Oklahoma Sooners news: Finalist for 2026 QB, Baker Mayfield/Sterling Shepard reunion, and more

Brent Venables’ summer football camps are underway in Norman which means a lot of recruiting activity for both 2025 recruits on official visits and 2026 recruits picking up offers and narrowing down their finalists. The Oklahoma Sooners had two players on campus for official visits this past weekend, but it was a 2026 three-star who grabbed a few headlines. 

Dereon Coleman, a 6-foot-1 165-pound quarterback from Orlando, Florida was on campus this weekend for camp. According to reports, he excelled just days after including the Sooners in his list of top 8 finalists for his commitment. 

Oklahoma feels very stable at quarterback with Jackson Arnold slated to start in 2024 as a true sophomore and if all goes well come back for 2025, but Coleman could be a part of the eventual succession plan for offensive coordinator Seth Littrell who has played a significant role in Coleman’s recruitment. 

Mayfield instigated reunion NFL with Shepard

Back in 2015, Baker Mayfield threw for 3,700 yards and 36 touchdowns in his first season as Oklahoma’s starting quarterback. Well, 1,288 of those yards and 11 of those touchdowns went to Sterling Shepard before the Sooners’ No. 1 receiver went off to the NFL as a second-round pick of the New York Giants. 

Shepard has spent eight seasons in New York but was a free agent this offseason when his former quarterback, who recently inked a massive contract to stay in Tampa Bay, reached out. Shepard told the New York Post that Mayfield reached out over text to check on his offseason workouts, which proved to be the first step towards an Oklahoma reunion on the Buccaneers. 

Mayfield revitalized his career with the Bucs and entering his age 31 season coming off a year with just 10 catches for 57 yards, Shepard will try to do the same. 

Sooners shine at NCAA Track and Field Championships

11 men and women from Oklahoma’s track and field teams headed to Eugene Oregon for the NCAA Championships last week. On Sunday, five Sooners returned to Norman as First-Team All-Americans. 

Nikaoli Williams finished eighth in the long jump, one spot ahead of teammate Anthony Riley who was named a Second-Team All-American, BJ Green grabbed a third-place medal in the triple jump, Kyren Washington took sixth in the high jump, Olivia Lueking went eighth in the pole vault, and Angel Richmore wrapped up her career with a fifth-place finish in the heptathlon.