Oklahoma Sooners Football Recruiting: A quick update on the top remaining targets

With the beginning of the Early Signing Period less than a week away, the Oklahoma Sooners are looking to close the deal with a number of high-profile targets. I’ll start out by saying that the situations with high-profile offensive line targets Tristan Leigh and Bryce Foster remain relatively unchanged since our last check-in. OU still has all of the momentum in Leigh’s recruitment against the LSU Tigers, and Foster’s situation still feels like a coin-flip between the Sooners and Texas A&M Aggies. If I’m a betting man, I’m taking the Sooners in both races, with the former being the more confident pick.

Now let’s go in order from least confident to most confident, shall we?

Emeka Egbuka - Oklahoma’s momentum following Egbuka’s visit to Norman has taken a hit over the past few days. That said, it’s a crazy world so nothing is quite over until the signatures are in. Still, it looks as though OU’s wave has been quelled by the Ohio State Buckeyes, so expect an announcement for tOSU today. Oklahoma’s only hope would be a late-hour push from the Sooners’ coaching staff and Caleb Williams between now and this coming Wednesday (the beginning of the early period).

Remington Strickland - Another announcement for this evening is three-star center Remington Strickland out of Sugar Land, Texas. Strickland was once considered an Oklahoma lock, but a late Texas A&M offer and visit from Strickland has really made this one cloudy. Like Egbuka, this one is going to come down to the wire but it’s hard to ignore that the Aggies may have had the final word. Don’t expect this one to go in the Sooners’ direction.

Savion Byrd - Continuing with the chaos, Savion Byrd’s recruitment has become even more interesting with the SMU Mustangs announcing an extension for running backs coach and recruiting coordinator Ra’Shaad Samples. Samples is among the top young assistant coaches in the country and emerging as an elite recruiter. He’s been a key piece of Byrd’s recruitment and the reason why SMU has been a contender. This one has gone from feeling like an OU victory to a legitimate toss-up. As for Oklahoma, they’ve remained at or near the top for Byrd thanks to the continued effort by Bill Bedenbaugh and the Sooners reputation for putting guys in the NFL.

Camar Wheaton - Staying with DFW prospects, five-star RB Camar Wheaton has announced he’ll be making his decision between Oklahoma and Alabama Dec. 23. It’s well known at this point that Wheaton doesn’t talk much about his recruitment, thus info as to where he may be leaning has been nearly nonexistent over the past couple months. That said, as mentioned on the podcast, there hasn’t been anything that suggests Oklahoma isn’t leading this race down the stretch, and the Alabama side doesn’t appear particularly optimistic.