The worry lasted less than 24 hours, as Oklahoma fans can rest easy knowing the 4-star running back Keldrid Ben isn't going anywhere. After revealing he was going to make a major announcement live with 247Sports, there was plenty of flip worry among the OU supporters that the speedster would be headed to Florida or Oregon instead.
Thankfully for Brent Venables, that's not going to be the case, as Ben went ahead and reaffirmed his pledge to the Sooners. So, what was it about Oklahoma and the coaching staff that made the 5-10, 210-pounder want to stick with his original commitment? He gave reporter Collin Kennedy the inside scoop, and it's pretty dang great.
“They were loyal to me from the start,” Ben said on why he decided to stick with the Sooners. “They didn’t need other big Power 4 schools to look at me how they looked at me. They just needed to see the film and that’s all that mattered."
Keldrid Ben knew in his heart he couldn't flip and leave Oklahoma behind
When former Oklahoma running backs coach DeMarco Murray left Norman to take a job with the Kansas City Chiefs, there was concern immediately that Ben would open up his recruitment. However, Venables and the OU staff quickly connected with him and his family, doing their best to remind the Texas product that playing for the Sooners would be his best option.
Despite that, Oregon and Florida kept recruiting him pretty dang hard. Ben took an official visit to Florida and he was also supposed to take an OV to Eugene to meet with Lanning in person, but that trip ended up getting canceled at the last minute. In the end, Oklahoma's loyalty to Ben, including recruiting him from a small town in Texas an hour outside of Houston, made the ultimate difference.
“It meant everything to me,” Ben said on OU offering him early and always standing by his side. “Just seeing how bad they wanted me and how bad they want me to get up there, it just meant everything. They never switched up on me, so I didn’t want to either.”
Now that he's fully locked in with playing for Venables, Ben, the No. 7 running back in the nation, will shift his focus to an upcoming senior season. Then, he'll get ready to make the move to Norman, where a bright future is waiting for him. And when he does, the Oklahoma faithful will be ready to welcome him with open arms - they'll also forgive him for this small scare he provided so many.
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