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Oklahoma in Top Three for 2024 4-star LB

The Sooners are once again in the mix for a talented prospect, getting off to a positive start in what is sure to be a busy month of recruiting for Brent Venables and his staff.
Randall Sweet|
James Nesta via Twitter

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Oklahoma Sooners

On Friday, 2024 4-star defender James Nesta announced his top three schools, with OU, Miami and North Carolina making the cut. 

Hailing from Williams Amos Hough (NC) High School, Nesta is rated a 4-star according to On3, slotted as one of the top 10 players in North Carolina and a top 300 recruit nationally. The standout pass rusher holds almost 20 offers from schools around the nation, including Tennessee, USC, West Virginia, Duke, Kentucky, NC State and others.

At 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, Nesta has good length to shed blocks and make tackles in space. Additionally, the rising senior is a big hitter, making sure that ball carriers remember him when delivering contact.

Nesta also has good speed, which helps him fly around the field and make plays. Brent Venables and Miguel Chavis have had success developing edge rushers with a similar play style. 

Even prior to Venables' return to Norman, he had an outstanding track record as a talent development coach, turning multiple skilled college recruits into NFL studs. There is no doubt that this has helped OU pull in some big defensive recruits, and is seemingly still paying dividends on the recruiting trail with players like Williams Nwaneri. 

Nesta was offered by the Sooners on May 9, receiving the offer from Venables and Chavis. This indicates the two-sport athlete is being targeted as a pass rusher by the Oklahoma coaching staff despite being listed as a linebacker by recruiting media.

If OU is able to pull a recruit away from his home state in a direct competition with a school in the recruit's backyard, it is a huge sign that Venables and Chavis are mastering the recruiting trail. After landing 5-star edge P.J. Adebawore in the 2023 recruiting cycle, gaining a commitment from Nesta would be a big victory for the Sooners and a helpful addition to their 2024 class, which currently has no defensive lineman. 

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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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