BROKEN ARROW, OK — Nate Roberts is getting close. Really close.
The 4-star tight end in the 2025 recruiting class — one of the top players in the state and one of the top players in the nation — has nailed down his top five schools. Now he’s finalizing official visits and even considering a timeline for announcing his commitment.
“I think I'll know when my time is right,” Roberts said. “But I'm going to shoot for sometime like mid-summer.”
Roberts plays at Washington, OK, but spent the weekend in Broken Arrow competing at the DR7 7-on-7 tournament with his elite teammates on the Sooner7 squad. A big, powerful, explosive, fluid athlete with soft hands and a high football IQ, Roberts makes football look easy.
On Saturday, the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Roberts told AllSooners what he liked about each of his top five — Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Ohio State and Penn State — as well as the order of official visits coming up and what will ultimately sway his decision.
“Yeah, at this point I’ve basically already seen everything thrown at me,” Roberts said. “So it's like, I'm not really looking for anything else. It's just that gut feeling that I'm waiting for. It's just like, I'm waiting for that moment to know that this is my spot. So that's just kind of what I'm waiting on.”
Roberts said he will “probably just take one more look at each place, then I think I should know. Sometime in the summer. That's kind of my timeline.”
The order of business will start with a visit to Ole Miss, then Penn State, Ohio State and Oregon. Roberts said he’s got Oklahoma scheduled last, June 21, and then he’ll decide.
Oklahoma gets the last visit, so Brent Venables, Joe Jon Finley and company will have the last chance to make a good impression.
Not that he needs it.
“I’m there all the time,” Roberts said. “Just only 20 minutes away. I was at practice just the other day and we're great and seeing coach Joe Jon coach the tight ends, seeing coach Venables out there getting into it with the defense. But it was just cool. Getting out there seeing my brother (Baylor transfer Jake Roberts) now that he's out there in the tight end group. It was cool seeing all of them work.”
Jake’s college career began at North Texas, where he studied the game under Seth Littrell — another Oklahoma native and a former Sooner who’s now the offensive coordinator at his alma mater. Jake’s time in Denton exposed young Nate to what college football looks like, and what Littrell and his offensive system is all about.
“Yeah, that's very appealing,” Roberts said. “I’ve sat in the film room with him. It's very similar to North Texas. Definitely tight end heavy but spreads out really well. I like the ways that he uses his tight end, uses them in every single position, which is pretty cool.
“But just the relationship that I built with him also just from … my brother being at North Texas, just being through the recruiting process with my brother and meeting coach Seth. I’ve known him forever, like ever. Since I was like, young. So it's cool, being recruited by him. And he recruited me, he recruited my brother, so it's like, now that I'm in my brother's footsteps, it's pretty cool.”
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