Blue-Chip Wide Receiver Chooses Big Ten School over Oklahoma, Others

The Sooners were a finalist for Quentin Hale, but the California product has opted to take his talents to a different program.

Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables during the second quarter against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. | Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

Quentin Hale listed Oklahoma as one of his final four schools, but on Friday, he decided to pledge elsewhere.

Hale, a consensus 4-star wide receiver in the Class of 2027, announced his commitment to USC.

Corona (Calif.) Centennial wide out Quentin Hale just announced his commitment to USC and broke down why he chose the Trojans https://t.co/rebQoHAO9x pic.twitter.com/PEa0SsT6NE

— Greg Biggins (@GregBiggins) February 20, 2026

Hayes Fawcett of On3 previously reported that Hale was down to USC, Oklahoma, Texas and LSU.

Hale is from Corona, CA, located less than 50 miles away from USC’s campus in Los Angeles. He is ranked the No. 51 overall player in the Class of 2027 in 247Sports’ composite rankings, and he is a consensus top-100 recruit.

As a junior at Cathedral High School in 2025, Hale caught 62 passes for 872 yards and 12 touchdowns. The 6-foot-3, 175-pound wide receiver posted similarly stellar stats — 995 yards and 14 touchdowns — during his sophomore year.

National recruiting analyst Greg Biggins of Rivals raved about Hale’s playmaking ability in his evaluation of the wideout.

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“Hale is one of the premier receivers in the West, regardless of class,” Biggins said. “He has a long, athletic 6-3 frame and is extremely fluid and smooth in how he moves. He has a polished game and when you look at his frame and natural athleticism, the ceiling is very high here.”

Biggins and Rivals recruiting analyst Adam Gorney both logged predictions for the Trojans to land Hale in the weeks leading up to his commitment.

But that didn’t stop Oklahoma’s efforts in pursuing Hale.

OU coach Brent Venables and wide receivers coach Emmett Jones traveled to California in January to visit the wide receiver prospect.

Appreciate you coach@CoachVenables and @CoachEmmett for stopping by to see me much love,Boomer Sooner pic.twitter.com/O7iikCXWuL

— Quentin Hale 4⭐️ (@QuentinHalee15) January 23, 2026

The Sooners’ pursuit of Hale began in 2025, as they offered him on May 6. Hale took an unofficial visit to Norman on Sept. 20, when OU defeated Auburn and former quarterback Jackson Arnold 24-17 in its SEC opener.

Even though Hale has decided to commit elsewhere, Oklahoma’s 2027 recruiting class is in good shape.

With 13 commits, Oklahoma’s class is ranked No. 1 nationally by all major recruiting services. Of the Sooners’ 13 pledges, seven of them are ranked as 4-star prospects or better.

OU also put together a strong 2026 recruiting class. The Sooners finished the cycle ranked No. 15 nationally and signed 25 players.

Oklahoma will begin the 2026 season against UTEP on Sept. 5. The Sooners will look to build on their 2025 season in which they finished 10-3 and reached the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019.