OU football recruiting notebook: Bob Stoops anticipates Cody Thomas will stick with football

“He is adamant that he truly wants to play football, unless he was picked so high that he couldn't turn away from it,” Stoops said. “Most indications are that football is important enough to him that he's gonna want to pursue that.

“We wouldn't have pursued this and gone down this road if we didn't feel there was a great chance Cody would be with us.”

Should Thomas (6-foot-5, 220 pounds) stay in school, he plans to play on OU's baseball team. Stoops said he's more than fine with that.

“We want him to play baseball,” Stoops said. “I'd be excited to watch him.

“If he could help our baseball team, I think it'd be great.”

STOOPS: IN-STATE PROSPECTS A PRIORITY

Stoops said he was excited to have signed five Oklahoma high school prospects in his 2013 recruiting class.

Cornerback Stanvon Taylor (Tulsa East Central), linebacker Dominique Alexander (Tulsa Washington), linebacker Jordan Evans (Norman North), receiver Jordan Smallwood (Jenks) and defensive end D.J. Ward (Southmoore) and all signed letters of intent with OU on Wednesday.

“We always want to do a great job in our own state,” Bob Stoops said. “Fortunately through the years, we have. We're always diligent in that first players we evaluate and continue to evaluate are always in-state players. Not that we're always right, but we sure are always doing everything we can to watch them, evaluate them, get to know them and get them around us, invite them to campus, invite them to practices, invite them to scrimmages.

“It's been a positive and these are all excellent players and some of them are the top players in our state.”

ALEXANDER HARD AT WORK

Alexander treated signing day like a normal day.

That's why at 6:30 a.m., the Tulsa Washington defensive standout hit the gym.

By 7:30 a.m., Alexander was back home and getting ready for school.

At 3 p.m., he walked into his high school's field house wearing a black dress shirt, a crimson vest and an OU hat for his signing ceremony.

This fall, Dominique will take on his father Derrick Alexander Sr.'s former team, OSU, and his brother Derrick Jr.'s current team: Tulsa.

“On a scale of one to 10, the trash talk is 10,” Dominique said. “I tell him they have no chance and then he tells me we're not going to win.”

COACHES SAY TAYLOR WILL PLAY CORNER

Tulsa East Central's Stanvon Taylor, who signed Wednesday with Oklahoma, has long been listed by recruiting services as an “athlete.”

Sooner coaches said Wednesday, though, that it's been decided that Taylor will play cornerback for the Sooners.

“He should be listed as a cornerback,” Mike Stoops said. “Everyone talks about him as an athlete, but he's a corner.

“He's a terrific young man and a terrific player. I think the future is unlimited for him. He will push hard for playing time. I think all these guys will.”

Taylor made 53 tackles and four interceptions as a senior at Tulsa East Central, but also shined on the other side of the ball, grabbing 67 passing for 1,100 yards and two touchdowns.