Recruiting: Final Preditions

Yes, "The Boomer Blog" is back after what can be considered a very disappointing and intentional hiatus. Your Oklahoma Sooners are now sitting at a record of 5-4 and you're looking at a season that could potentially end without a bowl game. 

Instead, this blog is gettin' a little pick me up. We're talking recruiting, which happens to be the only real positive coming out of this season.

The Sooners are set to take a full slate of high school superstars, and TBB is going to fill you in on who Oklahoma has already rounded up, as well as guys we expect will be joining the class of 2010.

In true Boomer Blog fashion, we'll be starting off with the guys Oklahoma will be missing out on in this recruiting class. These are kids that currently hold offers from Oklahoma and are seriously considering the Sooners, but for one reason or another won't be spending their college years in Norman.

Joshua Shaw: 

Defensive Back

Palmdale, California

Shaw came in to this year as a relative unknown with great potential but has since watched his own recruitment absolutely explode. Shaw now holds offers from the entire Pac-10, as well as numerous big-time programs from across the country (Oklahoma, Florida, Notre Dame and Ohio State). Unfortunately, Oklahoma has backed off of Shaw's recruitment due to filling defensive back slots as well as what is probably a lack of interest on Shaw's part as well.

Seantrel Henderson: 

Offensive Tackle

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Oklahoma currently sits in a list of Henerson's top six schools, but things aren't looking as promising for Oklahoma as they once did. The nations almost undisputed top recruit has canceled his visiting date for Norman and will now only take visits to Notre Dame, USC, Ohio State, and Minnesota. 

Whoever lands Henderson will be taking one of the most college ready prospects in recent memory. Henderson stands around 6'8 and weighs in at 300 pounds, but more importantly has matured to the point where he will be ready to immediately take snaps at the next level.

Victor Burnett: 

Inside Linebacker

Culver City, California

Burnett was in town for an Oklahoma win over Kansas State a few weeks ago and the visit seemed to go well. At the same time we at TBB have a feeling that things between the Sooners and the young linebacker from Culver City, California won't work out in the end.

It's difficult to say in a situation like this but to be blunt about the it we believe Burnett is feeling it will be much more difficult to see the field in Norman then it will be to do the same at Washington or Arizona. Burnett is a good player but the young depth in Norman at linebacker is significant. So much so that we believe Burnett and the Sooners will eventually part ways.

George Uko: 

Defensive Tackle

Chino, California

George Uko is a player that Oklahoma would be lucky to pick up late in the recruiting process, and TBB believes that Uko is one of those players that Oklahoma won't be giving up on until the very end. With that being said Uko had yet to set up an official visit to Norman, an idea that he has been toying with since first getting involved with Oklahoma. OU currently sits among Uko's top five teams along with California, Tennessee, Oregon, and USC. But, we suspect that Uko deciding not to take an official visit when he still has two available will be a, "thanks, but no thanks" situation for the Sooners.

Throughout the Sooners 2010 recruitment there have been two players who have been more of a mystery than any other target. (Change) Jackson Jeffcoat and Kyle Prater are guys that clearly have Oklahoma on the brain, but unfortunately nobody out there in the recruiting world really knows what is going on with their recruitment...

Jackson Jeffcoat: 

Defensive End

Plano, Texas (Plano West)

 

Nobody, and we mean nobody, has any idea what the young defensive end from Plano West will be doing come January. Jackson is the son of Jim Jeffcoat, former Dallas Cowboy, and for these reasons has handled his recruitment professionally, playing everything very close to the vest.

"The Boomer Blog" is familiar with a few sources from Plano West (one in particular who is very close to the family) and we still have no idea what the hell is going on.

What we do know about Jackson:

- Very family oriented individual who's sister will be playing basketball for the Sooners and who's father is currently on Kevin Sumlin's coaching staff at the University of Houston.

- Jim Jeffcoat has publicly stated he would rather not have his son play under him at Houston, but we doubt that really makes a difference to Jackson.

- Due to his strong family ties Jackson would like to stay relatively close to home, which in theory would eliminate USC.

