Oklahoma football: Sooners get their man, out-dueling Miami for 5-star DL David Stone

The long wait is over. For close to two years the Oklahoma football recruiting effort has been targeting five-star defensive lineman David Stone, and on Saturday night, the No. 10 overall player in the 2024 class nationally officially picked the Sooners over Miami (Florida) and Michigan State.

The announcement came on national television at halftime during the high school game between Stone’s IMG Academy out of Bradenton, Florida, and St. Joseph Prep out of Philadelphia.

Stone’s commitment is a huge pickup for the Sooners, who have missed out on two other elite, five-star defensive lineman in the past nine months. D.J. Hicks committed to Texas in the 2023 class late last year after having long been favored to go to Oklahoma. And earlier this month, the Sooners lost out to Missouri in a recruiting battle for five-star defensive lineman Williams Nwaneri, the No. 1 DL in the 2024 class, according to 247Sports.

The 6-foot, 4-inch, 282-pound Stone is from Del City, Oklahoma, but transferred to IMG Academy his sophomore year to take his game and education to another level, playing with and against some of the top recruits in the country.

As the 6th-ranked player in the 2024 class nationally, Stone is the highest ranked player in the Sooners’ 2024 class, passing Taylor Tatum, the country’s top-rated running back, who is ranked 32nd nationally in the class, according to the 247Sports Composite.

Stone joins IMG teammate Jayden Jackson, a four-star D-lineman, to commit to OU for 2024.

If Stone formalizes his commitment by signing with Oklahoma during the early signing period in December, he would be the highest-rated defensive lineman to sign with the Sooners since Tommy Harris in 2004.

Oklahoma, currently ranked No. 15 in the 247Sports 2024 class rankings with 22 commitments, is sure to move up at least a couple of spots with Stone’s commitment.