahoma roster, deciding to play college football halfway across the country was no big deal for 5-star wide receiver Brandon Inniss.

Inniss, a Class of 2023 wide receiver — the consensus No. 1 receiver prospect in the nation — from American Heritage High School in Fort Lauderdale, FL, said when he verbally committed to the Sooners last week that had an impact on his decision.

“Mario Williams is a receiver there from (Tampa) Florida, and he would set things up for me to call the coaches. That is how it started,” Inniss told On3 Sports. “Over time, we started doing Zoom calls, virtual visits, FaceTime calls and we just developed a strong relationship.”

It also helped that 2023 running back Treyaun Webb, a 4-star running back from Jacksonville, already committed to OU. Webb and Inniss are good friends.

“There’s no doubt that those connections make all the difference,” SI All-American recruiting director John Garcia told SI Sooners, “especially when these kids resonate on the same level.”

Garcia said the “common denominator” of all being national recruits from the same state wanting to play for the game’s top offensive mind in Lincoln Riley in another time zone is appealing to players like Williams, Webb and Inniss — and maybe others still to announced their commitment.

“Each of them, as offensive skill guys, were nationally known recruits as underclassmen in high school,” Garcia said, “which means scholarship offers earlier, all of it the attention earlier, more cameras in your face earlier. So you're just dealing with a different type of recruiting process, especially in the state of Florida, compared to a lot of other prospects.

“So getting information from those prospects who know how you felt as a 14-, 15-, 16-year-old tells a different story than players on a current roster saying, ‘Oh yeah, when I was recruited, I went on my visit and everything was great.’ It's a lot more layered than that for prospects like Inniss, who since eighth or ninth grade, have been on the national radar as a sort of ‘can’t-miss recruit.’

“I think that that insight was invaluable to Brandon on making this decision.”

Inniss told On3 Sports how his family was involved in his decision to leave the state.

“My dad was always about it being about what I feel best about,” Inniss said. “My mom did like the idea of me staying close to home, but once we talked about it and she knew how I felt about Oklahoma, it was great.

“For me, it wasn’t too hard. I knew it was Oklahoma for me because of the feeling I had. I felt differently about them. I can’t even describe the feeling I had when I was at Oklahoma. It was something I hadn’t felt before. I love everything about Oklahoma.”