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Sooners' class lacks surprises
 
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
Published: 2/5/2009  2:38 AM
Last Modified: 2/5/2009  3:09 AM

 NORMAN — So Oklahoma didn't get Rueben Randle. Or Terry Hawthorne. Or Tyrece Gaines. Or Joshua Evans.

So the Sooners didn't land one signing-day surprise, not one undecided prospect whose coin came up "OU."

"I really like the class," head coach Bob Stoops said Wednesday. "As usual, we have a very diverse class where we recruited all positions. We really filled some needs."

One need in particular — wide receiver — was not filled, at least not on signing day. Stoops had hoped strong inroads made late in the recruiting process might be enough to land Randle, the nation's No. 1 receiver. Or Hawthorne, or Gaines or Evans, all four-star prospects. Instead, all four either stayed with their verbal commitments or signed with the team everyone expected them to: Randle with LSU, Hawthorne with Illinois, Gaines with Oregon and Evans with Florida.

"Yeah, it would have been great to get another guy or two," Stoops acknowledged. "But that's always the case at any position. We still feel our numbers there are OK."

The Sooners got signatures from 23 players (one, cornerback Marcus Trice, was in by morning but was held up on a signature technicality). That included 10 on offense and 13 on defense.

On offense, wide receiver was addressed foremost by the addition of junior college transfer Cameron Kenney. He was an accomplished playmaker at Garden City (Kansas) Community College who verbally committed to OU in January. High schooler Jaz Reynolds also signed.

"Just losing three receivers, we're going to do our best to have those guys absolutely prepared to play," Stoops said.

The Sooners also signed four offensive linemen in hopes of offsetting the graduation of five seniors from last year's record-setting offense.

The offense also got a quarterback, a running back, a fullback and a tight end.

Defensively, OU landed four linebackers, five defensive backs, three defensive ends and a tackle.

Five of the 23 hail from Oklahoma, 11 from Texas.

Rivals.com's team rankings as of Wednesday night placed the Sooners at 13th nationally. That's the second-lowest ranking by a team coming off an appearance in the national championship game since Nebraska's 2002 class was ranked 40th. Ohio State's 2007 class was ranked 15th by Rivals.com

It's also the second-lowest Rivals ranking of an OU recruiting class under Stoops since 2002. The Sooners' '07 class was ranked 15th.

Both Scout.com and ESPNU rank the Sooners' current class at ninth nationally.

The closest OU came to a signing-day surprise was the Tuesday night verbal commitment of Demontre Hurst, a cornerback from Lancaster, Texas, who had been verbally committed to Oklahoma State.

Stoops said he sees a bright future for Hurst, and said the idea of an added bonus in "stealing" him from a rival school was unfounded.

"We never operate that way," Stoops said. "That has nothing to do with our intention. We feel he's our style of player and he fits what we're looking for and is gonna make us better. That's the only part of the decision that goes into it with us. I don't care who it is or who they may be committed to; it gets down to what are our needs and what he feels he brings, and he's gonna make us better. End of story."



John E. Hoover 581-8384
john.hoover@tulsaworld.com
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer

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5055567475852000, Euless (2/5/2009 6:28:21 AM)
Huge disappointment in this class. While those two have us 9th, Rivals, regarded as the best service for ranking, has us at 12th. Now - how the H*ll can we play for four of the past 10 national titles, and have a returning Heisman winner, and we can't sign a top WR?
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SoonerDJ, Lisbon, Portugal (2/5/2009 10:25:56 AM)
Recruiting rankings have always been overrated. You have as many busts as stars. Barry Sanders was not heavily recruited and look how he ended up. OU has 3 question marks. O line, WR, and Safety. O line is a bigger concern than WR. OU still has Broyles and some steller recruits from last year waiting. OU also has Gresham.
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Ole MO, (2/5/2009 10:44:58 AM)
Why do you nerds get so wrapped up in this stuff? No one knew the Heisman trophy winners name till last year, and he wasn't highly recruited. Get a life losers. Stoops may have not landed a "5 star wide receiver" but he has 5 Big 12 Championship rings for his right hand.
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us4Sooners, somewhere out there... (2/5/2009 4:50:42 PM)
Mo - ...and one for his left hand as well!
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5055567475852000, Euless (2/5/2009 9:36:36 PM)
funny how, when we sign a highly ranked class, everyone is on board with stars, beating their collective chests, bragging to others. then, when we get a solid but not spectacular class, we get old mo and soonerdj who say that all of that stuff doesn't matter. B.S.
 

 
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