BREAKING: Oklahoma Lands Commitment from 5-Star DL David Stone
This time, Oklahoma landed the big fish.
On Saturday night, after a prolonged run of disappointment on the defensive line for Oklahoma, the Sooners brought in a commitment from 5-star prospect David Stone.
Stone, one of the nation's top players in the 2024 recruiting class, committed to the Sooners at halftime of IMG Academy's season opener at St. Joseph's Prep (PA), a nationally televised game on ESPN2.
Although National Signing Day isn't until December, this likely marks the end of a long saga in which the Sooners have gone back and forth with Michigan State, Miami and others in the highly touted prospect's recruitment.
Stone is a consensus top-three defensive lineman and the No. 6 overall player in the country, according to ESPN.
After losing out on the nation's No. 1 defender and fellow 5-star recruit Williams Nwaneri last week, Brent Venables and company needed to get Stone — long seen by many as an OU lean — on board to ensure that the Sooners will have at least one highly touted defender in the 2024 recruiting class to help the team transition into the SEC.
Additionally, if Venables and company had let Stone's recruitment slip through their fingers, the fan base would have erupted with concerns about the current coaching staff's inability to close on elite talent after missing out on Bai Jobe, Xadavien Sims and D.J. Hicks in recent cycles.
Fortunately for Oklahoma, those conversations can be shelved for another day.
Despite Stone supposedly favoring the Sooners for months, Miami reportedly made a very strong push for the former Del City, OK, product towards the end of his recruitment. Even with the late push, the Hurricanes couldn't overcome Stone's relationships in Norman.
Not only is the IMG Academy star seemingly very close to Oklahoma's coaching staff, but he also has two good friends committed to OU in the 2024 class.
Sooners' 4-star 2024 defensive back pledge Mykel Patterson-McDonald said he met Stone in elementary school and that the two have been good friends since.
"(We) have talked about this for awhile," Patterson-McDonald said when asked about the possibility of playing with the fellow Oklahoma City native in college. "Playing together since 8U, I met him 8U, Del City Eagles. We played together all the way up until 12U. We've been close ever since and we always talk about playing together."
Stone's teammate at IMG Academy, Jayden Jackson, already verbally committed to Oklahoma earlier this summer.
In addition to Patterson-McDonald and Jackson, 3-star 2024 running back Xavier Robinson said after his commitment in June that he was hoping to add Stone to the Sooners 2024 class.
With the highly coveted defensive lineman now in the fold, Venables and company could have a huge month ahead of themselves on the recruiting trail.
Nigel Smith II, a 4-star prospect purported to favor OU, is set to announce his commitment on Sept. 8. And talented in-state edge rusher Danny Okoye is also uncommitted and is heavily considering the Sooners.
If OU is able to land both, in addition to Stone, Jackson and Wyatt Gilmore, Oklahoma's defense should be much better equipped to handle life in the SEC.
With the conference change, snagging a player like Stone on the recruiting trail is crucial.
Not only is the 5-star recruit an OKC native, but he is the type of program-changing defensive lineman who can wreck offensive game plans and help the Sooners' stay competitive in the SEC.
Stone is the Sooners' 22nd scholarship player in the 2024 cycle, leaving room for Venables and company to land a few more prospects before signing day.
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