Oklahoma fans can now breathe easy about Keldrid Ben's Sooners commitment

As the Oklahoma Sooners have spent months fending off programs trying to intrude on the commitment of 2027 four-star running back Keldrid Ben, it seems Brent Venables and his staff can finally put down their shields with Ben's commitment being more sure than ever.

Ben announced via X on Thursday that he canceled his upcoming official visit to Oregon that was scheduled for this weekend. Other than a trip to Oklahoma on the weekend of June 12, it was the only other visit Ben had scheduled for this summer. That move basically confirms Ben has shut down his recruitment after committing to the Sooners on Dec.1 before his recruitment absolutely exploded.

Keldrid Ben cancels official visit to Oregon as Deland McCullough takes care of 2027 targets

This action matches what Ben told SoonerScoop's Josh McCuistion just a few weeks ago before he headed into official visit season with a trip to Florida last weekend. He also took an unofficial visit to Notre Dame back in February.

"I know where home is," Ben told McCuistion. At that point, though, OU fans just had to trust Ben's words as he visited other schools, but now his actions also back that up.

There was also more reason to worry about Ben's commitment since DeMarco Murray was his future position coach when he made his decision, but Murray has since left OU to be the Kansas City Chiefs' running backs coach. That left new OU running backs coach Deland McCullough having to build a new relationship and somewhat re-recruit the top commit at his position.

The Sooners had first dibs on Ben before every other program joined the race. When Ben committed to OU in December, he was still unrated and unranked by every major recruiting outlet and the Sooners were his only Power Four offer. Since, though, his list of offers has grown to also include the likes of Florida, Oregon, Texas, USC, Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Florida State. An early pledge to OU also deterred that group from inflating even more.

Now, according to the 247Sports Composite, Ben is the No. 5 running back in the 2027 class and the No. 109 overall prospect out of Montgomery High School in Texas. Last season as a junior, Ben rushed for 1,560 yards and 16 touchdowns while also catching 16 passes for 299 yards and three more TDs.

That was a massive uptick after rushing for only 375 yards in 2024, which led to him being a late bloomer as a recruit and helped the Sooners jump on him early thanks to great evaluation from general manager Jim Nagy and his front office staff.

Read more: 4 more 2027 commitments that could come as soon as this weekend for Oklahoma

The Sooners also have a commitment from three-star Jakoby Dixon, who just made his decision after visiting Oklahoma last weekend. He was the first recruit to actually commit to McCullough and replaced Jaxsen Stokes, who had flipped from OU to in-state Cal.

McCullough has now sured up all loose ends with the 2027 class so he can start fully focusing on the 2028 group, which lost Micah Rhodes when Murray made the career move.

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