We at TBB believe that the nature of the Oklahoma program fits Jackson's personality well and that having his sister on campus couldn't possibly be hurting our odds. And with wanting to keep his close proximity to home and his father preferring not to coach Jackson, we believe the Sooners are in a great position to pick up a guy who has been talked about since his Freshman year in high school. (Fingers crossed)

Kyle Prater:

Wide Receiver

Hillside, Illinois

Prater is currently a soft verbal to USC but from what TBB has heard about the situation this won't be for much longer. For one reason or another Prater and his family have realized that USC isn't the place for Kyle and will be looking elsewhere for school.

In fact, Kyle Prater is scheduled to be in Norman this coming Saturday for the game against Texas A&M. This will be the second time Kyle and his family have visited Norman this year and the first trip went well enough to leave Sooner fans thinking positively about the situation.

The problem TBB has with the Prater situation is this. Why would one of the most talented receivers in the country de-commit from a program like USC, and instead choose a program like Oklahoma if his reason for de-committing from USC is that he wants to stay close to home. Doesn't make sense, right? In all likelyhood, Prater will (excuse the bluntness) choose to waste his talents in Champaign Illinois under whoever replaces Ron Zook.

Final Predictions: Recruiting (The Goods)

Here now, are the guys TBB expects you to see donning the crimson and cream in the near future. None are yet commits, but TBB has reason to believe that all will be Sooners in the near future.

Darius White:

Wide Receiver

Ft. Worth, Texas (Dunbar)

There is no better place to start than with Darius White on the list of hopefully commitments. Darius is a flat out star at receiver and looks as though he will be able to jump onto the playing field just as soon as he learns the offense. Sooner fans should breathe a huge sigh of relief as their prayers for a receiver are about to be answered in a big way.

Reasons to feel good about Darius:

- The alleged burned bridges in Austin. We're still not exactly sure what happened with White and UT, but the Longhorns supposedly gave White's cousin, Rashad Favors (who was supposedly being recruited by Texas as well), a name tag that read "Guest of Darius White." TBB doesn't think that went over well with the family oriented White.

- Darius' mother and grandmother would prefer White to attend Oklahoma over Texas. This is beginning to sound like the McFarland situation of last year.

-  His cousin, Rashad Favors, is already an Oklahoma commit. Now we suspect that Rashad knows more than he's letting on about what he knows of Darius. But if it wasn't good, we'd probably know a lot more than we do now.

Kenny Stills:

Wide Receiver

Carlsbad, California

There has not been a better sign all season long than future Sooner running back Brennan Clay. Clay, another California native, is convincing OU targets left and right that they should be taking a harder look at the Oklahoma program. And they're doing it. Kenny Stills has been a target of the Clay recruiting method for some time now, and it seems to be paying off in a big way.

Stills is another talent that Oklahoma will be hosting for the match-up against Texas A&M, and coming from the positive reports the Sooners have been receiving a commitment from the California receiver wouldn't be out of the question. It's looking like Stills definitely wants to go out of state, and since reports say that Kenny has lost a little interest in Florida, Oklahoma only has Penn State and Tennessee to compete with for his commitment. 

Tony Jefferson:

Safety/Athlete

Chula Vista, California

If you thought the recruiting job by Brennan Clay on Kenny Stills was good, you're going to enjoy hearing about how he turned Tony Jefferson. At one point during the season the Sooners were all but out of the race for one of the most talented safety prospects in the country. In fact, Oklahoma was not even going to receive an official visit from a player the Sooners once thought they had a shot with. But after a few weeks of recruiting from Clay and a visit to Norman for the Kansas State game it's looking like Oklahoma has done more than catch Jefferson's eye. Tony was even thinking about making a commitment while in Norman that weekend.

Clay, Stills, and Jefferson are already toying with the idea of calling themselves the "California Three." Sounds to us like a commitment from Jefferson is just around the corner.

Jefferson also had impressive numbers running the ball in high school and could become a good option for the Oklahoma ground game in the future.