Oklahoma hosting a group of top recruiting targets this weekend
By Chip Rouse
June and July are typically a very active time in Oklahoma football recruiting. While the Sooners are currently working in earnest on the 2025 recruiting cycle, there is also work going on for 2026 and even 2027.
Brent Venables and the Sooners' coaching staff hosted a group of elite targets last weekend, and another group is on campus in Norman this weekend.
Oklahoma's 2025 class currently ranks No. 7 in the 247Sports team rankings. That's third best among SEC teams, trailing only Georgia and Alabama. For those wondering where Texas falls on the list, the Longhorns are currently nine spots behind OU at No, 16.
OU has 15 verbal commitments so far and are projected to become Sooners or are among the final teams being considered by a number of prospects that are 2025 Oklahoma targets. Among those taking official visits to Oklahoma this weekend is five-star offensive tackle Michael Fasuisi.
The 6-foot, 5-inch, 295-pound O-lineman prospect is listed as the No. 3 offensive tackle in the class nationally. He has several projections favoring Texas and also is being heavily recruited by OU. The Sooners are hoping to make a big impression of Fasusi this weekend.
OU has a few other five-star offensive tackles they are also heavily pursuing. If the Sooners are fortunate to land one or more in the 2025 class, it would represent a huge pickup for offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh and Oklahoma going into the SEC, long considered a conference where size, strength and physicality are paramount to be among and beat the league's best teams.
Also among the visitors this weekend are a pair of top-20 wide receivers in the 2025 class: Cortez Mills, out of Homestead, Florida, and Marcus Harris, who hails from Santa Ana. California. Both are rated as four stars.
A list of the top targets taking official visits to Oklahoma this weekend follows at the end of this article.
In other recruiting news of note, OU's reputation for recruiting and developing outstanding quarterbacks (four Heisman-winning QBs in the 2000s as well as a couple of Heisman runners-up) has served the program well in the recruitment of talented QB prospects. Former five-star recruit Jackson Arnold (class of 2023) is the presumptive starter this season. Four-star QB recruit Michael Hawkins is a freshman this season, and four-star prospect Kevin Sperry, from the same Denton, Texas, program that brought Arnold to OU, is a commit in the 2025 class.
And the Sooners are reported to be a heavy favorite to land Jaden O'Neal, the No. 6 quarterback prospect in the 2026 class, according to 247Sports. O'Neal hails from Harbor City, California, and is also being recruited by top football powers Ohio State and Michigan out of the Big Ten.
This past week, Daris Afalava, a three-star offensive line prospect (Rivals has him as a four stars) from Lehi, Utah. listed OU as one of his four finalists in the 2025 recruiting cycle. Afalava was among the group of recruiting targets that visited Oklahoma last weekend. And 2025 edge prospect C.J. Nickson, the No. 9 edge rusher and No. 1 prospect in the Sooner State, according to 247Sports, announced that he was deciding between two schools: Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Nickson also has a scholarship offer from Porter Moser to play basketball at Oklahoma.
Oklahoma recruiting targets visiting OU this weekend:
Michael Fasusi, five-star offensive tackle
Cortez Mills, four-star wide receiver
Marcus Harris, four-star wide receiver
Mark Iheanachor, four-star linebacker
Elijah Melendez, three-star linebacker (committed to Miami Hurricanes)
Trent Wilson, three-star defensive tackle (OU commit)
Makhi Williams-Lee, three-star defensive tackle
Floyd Bouchard, three-star defensive tackle