Oklahoma receiver says Michigan game is 'personal' for him

Oklahoma redshirt senior receiver Deion Burks, in retrospect, was an undervalued recruit coming out of Belleville (Mich.) in the class of 2021, ranking as a three-star prospects and the No. 15 ranked player in the state of Michigan, according to his 247 Sports profile.

Burks ended up committing to Purdue and playing three seasons with the Boilermakers before transferring to the Sooners last season. During his 2023 season with Purdue, Burks came onto the scene and led his team in the pass catching department with 47 receptions, 629 receiving yards and seven touchdowns before transferring. In his first year with the Sooners, Burks missed eight games due to injury but started all five he played in, totaling 31 receptions for 245 yards and three touchdowns.

This weekend, Burks will be facing the Wolverines for a third time in his college career as he played them while at Purdue in 2022 and 2023, with Michigan prevailing each time.

In this matchup against Michigan, Burks is eager to step on the field against the Maize and Blue and says the game is "personal" considering he wasn't recruited by the program out of high school despite him being an in-state prospect.

Deion Burks, a Michigan native, says next week’s game against the Wolverines is personal. The #Sooners WR says he was never recruited by Michigan pic.twitter.com/KBRXZKgzPN
— Holden Krusemark (@HoldenKrusemark) August 31, 2025

"I'm from Michigan, so it's definitely personal for me," Burks told members of the media during an interview. "Played them twice—played them once under (Jeff) Brohm and I played them again under coach Ryan Walters. Definitely a nice team. They're always going to be good on defense, offense as well. But I'm excited. Michigan did not recruit me, so I don't like them. It's definitely personal."

Burks made seven catches for 88 yards and a touchdown in Oklahoma's 35-3 victory over Illinois State this past Saturday. The Sooners and Wolverines are slated to kick off at 7:30 p.m. on ABC in a battle between two Top-25 teams.

Michigan cornerbacks Jyaire Hill and Zeke Berry will likely get most of the assignments when it comes to trying to cover Burks in what looked like a dangerous Sooners passing attack in Week 1, led by quarterback John Mateer, who threw for 392 yards and three touchdowns in the 35-3 Oklahoma victory.

Oklahoma's Deion Burks (4) talks with fans following the college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners and the Illinois State Redbirds at the Gaylord Family Ð Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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