Oklahoma Sooners Football Recruiting: Sooners Flip 2017 JUCO DT Dillon Faamatau from USC

While many fans in the Sooner Nation were caught up in the rollercoaster ride that was the NCAA softball national championship last evening (BOOMER!), the Oklahoma Sooners football staff saw a victory of its own on the recruiting trail. Coach Calvin Thibodeaux and company successfully flipped the commitment of three-star junior college defensive tackle Dillon Faamatau from USC to the Crimson & Cream.

At 6-foot-4, 305 pounds, Faamatau was originally a target for the class of 2017 but academic issues were going to force him to play another season in the junior college ranks. He had committed to the Trojans on April 30 to play in 2018 but with his academic credits immediately transferrable to OU, Faamatau now finds himself eligible to play next season for the Sooners.

Because of issues with his academic credits transferring, he wasn’t able to be a member of USC for the 2017 season but would have had to spend another semester in junior college before arriving in spring 2018. That won’t be the case at OU as the Sooners were able to get Faamatau on campus this weekend for an official visit with safety Steven Parker doing the hosting job. -Bob Przybylo, Scout

Dillon Faamatau will enter next season as a redshirt sophomore after one year spent at Cerritos College in his hometown of Norwalk, California. The former three-star prospect had originally signed with Arizona State in 2015 and redshirted as a freshman. Faamatau left the Sun Devils the following year and returned home to enroll at Cerritos College, where he excelled in his one season with 32 tackles and a sack through ten games at defensive tackle.

Towering in a mammoth-like frame of a legit D-I lineman, Faamatau has the size and talent to blossom into a true difference maker on Thibodeaux’s unit with continued development. His playing experience in junior college is also a big plus and suddenly gives the Sooners a promising defensive prospect poised for immediate playing time in a position of need next season.

I suppose it’s only fitting that #SoonerSquad17’s final piece was added in the legendary 17^th inning of last night’s thrilling win for the OU women’s softball team. It was a landmark night for the Oklahoma Sooners, who are piling on one national championship after another regardless of season, sport or gender.

Welcome to the #ChampU family, Dillon. Boomer Sooner.