Army Bowl: 'Bookie' to Sooners - Radley-Hiles chooses Oklahoma

SAN ANTONIO – Longtime Nebraska commit Brenden Radley-Hiles reopened his recruitment following an official visit to Oklahoma in October. After two months of deliberation and several schools taking their shots, the five-star better known as “Bookie” announced during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl telecast that his future home would be in Norman.

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Radley-Hiles initially committed to Nebraska in April after attending the its spring game. He then became the Cornhuskers' biggest recruit-recruiter, tracking down prospects across the country and encouraging them to take a look at Nebraska. He took his official visit to Lincoln the weekend of Oct. 7, but then took an official visit to Oklahoma at the end of that month, and that is when things unraveled for the Cornhuskers.

After decommitting from Nebraska, Radley-Hiles would go on to take official visits with Clemson and UCLA in November, and then Florida State on the final weekend before the winter dead period after the Seminoles, under new head coach Willie Taggart, extended Radley-Hiles an offer shortly after their coaching transition was completed. In the days leading up to his announcement, Radley-Hiles was also listing Alabama as a contender.

After the week started with a tough loss in the College Football Playoff to Georgia, Oklahoma fans get a little bit of sunshine to end their week with the news of Radley-Hiles’ commitment. They had a built-in advantage with his IMG Academy and Army Bowl teammate T.J. Pledger having been a longtime commit who signed with the Sooners in the early period.

The biggest reason Radley-Hiles' addition is important for Oklahoma, though, is because the Sooners get to add a five-star defensive back to what was the Big 12’s third-ranked pass defense in 2017. As he proved again all week at Army Bowl practices, Radley-Hiles is a play-making cornerback with the speed to run with receivers down the field and the physicality to be an asset in run support.

Florida State will be just fine - and it was a long shot that Radley-Hiles was going to pick the Seminoles anyway. The ACC power loaded up late in the early signing period by flipping five-star safety Jaiden Woodbey from Ohio State and four-star Isaiah Bolden joined the class. Big-time four-star cornerbacks Asante Samuel and AJ Lytton could have an early impact. Also, USC should be OK, too. Adding the Trojans late was a big surprise - he mentioned serious interest in USC basically starting on Friday - and there are always surprises at these all-star games but this one was out of left field. Missing on Radley-Hiles hurts because he's a California kid but the USC defensive backfield is still loaded.