5-star DL Prospect Kellan Hall Treasures Oklahoma’s ‘Developmental’ Culture

NORMAN — Every time Kellan Hall comes to OU’s campus, it feels more and more like home.

Hall is a blue-chip defensive tackle from Louisville, KY with offers from just about every major program in the nation. He has now visited Norman a handful of times, most recently doing so over the weekend.

The Class of 2028 prospect competed at Friday’s Brent Venables Football Camp before taking a complete unofficial visit later in the weekend. Hall has seen Oklahoma as a realistic option for over a year now, and his most recent trip affirmed his positive feelings toward the program.

“It was a great trip,” Hall told Sooners On SI. “My parents and I decided, ‘Why not see what it’s all about?’ It lived up to the hype. They’re building something special.”

According to 247Sports’ composite rankings, Hall is the No. 8 overall prospect and the No. 2 defensive lineman from the Class of 2028. He is listed at 6-4 and 265 pounds.

Hall actually celebrated his 16th birthday while unofficially visiting OU. He said the Sooners’ staff — namely head coach Brent Venables, defensive tackles coach Todd Bates and edge rushers coach Miguel Chavis — ensured that his celebration was a memorable one.

Hall also got to spend time with several of the Sooners’ current players on the defensive line, including Jayden Jackson, David Stone, Brian Harris and Tank Carrington.

Oklahoma’s track record of developing defensive linemen into stars is one of the program’s main selling points to Hall — and getting the chance to learn from several of them was memorable to the rising prospect.

“It resonates with me,” Hall said. “One key thing for me is development. Why not go to a place that has developed guys to the point where they want to be at today, which is the NFL?”

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This recent trip was Hall’s fourth time in Norman. Despite his sophomore status, Hall unofficially visited on March 7, when the Sooners hosted their “Future Freaks” junior day event and several players committed to OU. Hall similarly competed at one of the Brent Venables camps last June after earning an offer in January 2025.

Those three visits gave Hall a detailed look at OU’s culture and trajectory from inside the facilities. But his visit in September gave him a glimpse of what game day in Norman entails.

Hall was on hand for the Sooners’ 24-13 win against Michigan. OU’s defense played one of its best games against the Wolverines, holding the visitors to only one offensive touchdown.

Hall was already interested in Oklahoma. But that experience made the Sooners a top contender for his recruitment.

“I thought, ‘Why not Oklahoma?’” Hall said. “They had some big plays, big hits, and it was just fun to see those guys just fly around.”

Hall has plenty of time to decide whether or not Oklahoma is the right fit for him.

As a 5-star recruit, Hall can choose where he wants to play college football — and he’s doing his due diligence in making sure he selects the right program. So far, the rising high school junior has taken unofficial visits to Ole Miss, Georgia, SMU, Texas A&M, Indiana, Ohio State, Kentucky, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Mizzou, Alabama and Arizona State.

Hall said that he plans to narrow his list of schools down later in June, though he hasn’t decided how many teams will make the cut.

In the meantime, Hall will continue reflecting upon his recent Oklahoma visit while planning future trips to Norman.

“I’ll be down there a lot,” Hall said. “I’m definitely planning on going to a game, maybe two.”

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