Josiah Jefferson stuns Sooners with unexpected commitment despite OU family ties

Josiah Jefferson's announcement just seemed to be protocol, but in a stunning move, he did not choose the Oklahoma Sooners. 

Jefferson, a junior college tight end with strong OU ties, chose Utah over the Sooners and Arizona during a live ceremony on Friday. 

Tony Jefferson's brother chooses Utah over Oklahoma

Jefferson is the brother of former OU safety Tony Jefferson, who now plays for the Los Angeles Chargers. It was thanks to his older brother that the Sooners even noticed Josiah. 

Early on during the Oklahoma City Thunder's NBA title run, OU general manager Jim Nagy posted a picture on X of Thunder guard Alex Caruso and captioned that he wanted to find the OU equivalent of the fan-favorite. Tony then suggested his brother to Nagy. A few days later, Nagy posted that he had a phone conversation with Tony, and six days after Tony's pitch, Josiah announced an offer from OU. 

Josiah is a 6-foot-5 tight end from Southwestern College in California who has recently emerged as the top tight end prospect from the junior college ranks. Rivals rates him as a three-star prospect. 

As his recruitment took off, Josiah visited OU, Arizona and Utah, which ultimately became his final three options. During the process, though, it seemed to be destiny that Josiah would be a Sooner like his brother. OU great Gerald McCoy even believed so. 

Southwestern College rolled out an actual red carpet before Josiah announced his decision on live TV with his older brother in attendance. 

"Going to support you no matter what -- go be great," Tony wrote on X. 

The Sooners fumbled a lot on the recruiting trail this week. On Thursday, they missed out on two four-star wide receivers who had included OU in their final choices. Then on Friday, before Jefferson's announcement, top in-state recruit Tajh Overton, a four-star defensive lineman, chose Bedlam rival Oklahoma State over OU. 

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