Sooners land some surprises

Sooners land some surprises

NORMAN, Okla. — Last-day surprises are a part of college football recruiting. They turned out to be a big part of Oklahoma’s 2007 recruiting class.

The Sooners went down to the wire with Oklahoma State for Norman High’s Ryan Broyles and San Antonio, Texas, linebacker Travis Lewis with Nebraska.

Both joined 18 others signing national letters of intent with the Sooners Wednesday.

“We met all our needs and addressed them in a very good way,” OU coach Bob Stoops said Wednesday afternoon. “This is a very balanced class.”

Also a very small one. OU entered the recruiting season with a limited number of scholarships due to this past season’s small senior class.

A few more spots opened when tight end Aaron Cummings and offensive linemen Ben Baressi and Curtis Bailey were placed on medical scholarships due to career-ending injuries. Wide receiver Eric Huggins’ decision to transfer at the end of the spring semester added another scholarship. Adrian Peterson’s early departure for the NFL brought another vacancy.

But being limited to 20 scholarships made for some tough decisions.

“It was hard for us early because we didn’t know on some of the medical issues until here in January,” Stoops said. “We didn’t know on Adrian until here in January.

“That changes things to some degree at different times … numbers you’re able to work with and the number of players you’re working with.”

The numbers had an effect on the Sooners’ spot in the recruiting rankings. Rivals.com had OU at No. 14, while Scout.com had OU at No. 31.

It was OU’s smallest recruiting class since 2004, when Adrian Peterson and Rhett Bomar were part of an 18-player class.

However, Stoops said OU’s most pressing needs were addressed. OU needed a quarterback and got one in Lowell, Mich., standout Keith Nichol, one of five members of the class that have already enrolled in school and will participate in spring practice.

Nichol will compete with junior Joey Halzle and redshirt freshman Sam Bradford for the starting job.

“He’s a guy that will compete for it just like the other guys will,” Stoops said. “It’s always helpful that they’re here to go through winter and spring practices. Nobody has game experience on their side. So we’ll have great competition and work it in the right ways.”

The Sooners also inked offensive linemen. The newcomers include 6-foot-3 center Jason Hannan from Waxahachie (Texas) High School, 6-6 Donald Stephenson from Blue Springs (Mo.) High School and 6-5 Alex Williams from O. Perry Walker High School in New Orleans.

Phil Loadholt, a 6-8, 350-pound lineman, transferred from Garden City (Kan.) Community College between semesters and 6-4, 315-pound Kody Cooke from Enid High School also enrolled early.

Stoops expects Loadholt to vie for the starting left tackle spot next season.

Loadholt is one of two junior college players in the class. The other is Yuba Community College linebacker Michael Reed, who is also enrolled at OU and should compete for the starting middle linebacker spot.

“We wouldn’t recruit them if we didn’t feel they could play right away,” Stoops said. “Through the years, most of our junior college guys have come in and made an immediate impact.”

On the opposite side of the line, OU signed three defensive ends: Jonte Bumpus from Muskogee, Frank Alexander from Baton Rouge’s Louisiana Southern Lab School, and David Anderson from Lawton.

Lewis, Enid linebacker Austin Box and defensive backs Jamell Fleming, Desmond Jackson, Sam Proctor and Londell Taylor round out the defensive side.

Broyles was one of three receivers to join the Sooners. Corey Wilson, the younger brother of former OU standout Travis Wilson, and Tyler Stratford also signed.

Taylor and Anderson were two of seven in-state players from the class.

Neither was highly touted by recruiting services, but Stoops believes they could be among the biggest surprises.

“They have great frames and excellent ability,” he said. “We like the way they run and change direction and make plays. When we watch and evaluate, we like what we see. We’ve always gone on that.”

He tossed out a quick reminder of where former All-Americans Dan Cody, Teddy Lehman and Mark Clayton were on the recruiting radar when they signed.

“I think Dan Cody was a two-star guy, Teddy Lehman was a two-star guy, Mark Bradley a two-star guy,” he said. “I don’t think Quentin (Griffin) even had a star.”

The accuracy of those evaluations will be determined a few years down the road.

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