Oklahoma Sooners Football Recruiting: Jacob Phillips Flips to LSU

The day many Sooner fans feared has finally arrived, as four-star linebacker Jacob Phillips has announced that he is now committed to LSU.

Phillips picked Oklahoma at a ceremony back in October after taking official visits to Alabama, Notre Dame, Oregon and Texas A&M, and he was seen as a pretty solid commitment. That all changed in December when LSU and new head coach Ed Orgeron really started to make a run. The Tigers rolled out the red carpet for an unofficial visit this past weekend, which apparently went about as well as it could have for LSU.

The draw of being part of a program that has produced so many recent draft picks on the defensive side of the ball cannot be overstated, and his decision is one that I respect. However, there are a few other theories out there about what may have influenced his decision.

I just hope that Phillips is the one who made the decision in the end. The kid had a lot of people around him trying to push him in the direction of LSU, and that may have influenced him a bit. In any case, I wish the guy the best of luck. The recruiting process was clearly a difficult one for him, but it appears that it’s finally over.

This is obviously an enormous loss for OU. The void at middle linebacker is quite large, and he likely would’ve filled it immediately. Watching this kid develop into a star at LSU is going to be tough for all of us to stomach.