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Oklahoma Adds Elite RB Prospect from California to 2027 Recruiting Class

Jaxsen Stokes is having a breakout junior season at Sierra Canyon, where he has shown both durability and versatility as a recruit.
John Hoover|
Jaxsen Stokes and family with Oklahoma coach Brent Venables
Jaxsen Stokes and family with Oklahoma coach Brent Venables | Jaxsen Stokes via Twitter/X

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Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma has landed a verbal commitment from a promising California running back.

Jaxsen Stokes, a 5-foot-9, 175 pound junior at Sierra Canyon High School in Chatsworth, CA, gave OU his pledge on Friday just past noon, according to Rivals recruiting insider Hayes Fawcett.

Stokes, a member of the 2027 recruiting class, was also considering Notre Dame, Arizona State, Cal, Kansas and others before he committed to DeMarco Murray and the Sooners.

According to the 247 Sports Composite Rankings, Stokes is a 3-star prospect. He currently rates as the No. 42 overall running back in the 2027 class, the No. 54 prospect in California, and is No. 519 overall.

According to his MaxPreps bio, Stokes currently leads Sierra Canyon with 598 yards rushing through eight games. He also has accumulated 143 yards receiving and another 46 on kickoffs, and averages 98.4 all-purpose yards this season.

Previously, he ran for 542 yards, added 348 receiving and 184 on kickoff returns for 1,074 all-purpose yards as a sophomore (89.5 per game) and totaled 395 (39.5 per game) as a freshman.

This season, he averages 7.0 yards per rush, while he averaged 9.7 as a sophomore.

Stokes has also rushed for 12 touchdowns this season, with two more TDs via the pass. In his 30-game career so far, Stokes has scored 28 total touchdowns.

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Stokes also carried offers from hometown UCLA and USC, as well as Oregon, Tennessee, Washington State, San Diego State, Stanford, Penn State and others.

But he visited Norman on Oct. 25 and apparently fell in love with OU.

The Sooners lost 34-26 to Ole Miss that day, but left a strong impression on Stokes. He also took a visit to Tennessee on Nov. 1 — a game the Sooners prevailed 33-27.

It probably didn’t hurt that Sooners running back Xavier Robinson surpassed 100 yards in each of those games. No doubt Stokes also noted that Robinson was a 100-yard rusher in a 24-3 victory over Alabama last year — his freshman season.

He’s the second 2027 commit for the Sooners from California, joining wideout Demare Dezeurn, a 4-star prospect from Palisades.

OU’s ’27 class is currently ranked No. 1, according to 247 Sports, and sits at No. 2, according to Rivals. The class also consists of San Antonio cornerback Mikhail McCreary and offensive linemen Cooper Hackett, Kaeden Penny out of Oklahoma and Luke Wilson of Southlake, TX.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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