Oklahoma lands physical 2024 safety Reggie Powers

Oklahoma remains hot on the recruiting trail in the month of October with its latest commitment coming from Centerville (OHIO) safety Reggie Powers. The one-time Michigan State pledge publicly reopened his recruitment on Oct. 26 just days after the Sooners offered on Oct. 21 and seemed to run with the momentum ever since.

Prior to announcing his pledge on Saturday afternoon, Powers caught up with Rivals to break down his commitment to the Sooners.

On Brent Venables:

"Obviously I knew about coach (Brent) Venables from his time as the defensive coordinator at Clemson," Powers said. "I would watch Clemson and I always kind of saw his energy and someone having to hold him back on the sideline. I didn't know who he was at first, but I was always like - Clemson's defensive coordinator is an intense guy."

"Then when I started getting recruited in high school, and actually started paying attention to coaches, I knew that he went to Oklahoma and they were going to be a defensive kind of school. I think knowing his background already and knowing he is a defensive guy was big for me."

On the recruiting process with Oklahoma:

"They were kid of late to recruiting me and I hadn't really had any contact from them before they offered me," Powers said. "It's not like they were waiting on anything with me, I guess they had just found out about me and then started recruiting me heavy."

On his recent game day visit:

"My flight was in the morning and the game was at 11:00, so I got there right around 10:15 or 10:30 for pregame," Powers said. "The first thing that stood out to me was the atmosphere and how many people were there - the stadium was packed. I learned that every game since 1999 has been sold-out, so I know it’s a football school and the fans love football at Oklahoma. I think that was the first thing that stood out to me."

On his decision to commit on the visit:

"I had a good vibe going into the visit even though I hadn't been there yet," Powers said. "I feel like something would have had to go horribly wrong for me not to commit there. I love talking about the safety depth chart and where they see me fitting into the defense. I feel like I could have an immediate impact, like I'm not saying a for sure starter or anything like that because I always have to work for what I want. But, I definitely feel like I have a good chance of succeeding there early and I feel like I fit into the defense already."

"The campus isn't too big or too little for me, its kind of perfect," Powers said. "It's just like a chill spot and there's not too much going on, so I think it was just a good fit for me all around."

On the staff's reaction when he told them he wanted to be a Sooner:

"They were very fired up and happy for me and my family," Powers said. "That was my first time down there and it was an unofficial, so it meant a lot to them that I came down on my own dime. I have my official coming up in two or three weeks"

"It definitely meant a lot to them that I was ready to commit, but it meant a lot more to me to be honest."

His message to to the Oklahoma fans:

“They are getting a player that is going to compete every day and when it comes game time - I’m going to make plays," Powers said.

Powers is likely underrated as a 5.7 three-star recruit and should receive the four-star bump come our next rankings update. The Ohio product is a big and physical presence in the secondary who flashes with his ability to explode through the ball carrier on contact. Both Powers' size and ability to roll into the box as an extra run defender stand out, but he is incredibly skilled in coverage as well.

His ability to defend the run like a linebacker and cover like a safety give the Centerville (OHIO) standout an incredible amount of schematic versatility - making him a perfect fit for a Venables coached defense. Powers is a smart, tough and dependable player who could end up being the sleeper of Oklahoma's 2024 class.