Kenyon Sweat is the blueprint for how the Sooners should attack rising in-state recruits

Local 2028 wide receiver Kenyon Sweat is the example of how and why the Oklahoma Sooners should pursue in-state recruits.

Sweat on Saturday announced he finally got that coveted OU offer he was apparently waiting for. Just barely over 24 hours after he got the offer, Rivals national recruiting analyst Sam Spiegelman and SoonerScoop's Josh McCuistion both already had expert predictions in for Sweat to ultimately be a Sooner. Rivals gives OU a 98.4% chance of landing Sweat as of Monday.

"It would be special to stay home, you know," Sweat told SoonerScoop's Parker Thune, even before there was an offer on the table, further revealing the Sooners were essentially just an offer away from a future commit.

It was ultimately assistant GM Taylor Redd who handed out the offer, but Sweat is the type of player general manager Jim Nagy and his OU staff can't miss and let leave to a different state. The Sooners essentially get first dibs to not only discover these underrated prospects, but also immediately have the lead in landing them as the major home-state program.

Most Oklahoma kids dream of one day playing inside Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, so the Sooners can make dreams a reality. Even if these players don't emerge as stars in college, it will usually be a low-effort recruiting process to keep an in-state product home compared to coercing a player from somewhere else. Sweat will be further proof of that if the immediate predictions come true. That's low risk with a high reward.

Read more: 5 in-state recruits the Sooners will always regret letting out of Oklahoma

Oklahoma jumps on Kenyon Sweat before stock skyrockets and could do the same with King Underwood

Sweat has just now started popping up on recruiting radars. He was somewhat hidden at Oklahoma Class 4A Cache High School, which also produced current Sooner offensive lineman Kenneth Wermy.

247Sports ranks Sweat as a three-star recruit and the No. 49 wide receiver in the class. He's also the No. 8 prospect in the state of Oklahoma. Rivals and ESPN, though, still have Sweat unrated and unranked. That will change soon as his junior campaign kicks off, especially with six FBS offers from Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Texas Tech, UConn and Tennessee.

Sweat has recently experienced a growth spurt and is listed at 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds while still maintaining the incredible speed that has garnered attention. According to Thune, Sweat clocked a laser-timed 4.35 in the 40-yard dash. That time would have tied him as the sixth-fastest receiver at the most recent NFL Scouting Combine. And he should only get faster before he gets a chance to participate in the combine one day.

All that will soon have Sweat climbing up recruiting rankings and gaining more offers, but now the Sooners are close to already locking him down thanks to the early offer and proximity. He'll be in Norman for an unofficial visit on Sept. 19, when the Sooners host New Mexico.

The Sooners could also use this same strategy with fellow 2028 in-state receiver King Underwood, who has a long list of visits planned for this college football season but none to Norman. Underwood, listed at 6-foot-4, is the No. 23 athlete in the class and No. 6 player in Oklahoma, per the 247Sports Composite. He has offers from Tennessee and Tulane so far. The Sooners could be his next early offer with likely immediate interest.

This is the Sooner State, after all, so those Sooner bred and worthy should also get the offer to be Sooner dead.

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