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Oklahoma football: Sooners gain several more commitments to 2023 class

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma helmets are seen before a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the West Virginia Mountaineers at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021. Oklahoma won 16-13.Lx10183
Oklahoma helmets are seen before a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the West Virginia Mountaineers at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021. Oklahoma won 16-13.Lx10183 /
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Activity around the Oklahoma football 2023 recruiting class should pick up considerably in the coming weeks and months, especially following the Sooners’ primary summer recruiting event, the ChampU BBQ weekend.

In the past week, for example, new head coach Brent Venables gained three more commitments to the Sooners’ 2023 class. This expands the number of 2023 OU commitments from four to seven. And that number is expected to grow considerably between now and the early national signing day of the 2023 cycle in early December.

A week ago, highly touted wide receiver Keyon Brown from Tallahassee, Florida, in the heart of Florida State territory, committed to bring his talents to Oklahoma. Brown is a big receiver at 6-feet, 3 inches and is ranked as the No. 48 wide receiver in the class and the No. 67 player in the talent-rich state of Florida, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

The four-star prospect also had scholarship offers from such programs as Auburn, Alabama, Florida State, Jackson State (where Deon Sanders is head coach) and Kentucky. Brown’s commitment is timely for the Sooners, who in late May lost the commitment of another four-star wide-receiver prospect in Ashton Cozart.

On Monday this week, Oklahoma picked up another 2023 commitment: two-way athlete Kade McIntyre out of Archbishop Bergen High School in Fremont, Nebraska. Listed at 6-feet, 4 inches and 205 pounds, it’s not certain at this point which side of the ball the highly versatile McIntyre will end up on at Oklahoma. He plays both wide receiver/tight end on offense and defensive end/linebacker on defense on his high school team and was recruited to OU by both defensive coordinator Ted Roof and tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley.

McIntyre is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 71 player in the 2023 class and the No. 7 player out of the state of Nebraska. He was also strongly pursued by Iowa. Minnesota and Nebraska out the the Big Ten. Kansas State and Tennessee.

Venables finished off a top10-rated 2022 recruiting class within weeks of his arrival in Norman after taking over for the departed Lincoln Riley, and there is good reason to believe the Sooners will bring in another highly rated class when all is said in done in this cycle.

The Sooners also have added local prospect Chapman McKown out of Norman North High School. McKown is both a running back and kick returner at Norman North and pledged to the Sooners this past weekend.

McKown grew up in Norman, but he was a fan of Oklahoma State and not the Sooners. “I never would’ve pictured myself playing here,” he said in an interview with FanNation, a sports website affiliated with Sports Illustrated. “Coach Venables got the job in December, and he called me. I’ve been a fan ever since.”

McKown will be a preferred walk-on at OU. He chose the Sooners over scholarship offers from Army, Navy and Air Force.

Oklahoma is currently ranked 31st in the 247Sports 2023 team recruiting rankings for 2023.

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