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Oklahoma football: Sooners recruiting well in SEC country

By Christopher Dukes

NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 10: Defensive back Brendan Radley-Hiles #44 of the Oklahoma Sooners gestures to the crowd before the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated Oklahoma State 48-47. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 10: Defensive back Brendan Radley-Hiles #44 of the Oklahoma Sooners gestures to the crowd before the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated Oklahoma State 48-47. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /
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Oklahoma football has expanded its recruiting footprint firmly in the Deep South.

At one time the SEC prided itself on mining talent from their home states, but as recruiting continues to change, the Sooners have been able to sell their brand to high school athletes in talent-rich Florida, Georgia and Louisiana.

The Sooners picked up a pair of pledges from two athletes who reside in SEC states this past week – five-star quarterback and No. 1 overall recruit for the 2021 class Brock Vandagriff from Bogart Georgia and three-star 2020 linebacker Edgerrin Cooper out of Covington Louisiana. Both players held offers from major SEC power players.

The two commitments continue a recent trend of success for the Sooners recruiting the deep south.

From 2010-16 the Sooners an average of just over two players per class from an SEC state, then in 2017 Oklahoma football exploded with five  in one class (K’Jaryre Daley, Adrian Ealy, Tre Norwood, Troy James and Trey Sermon). 2018 saw just three, but all were big-time recruits in Brendan Radley Hiles (originally from California, but played his senior season at IMG Academy), T.J. Pledger and Nik Bonitto. The 2019 season saw the biggest recriuiting win from an SEC state in over a decade when No. 1 receiver and Ellnwood Georgia product Jaden Haselwood committed in addition to Stacey Wilkins and Woodi Washington.

In the past three seasons the Sooners have scored major recruiting wins in Georgia in particular wiht Haselwood, Trey Sermon and Brock Vandagriff, all of which held offers from both Georgia and Alabama.

So what has changed? Why are the Sooners having more success in the deep south in recent seasons?

The Lincoln Riley effect

Lincoln Riley’s effect on recruiting has been unmistakable. Since his arrival in Oklahoma in 2015 the Sooners have climbed the class rankings. They are coming off three-straight top 10 recruiting classses and are pulling talent from all over the country.

Oklahoma has always had a strong pipeline in both California and Texas, but Riley has put special empasis on states like Georgia and Florida, particularly the IMG Academy, a prep school that invites some of the best athletes from all over the country and a Division I talent factory.

Riley’s social media presence, the upgrade of facilities and the hiring of recruiting coordinator Annie Hanson are all factors in the Sooners ability to expand their recruiting footprint.

The Shane Beamer effect

While Riley has brought all of Oklahoma’s recruiting to another level, it was the hiring of former Georgia assistant coach Shane Beamer that has brought the two big wins in the past two seasons (Vandagriff and Haselwood).

Beamer is a young and energetic recruiter with ties to Georgia high school coaches. He’s played a role in both of these blue-chip athetles’ recruiting.

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