Wait for stars to appear
No one can predict how OU's recruiting class will perform

A search for the Sooners in the Scout.com recruiting rankings requires much scrolling, even a click to Page 2.

Finally, midway down the page, situated at No. 39: Oklahoma.

Thirty-ninth nationally. In case you're wondering, and you are, OU is seventh in the Big 12.

Behind Texas.

And Nebraska.

And — gasp! — Oklahoma State. In that order.

And Texas A&M, Colorado and Missouri. And just ahead of Texas Tech at No. 40.

Rough year on the recruiting road?

Don't know. Won't know for a while.

Heck, shuffle on over to the Rivals.com site if you need to feel better about OU's latest bunch.

There the Sooners rank No. 20 nationally; No. 11 according to the star system, which values a class based on the average star value assigned to a player (1-5 scale), rather than total points built through commitments. Because OU will sign fewer recruits, due to a small outgoing senior class, its point total will be smaller than say, No. 2 Tennessee, which counts 30 commitments, even though the maximum number allowed in a year is 25.

The Sooners currently list 15 commits, with room for but a few more.

So why the discrepancy between Rivals and Scout?

It's simple — nobody knows for sure whether a kid can or will produce at the next level.

Not even college coaches, who are forced to form their takes on a recruit based on talks and videotape and so-called measurables like height, weight and 40-yard-dash times.

It's no different in the NFL, which reveals regular Draft busts.

And those guys are poked, prodded, tested physically and mentally right before the eyes of scouts and organization masterminds capable of taking Ryan Leaf over Peyton Manning.

Nobody knows, not for sure.

That's how past Sooner recruits Brandon Keith, Chris Patterson, Lawrence Dampeer, Brian Zimpel and Brandon Keith were branded with four and five stars and never made an impact.

It's how Brody Eldridge, Jon Cooper, Cory Bennett, Larry Birdine, Chris Messner, Joe Jon Finley and more were tagged with three stars or fewer and became vital contributors.

You want stars, wait for them to develop on Saturday afternoons in the future.

And trust and know the OU coaching staff has a history of developing players, no matter their billing.

That trend dates to 2000, one year after the Sooners won a national title with a mostly inherited roster of yet-to-achievers and a barely recruited quarterback who would finish runner-up in the Heisman Trophy balloting.

This year, OU coaches identified needs and landed help where they need it most.

What about the stars?

Check back in a few years.

Sports Photo Galleriesview all

Adrian Peterson football camp

Adrian Peterson talks with young football players on the second day of his camp in Norman.

11 photos

Volleyball camp: June 23, 2009

Photos from the volleyball camp in Norman on Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

4 photos

Sunbelt Classic: June 23, 2009

Photos from the Sunbelt Classic in Norman on Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

4 photos

Endeavor Games: Saturday, June 13, 2009

Photos from the Endeavor Games Saturday, June 13, 2009

19 photos

Page 1 of 5

Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Next