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Oklahoma Turning Attention to 2023 With Brent Venables' First Junior Day

The Sooners are hosting a wealth of talent from the 2023 recruiting class this weekend as they appear poised for a strong close to the 2022 class.
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Oklahoma Turning Attention to 2023 With Brent Venables' First Junior Day
Oklahoma Turning Attention to 2023 With Brent Venables' First Junior Day

With all eyes on next week’s National Signing Day, the Oklahoma Sooners turn their attention to a talented crop of juniors this weekend.

Brent Venables and his staff are playing host to their first Junior Day in Norman.

Class of 2023 commits and targets alike will be on campus, helping add to the momentum on the heels of talented quarterback Jackson Arnold’s commitment to OU this past week. Arnold is attending OU’s Junior Day.

Offensive line commit Joshua Bates will be on hand, traveling to Norman from his home of Durango, CO.

The interior offensive lineman stands 6-foot-3 and 280 pounds, and is rated the 33rd-best interior offensive lineman in the 2023 class by 247 Sports’ composite ranking.

Also visiting Norman this weekend will be Flower Mound, TX, wide receiver Ashton Cozart.

Cozart would be a great addition to the 2023 class, as he would form a nice pairing with Los Alamitos, CA, wide receiver DeAndre Moore, who is already committed to the Sooners. 

Rated a 4-star recruit by 247 Sports and a 3-star prospect by Rivals, Cozart holds offers from 31 teams, including Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Oregon, TCU, Penn State, Texas, Texas A&M, Washington and others.

Last year, Cozart caught 36 passes for 680 yards and 11 touchdowns for Marcus High School, combining track speed with his 6-3, 190-pound frame.

The Sooners will also have some in-state flavor to Junior Day in recent OU offer Erik McCarty.

A key piece for McAlester High School, McCarty plays all over the field for the Buffaloes.

McCarty is just one of the Oklahoma high school standouts that Venables’ staff has honed in on, as the Sooners are keen on adding Mustang athlete Jacobe Johnson, Booker T. Washington star Micah Tease and Community Christian School defensive end Bai Jobe. All three are reportedly in Norman this weekend. Jobe confirmed his attendance Saturday via Twitter.

Tease is rated a 4-star wide receiver by both 247 Sports and Rivals, and is the high school teammate of 2022 defensive back commit Gentry Williams.

While the Sooners have been working on Tease since before Venables’ staff arrived on campus, the new defensive staff immediately turned their attention to Jobe.

The 6-4, 215-pound edge rusher tweeted he had received on offer from OU on Dec. 30, earning an offer from Venables less than a month into the new head coach’s tenure at Oklahoma.

Johnson, also a basketball star, has been an OU priority for nearly two years.

Knijeah Harris, a 6-4, 305-pound interior linemen from IMG Academy and an Under Armour All-American, is in attendance this weekend as well. 

Derrick LeBlanc, a 4-star defensive end from Kissimmee, FL, who has OU in his final 7 schools, has made his way to Norman.

The travel plans of some prospects are being disrupted by the Northeast winter storm shutting down flights across the country.

Waco running back Tre Wisner, a 4-star prospect, arrived in Norman Saturday morning as well.

Cayden Lee, a 3-star wide receiver from Atlanta, had no major travel disruptions and was able to make it also.

Logan Reichert, a 6-foot-7, 350-pound 4-star offensive lineman from Raytown, MO, confirmed to SI Sooners that he’ll be attending, and tweeted his plans later Saturday morning.

Dylan Edwards, a 3-star running back from Derby, KS, and the Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year, also confirmed to SI Sooners that he’s in Norman.  

Plenty of others have reportedly checked in with Venables at Junior Day, including 4-star OL Jaydon Chatman of Harker Heights, TX, 4-star running back Cedric Baxter of Orlando, 4-star running back Kobe Black of Waco, 4-star OL Markis Deal of Garland, TX, 4-star wide receiver Jaden Greathouse of Austin, and 3-star LB Whit Weeks of Watkinsville, GA.

OU is poised for a big finish to the 2022 class next week, but the Sooners are already putting in the work to ensure the 2023 class is even better, especially for Oklahoma’s new defensive staff. 

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