Case of nerves of doesn't stop Owens from signing with OU; recruit ready for next level
Case of nerves of doesn't stop Owens from signing with OU; recruit ready for next level

MUSKOGEE — With a slight grin, Jameel Owens opened a crimson-colored folder and pulled out the "OU” letterhead.

He calmly picked up the black click-pen laid in front of him and with a smooth stroke began to sign his name.

Then, his hands started shaking.

"I'm nervous, man,” Owens whispered to Muskogee coach Matt Hennesy, who was guiding him through the paperwork. "I've never been this nervous in my life.”

Even without an air of Signing Day suspense hanging over him, the state's No. 1 recruiting prospect from the Class of 2008 was struggling with the enormity of it all.

By signing their letters of intent Wednesday morning, Owens and teammate Stacy McGee officially became Oklahoma Sooners.

"Signing is a big deal. It puts a seal on it,” said Owens, the nation's No. 8 wide receiver according to Rivals.com. "I've been waiting a long time to sign my name on that piece of paper and go play football in college.”

Owens and McGee originally planned to unveil their college decisions on Signing Day — choosing among favorites OU, OSU, Tennessee and Texas Tech — but moved the announcement up nearly a month, after Owens returned from the U.S. Army All-American Game in San Antonio.

"He probably would have committed on TV at the game, but he wanted to do it with Stacy,” Hennesy said. So the duo declared before Muskogee's wrestling match against Jenks on Jan. 15.

With the state's top two prospects already committed to OU, Monday's signing proved mostly a formality.

About 60 family members, friends and teammates gathered to watch Owens, McGee and seven other Roughers sign letters-of-intent during the ceremony at the Muskogee High library.

"We feel good about it and he feels good about it,” said Sabrina Coleman, McGee's mother. "He always makes good decisions and he seems comfortable with that one, so we're behind him.”

Before their recruiting began three years ago, Hennesy handed Owens and McGee a list of 20 determining factors for making a college decision — factors like playing time, coaches, facilities, national exposure, redshirt possibility and academic support.

"It works kind of backwards,” Hennesy said. "The most important thing gets 20 points. Then 19, 18 and so on down to one, the least important thing.”

Back then, both Owens and McGee marked "distance from home” as the leading factor in their decision.

After receiving dozens of hand-written letters from coaches, 20-odd scholarship offers, an incalculable number of phone calls and text messages and a few visits — both official and unofficial — the recruiting of the two Muskogee stars ended exactly where it began.

At home.

"I didn't want to move too far away from Muskogee,” Owens said. "I grew up here, I have a lot of memories here.”

With their official letters of intent safely in Bob Stoops' hands via fax, Owens and McGee now focus on preparing for Jerry Schmidt's grueling off-season training program.

The pair will arrive in Norman on June 2 and immediately begin working toward the 2008 season.

McGee closed the season as America's No. 8 defensive tackle, according to Rivals.com. But the 6-foot-5, 255-pounder will begin his career at Oklahoma as a defensive end.

"They want me to work out at end right now,” McGee said. "That's where my body is right now and I have good speed for it.”

His high school coach doesn't think McGee will finish at defensive end, however.

"The scary thing is, he's still growing,” Hennesy said. "He's going to be 6-7, 300 pounds and faster. For the NFL, I see him playing the athletic (defensive tackle). Not the big, fat nose guard run-stopper, but the guy next to him that makes plays.”

Meanwhile, Owens has joined the track team in an attempt to improve on his 4.41-second forty time. He's in the Muskogee weight room every day. He's already begging his future teammates to save Macolm Kelly's vacated No. 4 jersey for him.

Sitting out every other series of the U.S. Army All-American Game helped motivate a player who's hardly found an equal in the high school ranks.

"I think right there he said, ‘I'm not sitting on the bench next year,'” Hennesy said. "He was bored with high school football — it was too easy for him.”

Owens can do it.

If he steadies those shaky hands.

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