All Sooners

Oklahoma's Long List of Recruiting Visitors Emphasize Importance of Bedlam Showdown

It's a huge recruiting weekend for Oklahoma as the Sooner coaching staff hopes a Bedlam victory and electric atmosphere can entice numerous prospects and maybe a flip or two.

John E. Hoover

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NORMAN — Brent Venables’ first season at Oklahoma certainly hasn’t gone like he wanted.

But Saturday, Venables and the Sooners have a chance to truly change the fortunes of the OU program.

In what’s expected to be by far the biggest recruiting weekend of the season and one of the three biggest recruiting events of the calendar year, the Sooners will host some 40 prospects from the 2023, 2024 and 2025 classes for this year’s Bedlam game.

The list of official and unofficial visitors includes as many as seven 5-star prospects, according to the 247 Sports rankings — just in time for National Signing Day on Dec. 21.

What happens over the next 4 1/2 weeks will determine much, but Saturday is the first big step between now and then in the staff’s efforts to land program-changing talent.

In addition to 2023 quarterback Jackson Arnold and edge rusher P.J. Adebawore — 5-stars who are already verbally committed to Oklahoma — the Sooners will try to flip 5-star defensive tackle David Hicks (from Texas A&M) and 5-star safety Peyton Bowen (from Notre Dame, though he’s also reportedly strongly considering A&M) during this weekend’s activities.

Uncommitted defensive tackle David Stone, another 5-star and one of the top prospects in the 2024 class, is also visiting OU this weekend. Stone grew up a Sooner fan in Del City, OK, and recently told AllSooners he’s been considering A&M but he also liked the OU coaches’ “energy and passion” and has heard “all good things” about Venables and his staff.

Several other intriguing projects have reportedly arranged unofficial visits to the OU campus for Saturday night’s prime time showdown with OSU, including 4-star 2023 linebacker Daymion Sanford (Hicks’ teammate and close friend at Paetow High School in Katy, TX), who’s also currently committed to Texas A&M and was offered by OU on Nov. 3.

Numerous uncommitted 2023 prospects, like 3-star edge rusher Taylor Wein of Nolensville, TN, and Ashton Sanders of Los Angeles, are in town evaluating Oklahoma as well.

Several other 2023 prospects already committed to the Sooners are confirmed in Norman, including 4-star offensive lineman Cayden Green of Lee’s Summit, MO, 3-star offensive lineman Joshua Bates of Durango, CO, 3-star offensive lineman Logan Howland of Princeton, NJ, and 4-star wide receiver/defensive back Jacobe Johnson from Mustang, OK.

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Howland confirmed that he and Hun High School teammate Owen Wafle, a 4-star defensive lineman and Notre Dame commit, flew into Oklahoma City together and will both visit OU this weekend.

Among other 2024 recruits expected to be in town are 4-star running back Stacy Gage of Tampa, FL, 4-star safety Eli Bowen of Denton, TX (Peyton Bowen’s younger brother), 4-star safety Aaron Flowers of Forney, TX, and 4-star defensive lineman Nigel Smith of Melissa, TX.

Oklahoma is also hosting a 5-star linebacker from the 2025 class in Noah Mikhail of La Verne, CA, who was offered by OU on July 25.

And if that's not looking ahead quite enough, the Sooners will even host 2026 offensive lineman Drew Evers of Flower Mound, TX, this weekend with the Cowboys in town.

A Bedlam victory would be a big step in the right direction for Venables to push the program forward. But a good show — an entertaining game, a loud, engaged crowd, and an electrified stadium atmosphere (especially those new LED lights for a night game) — could be something that sets OU on track for a brighter future. 

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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