Oklahoma was on wrong end of biggest recruiting flip of June

In the heat of recruiting season, the Oklahoma Sooners made headlines.

With official visits, commitments and even flips flooding the news cycle during the month of June, one of the biggest recruiting stories of the month was quarterback Jaden O'Neal backing out of his long-term commitment to the Sooners and pledging to Florida State.

With the month now over, Rivals on Tuesday deemed O'Neal's decision the biggest flip of June, which was full of big moves across college football.

Jaden O'Neal's flip from OU to Florida State made headlines in June

The Sooners might have been on the wrong end of O'Neal's flip, but that doesn't mean it didn't work out for OU in the end. Less than 24 hours after O'Neal's decommitment, Bowe Bentley, OU's top QB target in the 2026 class, committed to the Sooners over LSU. O'Neal's move put the Bentley addition in hyperdrive.

OU had offered O'Neal when Seth Littrell was still offensive coordinator. But after Littrell was fired and Ben Arbuckle was eventually hired away from Washington State to replace Littrell, Arbuckle set his sights on Bentley.

The Sooners' offer to Bentley in January was among a new flood of interest for the up-and-coming recruit out of Celina High School in Texas. He threw for 3,467 yards and 52 touchdowns last season, plus rushed for another 991 yards and 16 scores while winning a Texas Class 4A-I state championship and being named a Navy All-American. That not only caught Arbuckle's attention, but also the rest of college football.

Bentley rocketed up recruiting rankings and even surpassed O'Neal as a consensus four-star prospect. He eventually narrowed down his options to OU and LSU before ultimately choosing the Sooners.

So as the Sooners were on the wrong end of one of the biggest flips of the 2026 recruiting cycle so far, it was actually the right end for OU and Arbuckle to get to where they wanted to be at the start of July.

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