Oklahoma Sooners Football Recruiting: Owasso Safety Josh Proctor Picks Ohio State

The Oklahoma Sooners have received a bit of bad news on the recruiting trail, as 2018 Owasso (Okla.) safety Josh Proctor has announced his commitment to the Ohio State Buckeyes. The four-star prospect, who is listed as the No. 7 safety and No. 87 overall player in the 247 Composite rankings, has been in Columbus this weekend for an unofficial visit.

Proctor was one of Oklahoma’s primary 2018 targets, so this definitely stings a little bit for the Sooners, who were long considered the favorite to land the local product.

Oklahoma still has some promising leads at the safety position for 2018. They’re still in the running for four-star Mansfield (Texas) safety Cam Jones, though the UCLA Bruins has been coming on strong as of late. On Thursday, Oklahoma also offered talented California safety Julius Irvin (which makes a bit more sense considering today’s events). Irvin currently holds offers from Nebraska, USC and UCLA, so it’ll be interesting to see how his recruitment shakes out.

Make no mistake — this news about Proctor is a punch in the gut for OU. Is it the end of the world? No, but Oklahoma’s chances of landing an elite safety in this class just diminished greatly. Maybe OU can work its way back in with Proctor and make things interesting come National Signing Day, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.