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Oklahoma's Top 20 recruiting what-ifs, No. 6: Brent Rawls

Josh Heupel's heir apparent was supposed to be a tall, strong-armed kid from Louisiana. But Jason White had other ideas

John E. Hoover

Rawls' bio in the 2001 OU media guide
Rawls' bio in the 2001 OU media guide

He had the physique. He had the arm. He had the stats. And he had the pedigree.

But what Brent Rawls never really earned in full was the trust of his coaches and his teammates to be Oklahoma’s next great quarterback.

Brent Rawls at Evangel
Brent Rawls at Evangel / Shreveport Times

Rawls came to Norman in 2001 out of Evangel Christian Academy in Shreveport, LA, as one of the top high school quarterbacks in the nation, a 6-foot-5, 190-pound, can’t-miss gunslinger with a rocket arm and impressive numbers.

After two years of Josh Heupel, the Sooners needed an impact QB. They had a transfer from Georgia (Nate Hybl) and a local kid who Miami had wanted (Jason White), but would that be enough?

Brent Rawls at Evangel
Brent Rawls at Evangel / Shreveport Times

Signing Rawls was a massive recruiting win for Bob Stoops and the OU program. He was a Parade All-American, Gatorade Louisiana Player of the Year, and played in the SchoolSports.com National High School Football All-Star Game.

A natural athlete, Rawls helped Evangel win the 5A state champion as a wide receiver during his junior season, and was also regarded as the best baseball prospect in the state.

His senior year, he completed 58 percent of his passes for 3,549 yards with 35 touchdown throws and also rushed for 577 yards and 10 TDs.

Brent Rawls at Evangel
Brent Rawls at Evangel / Shreveport Times

He redshirted at OU in 2001, then suffered a thumb injury in spring practice in 2002. Later that offseason, he infamously fell out of the back of a pickup truck at a party and sustained a concussion, and he didn’t play at all in 2002. Rawls had a good spring in 2003 and seemed ready to push the twice-injured White for the starting job, but later said he “missed some classes … stupid stuff that hurt me,” and was demoted to fourth string behind White, Paul Thompson and Noah Allen.

Brent Rawls at OU
Brent Rawls at OU / Shreveport Times

By September of 2003, Rawls had left the team “in good standing in the classroom and with us,” Stoops said.

While White overcame two knee injuries, led the Sooners to back-to-back national championship game appearances and won the 2003 Heisman Trophy, Rawls transferred to Louisiana Tech. According to an Associated Press report, Rawls didn’t get academically eligible and never got a spot on the Bulldogs’ roster before leaving the team in July 2004.

Brent Rawls with the Bossier City Battle Wings
Brent Rawls with the Bossier City Battle Wings / Shreveport Times

At Evangel, Rawls was in line with great quarterbacks like Josh Booty, John David Booty and Brock Berlin, but he never actually played college football. He eventually resurfaced in the Arena Football League II (af2) with the Bosser City Battle Wings.

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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 Brent Rawls at No. 3 in my top 20. That's a little higher than two of the other voters, but there's a lot of inherent expectation on quarterbacks when you sign one. Rawls had the total package physically, but he probably needed more time to mature in the spotlight of a place like Oklahoma, especially so soon after winning the 2000 national title.

No. 6 on my list was 2003 defensive tackle Lawrence "Moe" Dampeer, who will appear later in our countdown.

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Top 20 Oklahoma Recruiting What-Ifs

(since 2000)

Published
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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