Oklahoma football: Time is short but Sooners still looking to add to 2024 class

December early signing day in college football is just a couple of weeks away and the Oklahoma football 2024 class is sitting pretty and may not be finished growing.

The early signing period for the 2024 class starts on Dec. 20 and runs through Dec. 22. During that period, commits can make their verbal pledges official by sending in their signed letters of content.

The Sooners currently have 27 commitments in their 2024 class, which ranks No. 6 in the Rivals 2024 team rankings and No. 7 according to both ESPN and 247Sports. It is the largest of the three recruiting classes Brent Venables has been part of since being named head coach.

The Oklahoma 2024 class, like most of the major programs at this time of the year, is virtually complete and the expectation is that most, if not all, of the commits will sign their LOIs on early signing day.

Another elite prospect that Oklahoma is very high on and who remains uncommitted is four-star offensive lineman Eddy Pierre-Louis out of Tampa, Florida. Pierre-Louis, rated by 247Sports as the No. 11 interior offensive lineman in the class, has set a date of Dec. 15 to announce his commitment decision, and the Sooners are hopeful he will choose Oklahoma.

It also is not out of the question that OU could flip one or more prospects who are presently committed to other schools. This is rare but it does happen (e.g., safety Peyton Bowen decommitting from Notre Dame on signing day a year ago and committing to Oregon, only to flip to Oklahoma 24 hours later.)

The best chance of this happening for OU in the 2024 class might be five-star defensive line prospect Dominick McKinley, who is presently committed to Texas A&M. With the coaching change at A&M, McKinley might be rethinking his commitment. Oklahoma reportedly was a very close second choice when he chose Texas A&M.

The makeup of Oklahoma’s 2024 class as currently constructed is well balanced between offense and defense.  Fourteen of the Sooner commitments are offensive players and 13 are defensive players. Counting edge rushers as defensive linemen, there are five commitments in that category and four each at wide receiver and offensive line.

The geographic breakdown of the class includes the customary 13 from Texas (7) and Oklahoma (6) and the rest from 10 other states plus London, England.

Venables and his coaching staff will also be actively working the transfer portal this offseason in an effort to fill immediate needs with the best players available in the transfer market, which has become a growing and critical addition to the recruiting pipeline in college football.

Earlier this week, former Michigan State offensive tackle Spencer Brown became the first transfer commitment for 2024. Brown became a full-time starter at Michigan State in 2022 and has played over 1,400 snaps and made 25 starts for the Spartans. He has one year of eligibility remaining.