Oklahoma football: Sooners hope to flip 4-star 2025 recruit from Miami Hurricanes

Oklahoma football will get an opportunity to host Miami commit Elijah Melendez on Friday, June 14. The four-star linebacker prospect verbally committed to the Hurricanes on Dec. 16, 2023, but has reopened his recruitment, according to 247 Sports.

Melendez, the 6-foot, 4-inch, 210-pounder, is in the 2025 class and is heading into his senior season at Osceola High in Kissimmee, Florida.

Oklahoma has had Melendez on its radar for quite some time. Now Brent Venables and Brian Odom will get the chance to win over the Central Florida product and show him how he can become the next great Sooner linebacker.

Here's what On3 Sports had to say about Melendez:

"Shows encouraging play strength and physicality as a run defender. Takes on blocks and shows the ability to stack and shed."

A scouting report like that sounds rather familiar to another Florida linebacker, Danny Stutsman, who possesses nice physicality, speed, and range and has developed into one of the better inside linebackers in all of college football. The scouting report added, "Has the athleticism to continue developing in coverage and as a space linebacker."

If Melendez has the potential to grow in that aspect of his game, one would think that Venables could work some Sooner Magic, as he's done with numerous defensive players, including the versatile Isaiah Simmons from Clemson.

Oklahoma isn't the only school that Melendez is looking at, as he will visit Auburn on May 31, Michigan on June 7, and Miami on June 21, where the Hurricanes will surely do their best to convince him to stick with his original decision.

Even if Oklahoma doesn't flip Melendez, the Sooners have got to be feeling good after reeling in eight four-star defensive recruits in the 2024 class, including five-star defensive lineman David Stone.