Oklahoma football loses 4-star commit; 2025 2-sport star Jaden Nickens wants to be dual-sport college athlete

Nickens recently helped Trojans win state title in basketball after transferring from crosstown rival Millwood

It's already been an eventful last few months for one of Oklahoma's top high school standouts. 

Wednesday night, he made another monumental decision.

Jaden Nickens, the junior football and basketball standout at Oklahoma City's Douglass High School, announced Wednesday night on his X page that he has de-committed from the University of Oklahoma, where he had committed to playing football last summer.

My recruitment is %1000 back open!! For both sports😉 pic.twitter.com/oumBmX05lg

— Jaden Nickens (@jaden_nickens) March 14, 2024

Not only has he de-committed, he also brought back the possibility of playing basketball in college, wherever that may be, along with playing football.

"This de-commitment is all about me and my dreams," Nickens said in his announcement on X. "I want to experience the process more and explore with my options open, and for the colleges locking back in I'm looking to play both sports.

"I want to be a dual-sport Student Athlete! I have faith in myself and God that this is part of his will..."

This past football season, Nickens - a 6-foot-3, 190-pound receiver/defensive back - was playing for Douglass' main crosstown rival, Millwood. He led the Falcons to the Class 2A state championship game in literal fashion, returning a game-winning kickoff for a touchdown on the final play of the game in the state semifinals against Kiefer.

Nickens caught 39 passes for 716 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Falcons, who lost to Washington for the second straight season for the 2A championship.

But shortly after that championship game, Nickens - also a highly coveted basketball recruit who helped lead Millwood to back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023 - announced that he was switching schools, going from Millwood to Douglass, where he suited up for the basketball team and last week, led the Trojans to back-to-back Class 4A state title in an overtime win against Weatherford.

For the three wins at the 4A state tournament, Nickens averaged 15.3 points per game, and scored 22 points in the championship game.

With Nickens' de-commitment, Oklahoma currently has nine commitments from the Class of 2025, five of those in-state.

Photo of Jaden Nickens (23) by Michael Kinney

-- Buck Ringgold | buck@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveOK