Thune's Tidbits from the Trail: Notes from the Week in Sooner Recruiting
It's a safe bet that Lincoln Riley has a pair of emoji eyes in his Twitter drafts.
Admittedly, it was another light week on the recruiting trail for Oklahoma, but the week ahead could bring a bombshell or two. We'll get to that in a bit.
However, let's start with this past week's biggest development: Caleb Williams' decision date is set. The five-star quarterback will choose between Oklahoma, LSU and Maryland on July 4. If Oklahoma can land Williams, the implications could be massive, as there's a number of elite prospects that should follow Williams wherever he goes. The most prominent of those individuals is five-star OL Tristan Leigh, but he's hardly the only one.
Meanwhile, five-star IMG Academy offensive tackle J.C. Latham chose Alabama on Friday afternoon, spurning the advances of LSU, Ohio State and Oklahoma. Not long afterward, Tulsa Union phenom A.J. Green committed to Arkansas as a running back; the Sooners had recruited Green as a corner. Then the Sooners also lost out on four-star wideout Troy Franklin, who committed to Oregon. Talk about a series of unfortunate events.
To my knowledge, the Sooners only extended one offer this past week. Class of 2022 standout Dayne Shor, who like Latham is an IMG offensive lineman, was the recipient.
I had a great chat earlier in the week with 2022 WR Talyn Shettron of Edmond Santa Fe, who's the top prep pass-catcher in the state. I'd imagine the Sooners make it apriority to secure commitments from both Shettron and Gentry Williams, who are far and away the state's finest 2022 recruits. I'll have a profile on Shettron posted later this afternoon.
Now we come to the juicy news: Four-star DE Nathan Rawlins-Kibonge tweeted that he'll commit this coming Wednesday. I have it on good authority that the 6-foot-7, 260-pound behemoth from Portland will pick either Oklahoma or Stanford. Keep reading to find out which school I believe he'll select.
2021 five-star QB Caleb Williams.
Parker's Prospect Projections tracks all of my official predictions for where the 2021 Sooner targets will land.
Current Success Rate: 1.000 (4-for-4)
EXISTING PROJECTIONS
S Daymon David (Reisterstown, MD)
Projection: Oklahoma, 5/4 ↔️
Status: Uncommitted
WR Mario Williams (Plant City, FL)
Projection: Oklahoma, 5/12 ✅
Status: Committed to Oklahoma, 5/15
LB Clayton Smith (Texarkana, TX)
Projection: Oklahoma, 5/14 ✅
Status: Committed to Oklahoma, 5/15
LB Ian Jackson (Prattville, AL)
Projection: Alabama, 5/26 ✅
Status: Committed to Alabama, 5/28
ATH Raheim Sanders (Rockledge, FL)
Projection: Arkansas, 6/7 ✅
Status: Committed to Arkansas, 6/8
NEW PROJECTIONS
DE Nathan Rawlins-Kibonge (Portland, OR)
Projection: Oklahoma
Status: Scheduled to commit, 6/17
Four-star DE and 2021 Sooner target Nathan Rawlins-Kibonge (photo via Hudl).
Tantalizing Tweets tracks the most intriguing Twitter activity from Sooner commits and targets.
Here's Caleb Williams tossing the football with current Sooner Joseph Wete:
And here's Rawlins-Kibonge feeding the hype machine:
Four-star wideout Jalil Farooq gives Sooner Nation reason for optimism with this retweet:
And Sooner commit Mario Williams retweeted this tweet from 2021 DE Bryce Langston, who has an offer from Oklahoma on the table:
Keep up to date with SI Sooners for my conversation with Shettron, another update from Caleb Williams, and the immediate reaction to Rawlins-Kibonge's commitment on Wednesday.
To get the latest OU posts as they happen, join the SI Sooners Community by clicking “Follow” at the top right corner of the page (mobile users can click the notifications bell icon), and follow SI Sooners on Twitter @All_Sooners.
