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Oklahoma Commit Zane Rowe Ranked in Top 50 of 247Sports' Initial 2027 Rankings

247Sports revealed its first rankings for the 2027 class on Wednesday, with the Sooners' lone pledge in the class earning a solid position on the list.

Randall Sweet

Denton Guyer 2027 ATH Zane Rowe with Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables
Denton Guyer 2027 ATH Zane Rowe with Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables / Zane Rowe via Twitter/X
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Oklahoma commit Zane Rowe seems to be living up to his reputation.

On Wednesday, 247Sports revealed its initial ranking of the 2027 recruiting class, releasing a list of the top 100 rising sophomores in the country, and Rowe is ranked in the top 50.

In the recruiting service's first rankings of the cycle, the Denton Guyer (TX) standout is rated the No. 47 overall prospect and No. 3 defensive lineman in the country.

READ MORE: How Recruiting Came Early and Ended Quickly for Oklahoma Commit Zane Rowe

Already 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, Rowe has exceptional size for a player who is starting his sophomore year of high school. In addition to his size, the Wildcats' standout has good strength and speed off the edge, using an explosive first step to get past offensive linemen.

Playing in one of the toughest districts in the entire country, Rowe tallied 23 tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks and two pass breakups as a freshman in 2023. After being selected to Under Armour's Middle School All-American team, Rowe was a MaxPreps Freshman All-American last year and is poised for an even bigger sophomore campaign.

"It was great," Rowe told Sooners On SI in April. "I was a freshman. I had a young mindset. So they had me really mature as a player and as a person, you know, being with all the older guys. It just really taught me how to keep my head down and work. Because I had a lot of hype. But they taught me how to keep my head down and work and tune it out and just go to work."

Over the summer, Rowe spent time in Norman working with Sooners' defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis at OU's football camp.

WATCH: OU Commits at Brent Venables Camp (June 6)

During his time on campus, Rowe not only got individual work from his future position coach, but took valuable one-on-one pass rush reps against talented offensive lineman. While the young pass rusher may not have won each matchup, he made a handful of solid plays while showing flashes of high-end talent and athleticism.

"He’s probably the most chill, laid back" recruiter, Rowe told Sooners On SI. "But at the same time, he’s gonna expect intensity and greatness out of you. ... We come from similar backgrounds. We have similar mindsets. We just really are big family people and we just bonded that way and he just became my family."

Rowe originally committed to Brent Venables and OU one day after attending the team's spring game in April. The elite prospect is the Sooners' lone pledge in the 2027 recruiting class.

"I’ve always been cool with Coach Venables," Rowe said. "He knew my name when I came to the Oklahoma camp. Just they weren’t offering ‘27s at the time when I came to the Oklahoma camp, so I was just having fun. Coach Venables, we have really the same mindset and similar backgrounds, so it was really cool to bond with him. We had a deep conversation when he accepted my commitment. He was just like, ‘You have a lot of determination in your voice,’ he told me about my decision. I was like, ‘Coach, I’m all the way in,’ and he was like, ‘All right,’ and he accepted my commitment."

Hailing from the Dallas area, Rowe attends the same high school that produced Jackson Arnold, Peyton Bowen and Eli Bowen, three players who are now on Oklahoma's roster. Additionally, Sooners' quarterback commit Kevin Sperry transferred to Denton Guyer over the offseason and will spend his final year of high school football alongside Rowe.

Rowe told Sooners On SI that his early commitment last spring was a surprise to Sperry.

"He kind of didn’t know I was gonna commit there, so when he found out, he was just pumped up," Rowe said. "Nothing but big smiles. I’d say it brought us closer. Because we’re on a mission together. He’ll be at OU before me, then when I graduate, we’ll just be on the same field together."

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Randall Sweet
RANDALL SWEET

Randall is a recruiting analyst and staff writer at AllSooners focusing primarily on OU Football and the recruiting trail. Working as a journalist, Randall has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and high school sports across the state. A 2022 University of Oklahoma graduate, Randall hails from Lubbock, TX. While in college, Sweet wrote for the OU Daily in addition to working with Sooner Sports Pad and OU Nightly. Following his time at OU, Sweet served as the Communications Coordinator at Visit Oklahoma City before leaving to join the team at AllSooners. The West Texas native has bylines in the Norman Transcript and is a Staff Writer for Inside the Thunder. Randall holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. 

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