Oklahoma football: July could be firecracker month for 2023 OU recruiting

There’s been some concern expressed among experts and fans alike about a slower than normal recruiting start for the 2023 Oklahoma football class.

That same concern is not shared by OU head coach Brent Venables and his staff, however, and for good reason. Now that the summer heat is bearing down on the plains and elsewhere, things are expected to heat up for the OU 2023 recruiting effort, with a couple of big announcements expected on the 4th of July and throughout the rest of the month.

July has been a big recruiting month for the Sooners for the past several seasons, and that’s the way things appear to be shaping up for Venables in his first Oklahoma recruiting cycle.

Four-star wide receiver/athlete Micah Tease, an in-state prospect from Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, and Phil Picciotti, a three-star linebacker out of Perkasie, Pennsylvania, north of Philadelphia, are expected to announce their college commitments at 7 p.m. on July 4, and both are expected to choose the Sooners.

Tease, who was a high-school teammate of 2022 OU recruit Gentry Williams, holds scholarship offers from the likes of Alabama, Michigan, LSU, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Arkansas and USC. He is rated as the No. 11 athlete in the 2023 class and the No, 4 player in the state of Oklahoma, according to the 247Sports Player Composite.

Picciotti is listed at 6-foot, 3 inches and 225 pounds and has narrowed his final choices down to OU, Auburn, Michigan and Nebraska. 247Sports ranks him as the No. 40 linebacker in the 2023 class. Picciotti would become the second linebacker for defensive coordinator Ted Roof in the Sooners’ 2023 class, joining Samuel Omosigho, who committed to OU in mid-June.

Oklahoma also appears to be in good position to pick a few more 2023 commitment this month.

Four-star offensive tackle Cayden Green, who has been on the Sooners’ radar for quite a while, says he will announce his college choice on July 8. Green is from Lee’s Summit, Mo., in the Kansas City area and is ranked by 247Sports as the 12th best offensive tackle in the class and the No. 92 prospect nationally.

Oklahoma is also hopeful of landing another four-star offensive tackle this month in Payton Kirkland, out of Orland, Florida. Kirkland, a 6-foot, 6-inch 345-pounder is the No, 25 player at the position, according to 247Sports, and is also being highly recruited by Alabama, Miami (Florida), Florida and Michigan State. He announced previously he would announce his choice on July 23.

In the next week or so, Jacquaize Pettaway, a four-star, wide-receiver prospect from Houston, Texas, is expected to choose between Oklahoma and Texas. 247Sports rates the 5-foot, 11-inch, 170-pound receiver as No. 8 in the class and the 47th best player overall.

Before the month of July is over, the Sooners are also hopeful of gaining commitments from Daylan Smothers, a four-star running back from Charlotte, North Carolina, who is also considering offers from Alabama, Florida State and North Carolina State but is believed to be high on OU, and four-star edge rusher Adepoju Adebawore from the Kansas City area. A couple of national recruiting services have Adebawore leaning heavily to the Sooners.

We’ve been waiting for the Oklahoma 2023 recruiting process to take off, and this appears to be the month it does. The Sooners are currently ranked 41st in the 247Sports 2023 class rankings, which is uncharacteristically low for an OU football program that has rather regularly produced top-10 and top-15 classes over the past two decades.

What happens in July could provide a big boost for the Sooners and move them up much higher in the rankings.