OU Football - Sooners set to host two recruits for official visits this weekend

UPDATE: Naturally, not 20 minutes after I get this up the guys at Sooner Nation ($) get word that Michael Onuoha has rescheduled his visit for the weekend of January 27th. Actually the reason given is something we mentioned in the story below. He wanted to get a real feel for the atmosphere on campus, so he rescheduled his visit for after all the students get back on campus. So David Smith, OU is all yours this weekend!

Oklahoma will be hosting a pair of recruits this weekend for one of the few remaining weekends available before National Signing Day arrives on February 1st. RB David Smith out of Illinois and DE Michael Onuoha out of Edmond (OK) are both scheduled to be in Norman for an official visit. Originally, RB Akeel Lynch was supposed to be on campus as well but due to some inclement weather (Lynch lives in the NY area) his flight was cancelled and he's been forced to reschedule his visit though no date has been set as of yet.

However, both recruits who will be in town will likely experience a little bit of a different feel during their on-campus visit. Since most students will still not have returned from their winter break and several coaches are out on the road recruiting, it could lead to a much more personal visit for each and give them a chance to spend plenty of time with their hosts.

As we mentioned in the open, Smith is a running back out of Illinois and has been very open in expressing his interest about Oklahoma. He has said in multiple interviews that OU was his dream school and how ecstatic he was once he learned the Sooners had offered him a scholarship. In fact, before ever setting foot on campus Smith proclaimed the Sooners to be in his final two along with West Virginia. He's reportedly set on announcing his decision this coming Tuesday, but it's not out of the question that he could commit this weekend.

As we mentioned above, when both he and Akeel Lynch were scheduled to be in Norman on the same weekend it was a situation where OU is probably only going to take one more RB. So with offers out to Smith, Lynch, and a couple other JUCO backs it could have been a situation where Smith and Lynce felt some pressure to commit before the other if they felt OU was the school for them. Now with Lynch's forced cancellation, maybe Smith doesn't quite feel that same pressure but to put a school in your final two without ever setting foot on campus says an awful lot about his affinity for Oklahoma.

At 6'0" and 197 pounds, Smith is that bigger back that the Sooners have been looking for to compliment some of the other RBs on the roster. He looks to have a bit of an upright running style, so there will always be some concern about exposing himself to bigger hits but at his size he should be able to hold up. Especially when you consider OU tends to rotate multiple backs in throughout the game, so that helps to reduce the punishment compared to a guy getting 20-25 carries a game. He probably doesn't have elite top end speed, but is a solid downhill runner and shows a nice little wiggle at times on film.

In addition to Oklahoma, Smith also holds offers from Arizona, Boston College, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, and West Virginia among others.

Coming from Edmond, Onuoha certainly doesn't have to go very far to visit Norman and that could be a real selling point for the Sooners. Onuhoa is the embodiment of a player that screams "upside." He's about as raw as they come as a defensive end prospect, but his athleticism is just out of this world. You can see for yourself here with a highlight package from his 2011 season. He's got the frame at 6'6" to add weight without losing any athleticism and at just 225-230 pounds he'd need to do exactly that. But this is a guy, who if he bought in and was willing to do the work, could truly turn into an elite defensive end. Now admittedly that is a big if at this point, but kids his size who can move like he can don't exactly grow on trees.

The Sooners only offered Onuoha a few short weeks ago which is a bit of a mystery given the aforementioned "upside" on a kid so close to Norman. Apparently the OU coahces first projected Onuoha as a tight end with what has been described as a fairly casual interest. Evidently though DE coach Bobby Jack Wright just recently saw Onuoha's film and felt an offer was warranted. So the OU coaches are late getting in on the OK product and as such some believe that the relationship Onuoha has already built with the Missouri Tigers may be too much for the Sooners to overcome.

Onuoha is said to appreciate Mizzou offering him so early and have done a good job cultivating their relationship with the Edmond Santa Fe defensive end. Obviously OU can offer him a chance to stay close to home and there has been some talk that his family would prefer that. As with a lot of recruits, mom can have a big influence on the final decision (well except for this guy of course) and according to reports Onuoha's mother will be accompanying him on the trip this weekend. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out given how much ground OU has to make up on Mizzou after getting a very late start.

So, not a huge recruiting weekend as OU prepares for the final stretch before signing day but two recruits that would definitely make solid additions to the Sooners 2012 class.