Sooners' biggest football recruiting weekend of the year is here

I once overheard a college football coach say that "recruiting is like shaving... if you miss a day you'll look like a bum." Needless to say there is no offseason in the recruiting game. However, as far as "out-of-football season" recruiting goes, there is no bigger weekend on the Oklahoma football program's calendar than this weekend.

Saturday marks the annual Oklahoma football Champ-U Bar-B-Q recruiting weekend. Traditionally this weekend has served as the most premiere recruiting weekend for the Brent Venables era Sooners. The event is marked by the top rated recruits from all over the country all coming together for official and non-official visits in Norman. The Sooners program rolls out the red carpet and pitches their biggest game trying to get potential Sooner signees to commit to the program.

Last year's Champ-U BBQ featured a star-studded list of Sooner recruits, many of whom signed letters of intent with the Sooners and are working out with Schmity as we speak. DL David Stone, S Jaydan Hardy, DL Nigel Smith, OL Isiah Autry-Dent, WR Zion Kearney, DE Wyatt Gilmore, top-ranked RB Taylor Tatum, S Mykel Patterson-McDonald, and 5-star TE Davon Mitchell were all in attendance at last year's event. Now, all of these players reside in Norman. This year's event has even more potential talent coming to town.

Names in attendance at this weekend's event include: 5-stars OT Andrew Babalola and DE Isaiah Gibson. 4-stars WR Andrew Marsh, WR Elijah Thomas , WR Emmanuel Choice, OT Ryan Fodje, CB Trystan Haynes, S Marcus Wimberly, S Omarion Robinson, ATH CJ Nickson, ATH Trynae Washington, RB Tory Blaylock, LB Max Granville, and LB Christian Jones.

Obviously, the recent committment of Mater Dei receiver Marcus Harris builds massive momentum entering the weekend. The Sooners recruiting class currently ranks 10th nationally according to On3 and this weekend could see a 2 to 3 point increase in the ranking depending on potential committments. The Summer camp slate comes to an end today and the Champ U Bar-B-Q looks to cap off an already massive week of Sooner recruiting.

Many of the recruits across the nation take the next month to decide on a committment destination before switching their focus to their upcoming senior football campaigns. Hopefully, the Sooners can capitalize on their recruiting capstone event and bring in some commitments before the July dead period goes into effect.

All of the attending recruits would make welcome additions to the Oklahoma football program; however, I am focusing on three potential recruits in particular. The first is ATH CJ Nickson (Weatherford, OK). Nickson is a 6'5'' monster receiving threat who plays with uncommon athleticism for a player of his size. He is a two-sport superstar. Brent Venables and hoops coach Porter Moser would love to add to the Sooners programs. Nickson is predicted to be a future commitment. Most recruiting experts predict Nickson; however, he also shows interest in the Auburn Tigers. The Sooners already have 3 of the state's top-5 recruits committed, and Nickson is ranked as the states 4th best overall prospect according to On3. This weekend is Nickson's official visit to the University of Oklahoma.

The second recruit I want to hear about this weekend is S Omarion Robinson (Little Rock, AR). The 4-star headhunting safety would be a great addition to the Sooners roster and a hopeful extension into SEC recruiting territory. Robinson has shown his top-2 interest levels in the Sooners and the Razorbacks, and going into SEC territory is hard. Taking a 4-star safety out of SEC territory is extremely difficult, and the Sooners would show a massive level of clout by getting Robinson to commit. Plus, he would make a perfect fit in a Venables/Alley hard-nosed defense.

Lastly im interested in seeing if the Sooners can make an impact on WR Andrew Marsh (Fulshear, TX). I'd be willing to bet wherever you see Marsh this weekend, recruiting giant and WR coach Emmett Jones won't be far away. This kid can ball and he would add massive depth to the Sooners receiver corps.

Big weekend ahead for the Oklahoma football 2024 recruiting cycle. Check back in often next week to see how the Champ U BBQ weekend went for the Sooners.