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Oklahoma 5-Star DL Target David Stone Announces His Top 10

The long-time Sooners target grew up an OU fan and recently said OU was one of his leaders, but Friday he took the extra step of releasing his final 10 schools.
John E. Hoover|
Oklahoma 5-Star DL Target David Stone Announces His Top 10
Oklahoma 5-Star DL Target David Stone Announces His Top 10

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Oklahoma Sooners

Literally minutes after getting bad news on one 5-star defensive tackle, Oklahoma fans got a little good news on another.

David Stone, one of the top-rated d-linemen in the country in the 2024 class, included OU in his top 10 schools on Friday.

Stone’s announcement — first reported on Twitter by On3 recruiting insider Hayes Fawcett — came just minutes after 2023 5-star d-tackle David Hicks announced on Twitter that he had signed with Texas A&M.

Stone included OU among Texas A&M, USC, Oregon, Alabama, Miami, Florida, LSU, Michigan State and Tennessee.

Stone has always been considered as a strong OU lean after growing up in Del City as a fan of the Sooners.

“My dad used to make me watch the games growing up,” Stone told AllSooners recently. “At first I wasn’t really a fan of the sport but after I started to play little league myself, I understood a lot more of what was happening (and) they started to grow on me.”

Stone told AllSooners he appreciated the energy and culture at Oklahoma under Brent Venables and the new coaching staff.

“The energy and passion that they bring to the table, plus the understanding and knowledge of the game, mixed with their prior success at Clemson, seems second to none,” he said.

Stone said he’s spoken many times with current OU players about the coaching change from Lincoln Riley to Venables.

“They tell me stories about the old staff,” Stone said, “and they tell me what it’s like now, which is all good things. But I want to know how it really is at the schools I’m considering because I don’t want to get on campus and it be a complete shock to me of how things really (are) wherever I am.”

He said at the time that OU and Michigan State were “battling it out for the top spot” but said there were also “a few schools right behind them” — and that included A&M.

Stone also acknowledged that Hicks’ commitment to A&M back in September caught him a little off guard. He said he wanted to try to play college football with Hicks, but didn’t know at the time where that would be.

“A&M’s always been high in my eyes before Hicks and before the NIL rule changes,” Stone said, “so regardless of what happens over there or the players coming or not, my relationship and trust I have in the staff alone is strong enough for me to decide to be an Aggie.”

The 6-foot-4, 270-pound Stone is the nation's No. 2 defensive tackle, according to 247 Sports, and ranks as the top player in Florida and the No. 4 overall player in the nation in the 2024 class. He grew up in Del City but just finished his junior season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL.

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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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