Oklahoma's Top 20 recruiting what-ifs, No. 2: Trey Metoyer

Oklahoma's first 5-star wide receiver showed potential early, but had problems that went way beyond football

John E. Hoover | Feb 2, 2021

Trey Metoyer's bio in the 2011 OU media guide

Trey Metoyer’s road to Oklahoma was pocked with academic challenges, a semester in military school and a lot of doubters.

His departure was much worse.

Metoyer was a 5-star wide receiver — the first ever to sign with the Sooners — when he came out of Whitehouse, TX. Rated by some as the No. 1 wideout in the country, Metoyer was a U.S. Army All-American, a Parade All-American, and the No. 12 player in the nation, according to Rivals.

Trey Metoyer / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Metoyer’s plan was to spend three years in Norman learning from Jay Norvell, starring in Josh Heupel’s offense, and then move on to the NFL.

Instead, Metoyer didn’t make the grade in 2011 and had to detour to Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, VA. He played football there, but also lived the military school life — dorm, class, football, and little else. That allowed him to get his grades together as Norvell continued his fervent recruiting of Metoyer.

He enrolled at OU in the spring of 2012, starred in the spring game and then got plenty of action that fall, making four starts, playing in eight games and catching 17 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown.

But the following year, everything unraveled for Metoyer.

Police said in August, he exposed himself to a woman in his apartment complex, then did it again in September. Bob Stoops responded by first suspending Metoyer from the team, then dismissing him.

Metoyer was charged with two felony counts of indecent exposure, then was charged again after another incident the following February outside of a fitness club in Tyler, TX. In 2015, he was sentenced to eight years probation.

Meanwhile, players like Kenny Stills, Justin Brown, Jalen Saunders and Sterling Shepard emerged as Oklahoma’s top receivers during that time.

If Metoyer had stayed four years at OU, his senior year (2015) would have been spent catching passes from Baker Mayfield in Lincoln Riley’s offense.

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This series

National Signing Day is around the corner, so SI Sooners is examining Oklahoma’s biggest recruiting what-ifs of the last 20 years.

This is about players who arrived (or almost arrived) at Oklahoma but then, for whatever reason, left well before they reached their potential.

This is what college football recruiting is all about: the risk-reward that comes with not knowing a prospect's potential. For every Adrian Peterson, there's a Rhett Bomar. For every Tommie Harris, there's a Moe Dampeer.

The time period is since 2000, when online recruiting services and the current "star" system became prominent.

The rankings were compiled by SI Sooners publisher John Hoover, Sports Animal host Al Eschbach, KREF host James Hale and Sooner Spectator publisher Jay Upchurch.

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How Hoover voted:

I ranked Trey Metoyer No. 2 on my top 20. Jay Norvell's tireless work in getting him to Hargrave, then landing him back at Oklahoma, had Sooner Nation fired up about Metoyer's upside. His talent was immense. But Norvell's efforts were not rewarded (nor were they with Courtney Gardner and Derrick Woods in the 2012 class, or a handful of others), and lacking playmakers, the OU offense hit a two-year lull.

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Top 20 Oklahoma Recruiting What-Ifs

(since 2000)

Published Feb 2, 2021

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.