Oklahoma football: Sooner commits holding an OU recruiting weekend
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma football recruiting has been slow lately, but it’s about to pick up in a big way this weekend, and it does not involve Lincoln Riley or any of his coaches.
This is an NCAA designated dead period for on-campus recruiting because of continuing COVID-19 pandemic conditions in many parts of the country. But that does not prevent those already committed to Oklahoma to stage recruiting activities of their own.
Oklahoma’s top commitment for 2021 and the top quarterback nationally in the 2021 class, Caleb Williams, is behind a big recruiting weekend at Oklahoma this weekend he is calling the “Sooner Summit.”
The prized OU recruit told 247Sports that he had told Coach Riley when he committed on July 4 that he was planning to visit Norman this weekend. While planning to do so, he decided to invite along some of his friends and several other blue-chip recruiting targets that remain uncommitted and are considering Oklahoma.
Williams has already begun to show his leadership by reaching out to some of the nation’s top prospects trying to convince them to come to OU and contend for championships along with him.
Williams and his family, who reside in Washington, D.C., have put together an agenda for the weekend that includes some of the fun spots near the school, dinner overlooking the city on Saturday night and some time on campus.
With the students now having returned to campus, it goes without saying that this gathering will need to be mindful of and adhere to the local health and safety requirements in place to protect against COVID exposure.
“I’m excited,” Williams told 247Sports staff writer Steve Wiltfong. “I want to win championships and I want to see the guys and meet the guys that are committed and the guys thinking about coming to Oklahoma.”
Some of the key 2021 recruiting targets expected to attend include No. 1 running back Camar Wheaton, wide receiver Jalil Farooq, offensive tackle Savion Byrd, offensive tackle Tristan Leigh and offensive lineman Bryce Foster. All five are high on the Sooners’ target list. Most all of the uncommitted invitees rank in the top 100 nationally, according to Rivals.
Several fellow OU commits in the 2021 class will join Williams for the event. They include defensive end Ethan Downs, linebackers Clayton Smith and Danny Stutsman and offensive lineman Cullen Montgomery.
It will be interesting to see how this event impacts the 2021 Oklahoma recruiting effort. The Sooners currently rank 16th in the Rivals rankings and 15th in the ESPN class rankings, with 13 commitments.