Five-star athlete Burton Scott (Prichard, Ala.) was scheduled to be in Norman this weekend for an official visit.
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But after junior-college linebacker J.R. Bryant committed to the Sooners on Friday, the OU coaches decided to not bring in Scott after all.
According to Rivals.com, one of the Sooner coaches called Scott's high school coach on Friday and told him they had cancelled Scott's visit.
"They told me that they just received a commitment from a kid that has basically pushed their class close to full,” Vigor High School coach Kerry Stephenson told Rivals. "They told me they had cancelled Burton's visit and it wasn't necessary for him to come to their campus today. I haven't had a chance to talk to Burton yet, so I am not sure what his reaction is yet.
"I can tell you that it isn't a very good way to do business. This takes away one of Burton's official visit weekends. I know he isn't going to be happy about it, and I am not happy about it.”
Scott has been verbally committed to Alabama, but he is expected to take an official visit to Miami next weekend.
•Smooth commits to Auburn: Six-foot-5, 300-pound defensive tackle recruit Freddie Smooth committed to Auburn over the weekend.
Smooth (Baton Rouge, La.) had been considering the Sooners, taking a visit to Norman two months ago.
•Edwards also commits: Defensive end recruit Lavar Edwards, high school teammates with Smooth, committed to LSU over the weekend.
The 6-4, 270-pound prospect had also been considering OU and took his visit to Norman the same weekend as Smooth.
By Jake Trotter
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don't get caught up in the star rankings of recruits. you may be able to run a 4.3, but if you can't pass your classes or stay out of trouble, then its a wasted scholarship.
I heard that he was only coming to keep another recruit from signing with OU. He is rock solid on Bama and was only coming to be a hindrance. The sooner coaches got wing of that and decided not to invite a bad apple.
Probably some other information that the OU coaches have that we, the public don't. 5 star athlete isn't something you want to pass on for sure. If he's coming in as an athlete the coaches could have put him at any position. Usually an athlete isn't a line backer though, he would be a CB, WR, S, or special teams. I would have let him have his visit still though, because who knows? We get maybe 1 or 2 five star prospects a class if we are lucky. There must be some other issue.
Bryant and Burton don't play the same position. In fact Burton plays on offence. The issue is, as the article states well, a recruit gets 5 official visits total. For 1 of those visits he chose OU. So now OU cancelled his visit meaning he gets just 4 total visits. That is not right to do and you know as well as I do, or maybe not, that if Burton wasn't balking all week on taking the OU trip he would have been flown in and wined and dinned all weekend and offered with a fat smile. “Chances are” he does stick to his bama commitment but it’s a childish act by OU according to the info I have heard all week. Let’s hope Foley doesn’t see it that way.
Hey Jake, I tend to agree with you that the OU coaches could have let Burton visit. However, since they apparently found the man they wanted in J.R. Bryant, plus, if Scott had alreading verbably committed to Alabama and also still planned to visit Miami, he sure didn't give anybody the impression he was "anxious" to change his commitment to the Sooners. So yeah, with the many bases any of the coaches have trying to fulfill their needs, it probably is better to focus on the better and more interested prospects than someone who has apparently already made a commitment to another major school.
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