All Sooners

Sunday Offering: Oklahoma a Finalist for Several Highly Touted Football Recruits

In addition to sending out plenty of offers in the 2026 and 2027 classes, OU made the final lists for several highly ranked prospects.
Carson Field|
Oklahoma WR Prospect Tyler Ruxer
Oklahoma WR Prospect Tyler Ruxer | MaCabe Brown / Courier & Press / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In this story:

Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma and its staff made plenty of moves in an attempt to bolster their 2026 and 2027 classes this week.

The Sooners sent out several offers to highly touted prospects in both classes and were also named in multiple recruits’ final lists.

Here is the latest OU football recruiting news:

Class of 2026

Ryan Gilbert, a cornerback from Forney, TX, listed Oklahoma in his top three schools, along with SMU and Houston.

A 3-star prospect according to 247Sports, Gilbert will visit the Sooners on June 20. He is rated as the No. 47 cornerback in the Class of 2026.

Safety Niko Jandreau of Chandler, AZ, narrowed his list down to five schools, with OU being one of them. The other programs included are USC, Washington, Missouri and Georgia Tech.

Jandreau is also a 3-star prospect, ranked the No. 17 player from Arizona in the 2026 class. He, too, will visit Oklahoma on June 20.

Mason Marden, a linebacker from St. Louis, named the Sooners in his top five, along with Arizona State, Kansas, Michigan State and Wisconsin.

A 3-star recruit, Marden is the No. 10 player from Missouri in the Class of 2026. As a junior in 2024, Marden recorded 170 tackles, three sacks, two interceptions and four forced fumbles.

OU also made the top 10 for another defender, Brian Harris of Jacksonville, FL. Rivals rates the 6-foot-3, 290-pound defensive lineman as a 4-star.

Other programs within Harris’ top 10 include Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina and Michigan.

In addition to the Sooners landing in a few prospects’ final lists, OU doubled down on its interest in wide receiver recruit Dallas Dickerson.

Oklahoma offered Dickerson — a 6-1, 180-pound wideout from Georgia — a week ago. OU offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and wide receiver coach Emmett Jones traveled to Georgia to visit Dickerson at his high school.

Per 247Sports, Dickerson is the No. 55 receiver in the Class of 2026.

Though the Sooners have spent much of their focus trying to land players that they’ve already offered, that hasn’t stopped them from pursuing new prospects in the 2026 class.

Tight end Tyler Ruxer announced that the Sooners offered him on Tuesday. 

Ruxer is a 3-star prospect and ranked as the No. 1 player from Indiana in the Class of 2026. He has also received offers from Baylor, Duke and Iowa.

Edge rusher Daniel Norman also picked up an offer from OU.

Listed at 6-4 and 205 pounds, Norman is a 3-star prospect, according to 247Sports. Norman — who also has offers from Miami, UCLA and Colorado — posted 11 tackles for loss and seven sacks as a junior.

Running back DeZephen Walker got an offer from OU, too.

On3 and Rivals have him as a 4-star recruit, while 247Sports has him as a 3-star. Also holding offers from Notre Dame, Kansas State and Nebraska, Walker is the No. 4 prospect from Missouri in the class, per On3.

Class of 2027

While much of the Sooners’ recruiting news focused on the upcoming recruiting cycle, they also pursued players in the 2027 class.

The Sooners offered Kennedy Brown — ranked the No. 2 overall prospect in the Class of 2027 by 247Sports — on Wednesday.

A native of Humble, TX, Brown is 6-4 and 280 pounds as a high school sophomore. He started at right tackle for Kingwood High School in 2024 and has already collected offers from Alabama, LSU, Ohio State and Texas.

Jaden Carey, a defensive back from Florida, announced an OU offer as well.

Carey is a 4-star prospect, per On3, while 247Sports and Rivals have him as a 3-star. Notre Dame, Ohio State and Miami are a few of the other major programs that have offered him.

READ MORE OKLAHOMA SOONERS

OU Softball: Oklahoma Named Co-SEC Tourney Champion as Title Game Canceled
OU Baseball: Oklahoma Loses Again, Drops Series at Kentucky
Fresh Faces: Injury Not Preventing Oklahoma OL Darius Afalava From Getting Better

The Sooners also turned their attention further north into Tornado Alley, offering North Dakota-based defensive lineman Luke Starcevic.

Already 6-5 and 250 pounds, Starcevic finished 2024 with 26.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. According to 247Sports, Starcevic also plays offensive line.

247Sports has him rated as a 4-star prospect and the No. 14 defensive lineman in the Class of 2027. Other schools pursuing him include Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas State and Missouri.

The Sooners also went back to one of their primary recruiting grounds — the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex — to offer Tristan Dare from Southlake Carroll.

Dare, a 6-4, 260-pound interior offensive lineman, is the No. 60 player in the Class of 2027, per 247Sports. Oklahoma is the second SEC school to offer Dare, as he picked up an offer from Florida in April.

Published | Modified
Carson Field
CARSON FIELD

Carson Field has worked full-time in the sports media industry since 2020 in Colorado, Texas and Wyoming as well as nationally, and he has earned degrees from Arizona State University and Texas A&M University. When he isn’t covering the Sooners, he’s likely golfing, fishing or doing something else outdoors. Twitter: https://x.com/carsondfield

Share on XFollow carsondfield
Home/Football