Lincoln Riley, Sooners pick up pledge from former Texas recruit Billy Bowman
Lincoln Riley has now beaten Tom Herman twice in calendar year 2020.
22 days after the Sooners topped the Longhorns 51-45 in a dramatic four-overtime Red River Showdown, Riley and Oklahoma landed a verbal pledge from lightning-rod Denton Ryan ATH Billy Bowman, who decommitted from Texas last month.
The news caps a disheartening week for Herman and the Longhorns, as they also lost commitments from all-world quarterback prospect Quinn Ewers and elite 2022 wideout Phaizon Wilson.
Bowman, a member of the SI99 and one of the most elusive players in the 2021 cycle, had been committed to the Longhorns for over a year before reneging. Oklahoma soon emerged as the favorite to secure Bowman; he has family ties to the area and his girlfriend, Jayda Coleman, is a Sooner softball recruit.
Bowman joins the Sooners' already fantastic class of offensive talent, which features SI All-American's top overall recruit in Caleb Williams. Williams had reportedly been "picking at" the 5-foot-10, 175-pound speedster ever since he received his initial offer from Oklahoma in July. The Sooners' quarterback of the future has made a concerted effort to recruit his own weapons, and Bowman was one of his most coveted targets.
Target acquired.
Bowman is the fifth member of this year's SI99 to commit to Oklahoma, joining Williams, Latrell McCutchin, Cody Jackson and Mario Williams Jr. He's the fifteenth hard commit in the class of 2021 for the Sooners, and the first since Kelvin Gilliam gave his verbal to Oklahoma on August 22.
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