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Oklahoma Boasts Impressive Visitor List One Week Prior to ChampU BBQ

With a long list of visitors in Norman this weekend and the ChampU BBQ just one week away, the Sooners have a great chance to earn a few much needed victories on the recruiting trail.
Randall Sweet|
Oklahoma Boasts Impressive Visitor List One Week Prior to ChampU BBQ
Oklahoma Boasts Impressive Visitor List One Week Prior to ChampU BBQ

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Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma fans are beginning to grow restless after the Sooners lost out on 5-star wide receiver Bryant Wesco, 4-star defensive lineman Xadavien Sims and others in the past month. 

Both players were projected to favor Oklahoma at one point in their recruitment, but ended up choosing Clemson and Oregon, respectively. Some have even said that Wesco was a silent commit to OU earlier in the year, leading many fans to question whether Brent Venables and company have trouble closing on big-time recruits. 

With only six players committed to the Sooners thus far in the 2024 class, a portion of the fanbase has begun to project deep concerns with the status of next year's recruiting class. 

If the next two weekends go well for the OU coaching staff, however, Sooner Nation could be changing its tune very quickly. 

This weekend, Oklahoma reportedly hosted a number of talented visitors in the 2024 class, including; 5-star d-lineman Williams Nwaneri, Sooners' QB commit Michael Hawkins and 4-star receiver Zion Ragins. OU also hosted a trio of 4-star defensive backs; Eli Bowen, Marcelles Williams and Kaleb Beasley in addition to 4-star offensive linemen Eddy Pierre-Louis, Grant Brix, Weston Davis, Eugene Brooks, Jason Zandamela and Marques Easley.

Nwaneri, one of the OU staff's top priorities, took his official visit to Norman this weekend. 

The nation's No. 3 player according to 247Sports, Nwaneri would be a huge pickup for Miguel Chavis and would certainly make up for the Sooners' two big misses in the past month. Nwaneri attends Lee's Summit North (MO), where he is coached by Jamar Mozee, who played running back for Oklahoma under Bob Stoops.

The standout edge rusher is currently favored to land with OU according to the 247Sports Crystal Ball. If Chavis and company are able to earn a pledge from the gifted defender, who is taking four other official visits this summer, it would mark consecutive recruiting classes in which the Sooners have gotten a commitment from a 5-star edge.

Ragins, a speedster from Jones County (GA), is also in Norman this weekend. The visit has seemingly gone well, as Parker Thune and Brandon Drumm of Rivals both put in FutureCasts Saturday, predicting that the 4-star wideout will eventually commit to Oklahoma.

Bowen, a 4-star defensive back from Denton, TX, was one of three talented DBs in Norman this weekend. The star corner is the younger brother of current OU safety Peyton Bowen, who was in the Sooners’ 2023 recruiting class. 

Beasley, a fellow 4-star corner from Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, was also in Norman this weekend despite being committed to Tennessee. The Volunteers pledge is the No. 1 recruit in Tennessee and one of the top 15 cornerbacks in the nation, per 247Sports. 

On the offensive line, Zandamela recently put Oklahoma in his list of top five schools, along with USC, Miami, Florida State and Georgia. The 4-star lineman from Clearwater, FL, is set to visit the Trojans next weekend after his official visit to Norman. 

Brix, another 4-star trench player, is also in Norman this weekend after receiving a Rivals FutureCast prediction to Oklahoma in early June. The Logan-Magnolia Community (IA) High School product is ranked as one of the top 10 offensive tackles in the 2024 cycle, according to the 247Sports Composite.

Next weekend, the Sooners are expecting an even larger list of stars will attend their annual recruiting event known as the ChampU BBQ. This year's barbeque will be headlined by 5-star d-lineman David Stone, 4-star edge Joseph Jonah-Ajonye, 4-star DBs Devon Jordan and Justin Denson, 4-star running backs Taylor Tatum and Caden Durham and 3-star linebacker Easton Baker, among others. 

Stone and Jonah-Ajonye, two top 10 defensive line prospects in the 2024 class, reportedly both view OU very favorably. Stone, an Oklahoma City native, is even thought to be an Oklahoma lean while the 247Sports Crystal Ball favors Georgia for Jonah-Ajonye.

If the Sooners are able to impress the talented trench duo on their visit to Norman, they will have a good chance to land two of the best d-lineman in the country. 

The coaching staff will not be alone in their efforts to showcase the Sooners next weekend, as OU commits Hawkins, KJ Daniels and Zion Kearney are all expected to be in Norman for the ChampU BBQ. 

With such high-level prospects coming to town over the course of two weekends, June 9-16 will be a monumental period for the Sooners' on the recruiting trail. After a tumultuous month of recruiting, Venables and company have the chance to reverse Oklahoma's fortunes and begin to put together what could be an all-time class for OU in 2024 if things shake out correctly for Oklahoma.

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Randall Sweet
RANDALL SWEET

Randall is a recruiting analyst and staff writer at AllSooners focusing primarily on OU Football and the recruiting trail. Working as a journalist, Randall has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and high school sports across the state. A 2022 University of Oklahoma graduate, Randall hails from Lubbock, TX. While in college, Sweet wrote for the OU Daily in addition to working with Sooner Sports Pad and OU Nightly. Following his time at OU, Sweet served as the Communications Coordinator at Visit Oklahoma City before leaving to join the team at AllSooners. The West Texas native has bylines in the Norman Transcript and is a Staff Writer for Inside the Thunder. Randall holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. 

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