All Sooners

Oklahoma Lands Record Recruiting Class

The Sooners' 2023 freshman class ranks as the program's highest ever according to 247 Sports' team recruiting rankings.
John E. Hoover|
Oklahoma Lands Record Recruiting Class
Oklahoma Lands Record Recruiting Class

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Oklahoma Sooners

How good is Oklahoma’s 2023 recruiting class?

It’ll be a few years before the final reviews are in, of course. But on paper, at least, OU’s “Cho23n” class now officially stands as the best in recent history — by more than one metric.

OU added a 26th member of the ’23 class on Wednesday in 3-star linebacker Taylor Heim — the Sooners’ only addition to the 25 they signed in December.

According to the 247 Sports team rankings, that (and other movement in the rankings) pushed OU to No. 4 in this year’s team rankings behind Alabama, Georgia and Texas.

That’s the highest an OU incoming class has finished, according to the 247 Sports database. The 2010 class was ranked No. 5 nationally.

Taking that ranking a step further, Oklahoma’s class points total of 289.07 is the highest since rankings began in 1999.

That’s a reflection of both the volume of players signed (26) and the quality. This year’s average player ranking of 91.48 is the third-highest of the last 14 classes.

It’s a promising look at what new coach Brent Venables and his staff are capable of in the realm of recruiting, landing a top four class in just one year on the job.

Of course Venables, just 6-7 in his first season, now wants to see that begin to translate to production on the field and wins on the scoreboard. 

Rivals ranks OU’s class No. 6 nationally (behind Ohio State and LSU), while On3 ranks the Sooners No. 7 (behind Miami). Oklahoma is No. 4 in the ESPN team rankings.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. 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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