Lincoln Riley, Sooners active on recruiting trail after thrilling win over Texas
Why wait for the momentum of a four-overtime Red River Showdown victory to abate?
Lincoln Riley certainly isn't letting that happen, as he and his staff hit the recruiting trail with a renewed vigor this week. Though mundane unofficial offers represented most of that recruiting activity, there's one highly significant development. We'll get to that in just a second. But first, let's take a look at the recipients of Oklahoma's offers this past week.
Lengthy 2022 cornerback Daylen Everette of IMG Academy was one of those recipients. He's also earned looks from Clemson, Florida and many more powerhouse schools.
Oklahoma joined Kansas and Mississippi State as the only out-of-state Power 5 schools to offer 2022 OLB and Texas native Martrell Harris.
Harris wasn't the only Lone Star State product to receive an offer this week, as Houston-area OL Remington Strickland also picked one up.
Later in the week, North Carolina linebacker Xavier Simmons joined the fold.
But the big fish in the pond right now is Billy Bowman, the former Texas commit who appears poised to flip to the Sooners. He's dating all-world Oklahoma softball signee Jayda Coleman, and he's got family ties in the Norman area. So when OU appeared among his new top 3 this week, it wasn't much of a surprise to anyone.
Here's the deal, folks: Bowman is going to commit to Oklahoma. That's a virtual certainty at this point. It's just a matter of when he pulls the trigger. That top 3 is nothing more than a smokescreen. Whether it was Coleman, Caleb Williams or Lincoln Riley, something finally flipped the switch in Bowman's head, and the overwhelming odds are that he's headed to Norman to join the Sooners' star-studded class of 2021. That class currently slots in at 10th in SI All-American's team rankings, and will inevitably rise upon Bowman's commitment and the highly anticipated decisions from Camar Wheaton, Bryce Foster and Savion Byrd.
Amidst the program's most tumultuous period in half a decade, Lincoln Riley clearly hasn't lost any recruiting sway. The Sooners are reloading.
Now the waiting game begins.
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