The Oklahoma Sooners are down 0-2 to the Cal Golden Bears, but they're trying to get a point on the board in what's emerged as an unexpected rivalry on the recruiting trail all of a sudden.
In the midst of an offseason that has seen the Sooners lose two commits to Cal, OU recently offered 2027 three-star offensive tackle Amaziah Siale, who had pledged to his home state Golden Bears just two days before the Sooners offered on Thursday.
Golden Bears hindering Sooners' new pipeline from California
Just two days after the Sooners extended an offer to Siale, four-star wide receiver Demare Dezeurn decommitted from OU while on an official visit to Cal. He then completed the flip the next day with his pledge to the Golden Bears on Sunday. The Sooners also had an offer on the table for four-star receiver Charles Davis, a teammate of Dezeurn's at Westlake High School (CA) who's also committed to Cal.
Dezeurn became the Sooners' second 2027 commit lost to Cal's recent recruiting surge in its own state. First, back on April 26, three-star running back Jaxsen Stokes flipped from OU to Cal. Both recruits call California home.
These rare recruiting battles with Cal have been stirred up because of the Sooners' recent emphasis on recruiting The Golden State. It led OU's No. 2 2027 recruiting class to feature five commits from California prospects before Dezeurn and Stokes changed their minds. This strategy was gold for the Sooners until new Cal head coach Tosh Lupoi prompted a recruiting resurgence for the Golden Bears in his home state.
Read more: Demare Dezeurn's flip highlights Sooners' glaring disadvantage to recruiting California
Now, it's become a real battle for the Sooners to draw recruits out of Cali and to Norman. And it'll be an even bigger challenge to flip Siale, who's from Mission Viejo High School in Orange County, California.
Siale's recruiting has recently exploded, but that didn't slow down the Golden Bears' efforts to lock him down. Just during the month of June, he's added offers from Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, LSU, SMU and Illinois. According to the 247Sports Composite, Siale, listed at a monstrous 6-foot-6 and 360 pounds, is the No. 48 OT in the 2027 class and No. 39 overall player in the state of California.
The race for Siale isn't at the finish line yet, though. He still has an official visit to Utah scheduled for June 19 and has still been participating at team camps to draw even more interest. He already had his official visit to Cal on May 29, so the Golden Bears made their last impression for a bit.
In reality, the Sooners are already loaded at offensive tackle in their 2027 class with a pair of in-state five-stars in Cooper Hackett and Kaeden Penny. They also have three-star Luke Wilson. However, after already losing two commits to the Golden Bears, it would be a nice feather in Brent Venables' cap to pull off some revenge on the recruiting trail.
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