Oklahoma Sooners fans shouldn't panic over recent perceived recruiting loss with in-state recruit

Given the play of Oklahoma's wide receiver room last year, fans were naturally irritated at a local product choosing a school as far away as Washington and many are wondering if the Sooners just can't close with some prospects after how bad last year went. 

However, this is a naive outlook in my mind based on intel. Oklahoma backed away from James months ago. SoonerScoop reported over a month ago that the relationship with James and wide receivers coach Emmett Jones had cooled off recently.

Oklahoma certainly could have locked up James. If Oklahoma wanted to, there's very little doubt in my mind that he wouldn't have committed to the Sooners quite a while ago. He wasn't invited to their June 6th recruiting event, which signals to me that he wasn't a priority. 

Under the new front office under Jim Nagy however, it seems like James's testing and film didn't fit the standards they have been looking for to uphold their standards for the SEC. 

Instead, the Sooners have pivoted to other targets. Four-star (borderline five-star) Davian Groce visited Oklahoma on their big June 6th recruiting event and that outlook feels pretty favorable for the Sooners. Additionally, four-star Jaydon Petit also visited that day, and the Sooners made a memorable impression on the freakish athlete from Florida. 

Another Southeast product, Dallas Dickerson, is an electrifying speedster from Georgia who is a state champion track star and Oklahoma feels confident on where they stand with his recruiting. Dickerson will make his decision on July 4th. 

All of Oklahoma's new targets are freakish athletes. James had quality film, but at 5'10 and 170 pounds, he didn't have a lot of the measurables that they are looking for and his game doesn't seem to have the traits the rest of Oklahoma's new targets have. 

So while I understand the frustration that Sooners fans might have about losing such an easy layup target, Oklahoma has other targets in mind and they have to be more diligent about who they offer. Just because a player was a local product does not mean he's a fit for what the staff has in mind. 

Trust the process.