kudos to SoonerSunDevil for breaking the news
With a relatively weak overall 2012 class of Texas high school prospects, the OU coaches have made a concerted effort to recruit on more of a national level instead of focusing so heavily on the Lone Star State as in years past. It's an approach that is paying significant dividends as the Sooners have secured verbal commitments from kids in Florida, Missouri, and now Maryland after 2012 DE Charles Tapper pledged to OU Saturday night. The Sooners were his very first offer and that made a big impression on him as he specifically mentioned it on more than one occasion during interviews. As OU fans have become accustomed, the Sooner coaches are rewarded for their thoroughness in recruiting and find a very talented kid before pretty much every other school.
Tapper, from Baltimore City College High School (don't confuse the name, he is in high school) is a very intriguing prospect for the Sooners. He's a kid who hasn't been playing the game for that long, in fact last year was his first full season of football. He's a 6'4" 245 pound freak (that's his nickname) of an athlete who had previously excelled on the basketball court. He's a kid who has drawn comparisons to Julius Peppers due to some of their similarities and needless to say if he could ever come close to that kind of player it would be a huge get for the Sooners. So while there is no denying his athletic ability, he's pretty raw as a DE recruit. However between his athleticism and a lightning quick first step, he's a kid who makes a lot of sense for the Sooners. He projects as a potentially dominant edge rusher, though he's likely to need a year or two to develop given the short time that he's been playing the game.
Unfortunately, due to that inexperience there just isn't that much video out there on the young man. So forgive the brief (at best) highlight video, the fact is the recruiting sites just don't know much about Tapper as a prospect. Expect, as his senior year progresses, Tapper's name to become much more well known amongst the recruiting gurus and this could prove to be an absolute steal for OU. Tapper turned down offers from Miami, Penn State, Rutgers, and West Virginia.
Welcome to Sooner Nation Charles!
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