Sooners try flipping USC commit just moments after losing OL target to Lincoln Riley

Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners are trying to get even with Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans.

Offensive line target Breck Kolojay on Friday committed to USC over OU. Then, just a few hours later, USC offensive line commit Vlad Dyakonov announced that he received an offer from the Sooners.

OU offers Vlad Dyakonov after losing Breck Kolojay to USC

Based on recruiting rankings, if the Sooners pulled off this revenge, they wouldn't just get even, but actually get ahead. According to the 247Sports Composite, Dyakonov is the No. 167 overall prospect in the 2026 class, while Kolojay is at No. 325. The difference between the two, though, is that Dyakonov is listed as an offensive tackle and Kolojay is an interior offensive lineman.

Kolojay had narrowed his choices down to OU, Georgia, Miami, USC and Coloradob before recently choosing the Trojans. Dyakonov pledged to USC on April 9.

Dyakonov's recruitment took off late after he grew from 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds to 6-foot-7 and 270 pounds in a short time. According to the 247Sports Composite, Dyakonov is the No. 13 offensive tackle and No. 21 overall prospect in the state of California out of Folsom High School, where he's teammates with top quarterback recruit Ryder Lyons, who recently committed to BYU. Dyakonov was also a Navy All-American with OU quarterback commit Bowe Bentley.

OU joined a list of offers that also includes Arkansas, Arizona State, Auburn, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCLA, Washington and more. However, all those offers but OU's came before Dyakonov's commitment to USC, meaning he's already eliminated the rest of the field from consideration.

The Sooners have 15 commits from the 2026 class, including two offensive linemen in Deacon Schmitt and Noah Best. Both them are listed as interior linemen, though, so Dyakonov would the first tackle OU added.

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