Oklahoma football: Sooner 2020 class virtually locked and loaded after early signings
By Chip Rouse
It wasn’t but a couple of years ago that National Signing Day in February was a huge deal in college football. Now with an early signing period in December, recruiting classes for the major programs, like Oklahoma football, are largely in place long before the February late-signing date rolls around.
That leaves the first Wednesday in February, which was once a big news day in college football, as essentially a last call for recruiting prospects who have not signed a letter of intent locking them in to a specific school.
The vast majority of recruits from all around the country are already signed and sealed, although there are a few highly touted ones who remain uncommitted. That’s what all the news will be about on Wednesday, as well as the battle to lock in the final recruiting class team rankings and project what the future holds for the nation’s top teams.
Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley is hopeful of landing what would be a third consecutive top-10 recruiting class. At the very least, the Sooners’ 2020 class will be ranked in the top 20 by every major recruiting service.
Heading into the late signing period for the national 2020 class, Oklahoma was No. 9, according to both ESPN and 247Sports, and No, 13 by Rivals.
The Sooners signed 22 of their 23 2020 commitments on the December early signing date. As previously reported by StormininNorman, the present 2020 class contains five offensive lineman and three defensive backs. The class is remarkably balanced between offense and defense, with 10 of each, plus three recruits listed as athletes.
In January this year, Oklahoma picked up a four-star quarterback recruit as a member of its 2020 class when Chandler Morris II, son of Auburn assistant coach Chad Morris, signed with the Sooners. The young Morris decommitted from Arkansas when his father was fired as head coach.
Only one recruit who had committed to Oklahoma for 2020 remains unsigned. Four-star defensive end Reggie Grimes, out of Brentwood, Tennessee, has been committed to the Sooners since late November, but elected not to sign a letter of intent in December.
Grimes has not given any indication publicly that he is wavering away from Oklahoma and could officially sign with the Sooners on Wednesday, but that is not a certainty.
Another potential addition to OU’s incoming recruiting class, a number of whom are already enrolled and on campus, is a four-star strongside defensive end, Alfred Collins, from Bastrop, Texas. Collins has narrowed his decision to three schools: Texas, Alabama and Oklahoma. Odds are he will ultimately choose Texas.
Several OU players announced after the season that they were entering the transfer portal. That opens up scholarships that didn’t think they would have. Riley can decide to use them to further fill out the 2020 class or hold them for 2021, where he and his staff will now turn their full recruiting attention.
Other than that, little change is expected on Wednesday in the Oklahoma recruiting situation for 2020.