With nine commitments in the month of June and announcement dates for several more top targets with favorable projections coming in July, Oklahoma's 2026 recruiting class is starting to form a clearer picture, and it's geographic diversity is notable.
The Sooners' 2026 class, with 14 commitments as of the start of July, is the second under Brent Venables as a member of the SEC, which historically produces a number of the top football recruiting classes every year. Seven SEC teams, for example, finished in the top 10 in the 2025 recruiting cycle, and six, including Oklahoma, did so in the 2024 cycle.
The Sooners have always recruited heavily in the state of Texas due to proximity, as well as being a perennial hotbed of some of the country's top talent, but the numbers are markedly down this cycle in contrast to what it has been for Oklahoma in the past.
8 states represented in Sooners' 2026 class
The Sooners' 2025 recruiting class included18 signees. Seven of those were from the Lone Star State and six from the state of Oklahoma. The other five were split between Arkansas (2), Utah (2) and Maryland (1).
The composition of OU's 2026 class as currently constructed reflects considerably more geographic diversity. Eight different states are represented, including three commits from Texas, two each from California, Arkansas, Florida and Arizona, and one from Kansas, Missouri and Colorado. Interestingly, there are no commitments from the home state of Oklahoma
The position breakdown of the 2026 commitments is balanced. There are seven defensive players, six on offense, plus a kicker on special teams. The offensive commitments include quarterback (1), wide receiver (1), tight end (1) running back (1) and offensive line (2). On defense, there are defensive line (1), linebacker (2), edge rusher (2) and defensive back (2).
From all appearances, Oklahoma is being purposeful and selective in its recruiting approach to the 2026 cycle. From a rankings standpoint, the Sooners are down considerably from where they have ended up historically. Oklahoma is currently No. 38 in the 247Sports Composite team rankings.
The OU recruiting classes have ranked in the top 10 in two of the three previous years under Venables and in 17 of the past 27 recruiting cycles (or since Bob Stoops became the Oklahoma head coach in 1999).
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