How much in danger is Oklahoma of losing 5-star OL commit Michael Fasusi?
By Chip Rouse
It is far from a coincidence that Oklahoma's top recruit in the 2025 cycle is an offensive linemen
That position group represents the Sooners' biggest need in looking ahead to the 2025 season. That's why the commitment of five-star offensive tackle Michael Fasusi on Aug. 21 was and still is a huge deal.
The 6-foot, 5-inch 295-pound Fasusi is rated the No. 2 offensive tackle in the 2025 class and No. 12 player overall nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite.
Fasusi chose Oklahoma over Texas in committing to Brent Venables and the Sooners on Aug. 21 of this year. As we sit a month out before the early signing period for 2025 college football recruits Fasusi's commitment to OU may be teetering.
Fasusi had originally planned to be in attendance on Saturday when the Sooners will play host to Alabama in their final home game of the 2024 season. Instead, the highly prized recruit will be making a visit to Austin, Texas, to watch the No. 2-ranked Longhorns take on Kentucky. And this reportedly will not be a one-time thing. It is also believed Fasusi will be attending the Texas-Texas A&M game the following weekend in College Station.
It seriously sounds like Oklahoma is in an all-new recruiting battle for Fasusi's services, despite his declaration on social media the past couple of weeks, "It's Sooner for life."
The Sooners lost a pair of defensive line commitments in September (Floyd Bouchard out of Miami, Florida, and Ka'Mori Moore from Lee's Summit. Missouri), but the potential loss of Fasusi would be a huge blow to OU's 2025 class.
Venables was asked about the Fasusi situation at his weekly press conference on Tuesday. The Oklahoma head coach has been very open about the fact that he does not want recruits to make a formal commitment to OU if they intend to visit other schools afterwards. Since that is what Fasusi is doing, Venables was asked if there has been a change in the policy. "Nope," Venables said without hesitation.
"If you're visiting other schools in the present moment, you're not committed. That's what I would say," was Venables' response to the reports of Fasusi revisiting Texas while he remains pledged to Oklahoma.
It is within NCAA rules to continue recruiting a player even after he has made a verbal commitment to another school and nothing is binding until a letter of intent is signed and delivered, and it is reasonable to assume that Texas especially, but also Texas A&M, has not given up on its chances to flip Fasusi, particularly in view of the Sooners' disappointing 2024 season.
Oklahoma offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh has built a strong relationship with Fasusi, and that was a key factor in the five-star recruit choosing OU with his verbal commitment. With Bedenbaugh and other Sooner coaches under fire for the team's discouraging 2024 performance, it will be interesting to see how that relationship holds up and how influential it is over the next few weeks.