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Attention Sooner Fans: Don't Overreact on Recruiting "Losses" December 21, 2001 by Mac Thompson Prep Sports & Recruiting Columnist
Although I rarely listen to sports talk radio, this week I happened to tune in a little more frequently. Doom and gloom about this year's Oklahoma football recruiting class is all I seemed to hear. Many OU fans are desperately worried that the Texas Longhorns are signing all the best players nationally, leaving all the other schools with just leftovers.
Well I've got news for those of you preaching this doom and gloom: the Sooners 2002 class is going to be good, really good. Maybe it won't be rated #1 by recruiting websites and magazines but who really cares? If I remember correctly, most recruiting publications have ranked the last two Longhorn classes tops in the land. And what have the Horns produced? One Big 12 South Championship and that's only because the Sooners handed it to them.
I enjoy following recruiting for many reasons. But one thing I've learned over the years is that rankings don't mean a thing. For most of the decade of the 1990's, Notre Dame finished in the top of the national recruiting rankings. And how many championships did they win from those classes? I'll let you check your sports almanac for the answer to that one.
Sooner fans, don't panic there's plenty of talent in the country to go around. You cannot expect the Sooners to go into the state of Texas and land the majority of the state's top talent. You should expect them to sign a couple and you should expect the Horns, the Aggies and the Red Raiders to get their share too.
Okay, okay I'll get off my soapbox and give you some more recruiting news. Here's an update on a few players the Sooners are currently in on:
* Larry Dibbles, one of the best defensive linemen in the state of Texas, reportedly has narrowed his list down to OU and Texas. One of my sources has told me that he was close to signing with Texas last weekend, but held out because he wants to play with OU defensive lineman Tommie Harris. I really expect Dibbles to commit to OU after the new year.
* The Sooners are also in on a big offensive lineman out of the state of Pennsylvania, Bob Whitaker. OU is the only non-ACC school recruiting Whitaker. Expect Whitaker to verbally commit to the Sooners in the next two weeks.
* Carl Albert full back J.D. Runnels committed to OU this weekend, switching from an earlier commitment to Texas A&M. The Sooners decided to offer Runnels this week after losing out on another running back in Texas and a juco linebacker. I expect Runnels to try out at LB next year at OU.
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