Oklahoma Sooners earn commitment from 2026 DL Brian Harris
Oklahoma Sooners earn commitment from 2026 DL Brian Harris
The Oklahoma Sooners picked up a commitment on Friday from one of the more underrated prospects in the 2026 recruiting class, Brian Harris. Harris out of Mandarin High School in Jacksonville, Fla. chose the Sooners over offers from Michigan, South Carolina, Alabama, Ole Miss, Colorado, Auburn, West Virginia, Mississippi State, N.C. State, Maryland, Louisville, Duke and Penn State.
Harris projects as and interior defensive lineman at the collegiate level, where his size, strength, and athleticism will allow him to be a force for the Oklahoma Sooners' defense. He has experience playing on the edge and shows the burst, footwork, and hands to be able to win against offensive tackles. As an interior defensive lineman, his length and athleticism will give guards and centers fits.
Harris is listed at 6 feet, 4 inches and weighs 290 pounds. Though currently listed as a three-star prospect in the 247Sports Composite rankings, Harris is considered a four-star prospect by Rivals and the No. 20 defensive lineman in the 2026 recruiting class.
He marks the third defensive pledge for Brent Venables in the last couple of weeks, following safety Niko Jandreau out of Arizona and linebacker Jakore Smith out of Arkansas. Oklahoma is now up to seven pledges in the 2026 cycle and now ranks No. 38 in the nation, just behind Michigan in the 247Sports team rankings.
In 2026, Harris will join a defensive tackle room that includes Jayden Jackson, David Stone, Markus Strong, Trent Wilson, and Ace Hodges.
Brian Harris Recruiting Profile
Scouting Report
As a player, Harris has really good size for the defensive line. What jumps off the screen the most is his quickness and the force with which he plays. He's a violent player and blends a physical playing style with really good athleticism for a guy nearly 300 pounds. For Mandarin High, he lined up as a defensive end in three-man fronts a lot, showing off the ability to get around the corner to attack quarterbacks. He does a great job in backside pursuit, displaying a strong motor to get down the line and chase the running back down from behind. He shows a good understanding of playing with angles and using his arm length to get around offensive linemen. With his size, strength, and athleticism, he has the ability to play defensive tackle in four-man fronts as well as defensive end in three-man fronts.
Highlights
Watch Brian Harris' highlights on Hudl.
Vitals
Projected Position Defensive Tackle Height 6-foot-4 Weight 290 pounds Hometown Jacksonville, Fla.
Ratings
Site Stars Overall Position State Rivals 4 -- 20 69 ESPN 3 -- 39 66 247Sports 3 -- 85 72 247Sports Composite 3 521 59 76 On3 3 -- 33 62 On3 Industry 3 437 46 66
Twitter
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
25 minutes ago
- Fox News
Denny Hamlin wins Michigan, taunts crowd while awaiting third child
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Denny Hamlin could feel nerves during the race Sunday at Michigan International Speedway. His fiancée, Jordan Fish, was six days past due with their third child and Hamlin and his team had decided if they got past Lap 50 of the 200-lap race, he wouldn't be told if she went into labor. Things worked out for Hamlin. He won at Michigan and 90 minutes after the race, was still at the track doing media. He talked about why he needs to be at the birth, baby names … and fierce taunts of the crowd in Michigan. That's Hamlin, living amid chaos and then creating even more for himself. "I don't want to be so ho-hum with winning that it's boring because then I lose my drive," Hamlin said. Hamlin, who has a group of friends who are Ohio State fans, gave the "O" sign to the Michigan crowd and resurrected his line that he told his father he wouldn't use anymore as he crowed to the crowd: "I beat your favorite driver." The boos reigned and Hamlin chuckled. "I do thrive on it just simply because you feel like you've got 60,000 people that are rooting against you," Hamlin said. "When you have that, it just feels really, really good and gratifying to prove them wrong. "I love that feeling." Hamlin had spent Saturday night in Michigan as Fish had not had any labor symptoms. Fish posted an Instagram story late in the race that she was at home. "I felt decent enough about it," Hamlin said. "We had to set some sort of cutoff of whether I was going to finish or not. "So I was very nervous last night and then this morning to getting the call because I knew I had a race-winning car after yesterday." Hamlin is known to run well, even with outside distractions. And he has the additional drama of the race team he owns (but doesn't drive for) 23XI Racing embroiled in a lawsuit against NASCAR. Earlier in the week, the team was dealt a blow in the U.S Court of Appeals and faces the prospect of the 23XI Racing cars not being chartered in a few weeks. It seems that he has been able to focus when he's at the track since that lawsuit was filed last October. The worries about missing the birth of his child, though, seemed to weigh on him more. With JGR simulator driver Ryan Truex at the track, in case he needed to leave, Hamlin knew the team was prepared for him to leave if Fish went into labor. He knew he had a strong car and had a good feeling about the race. Granted, Hamlin didn't have the fastest car. Chris Buescher probably did, but his car wiggled as he tried to run down the leaders late in the race. This cost him valuable momentum and he ended up coming across the line a second after Hamlin. William Byron had a strong car, but like many others, he had to save gas near the end, relinquishing the lead with less than four laps to go and then running out with a little over a lap remaining. Hamlin's team made sure he had enough fuel on the final stop to be on the attack at the end. And he executed flawlessly to the finish. And his wife was still at home, posting on Instagram near the end of the race. "I was a little nervous just because we put the Lap 50 cutoff," Hamlin said. "If it happens before Lap 50, I just go ahead and get out, just because of the time. "If it was after, I thought that by the time she gets her s--- together and gets to the hospital, all that stuff? You just never how it all turns out. But I think I can make it, as long as I had a three-hour window." It marked the third win of the year for Hamlin and his 57th career victory in his 701st start. Now it's on to Mexico City, and Hamlin indicated he would be willing to stay home if Fish has not given birth by the weekend. Obviously, it is a much longer flight from there than it would have been from Michigan to his North Carolina home. NASCAR would grant Hamlin a waiver to miss a race and consider it for medical reasons, meaning he would still make the playoffs and get to keep playoff points earned during the season. "It's the bigger picture. You never know when you'll ever have another one," Hamlin said about wanting to be home for the birth of the child. "You may not. I've been really supportive of her, the way that she wants to have this play out, which is as natural as possible. "Everyone asks, 'Why don't you just schedule, schedule, schedule?' I don't know. You've just got to let her decide in these situations. If it causes me to miss a race, it's one of 701 races that I missed and it's just not that big of a deal." His team owner, Heather Gibbs, when asked earlier about whether she was nervous for Hamlin, quipped: "It's funny, because I have four [children]. They [husbands] don't really do anything. When he gets home, he'll be home. It was good." Hamlin's response: "Well, that is true. I've been in the room before, and she needs something really hard to grab onto, and my hand is perfect for it. I'm definitely going to be there this week — hopefully — to hold her hand." The same could have been said for the way Hamlin grabbed the lead just when he needed to and held on for the victory. "He kind of thrives in chaos, right?" Heather Gibbs said. "It was true, we wanted to get him in the car. ... He's as cool as they come, that's for sure." Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Fox News
25 minutes ago
- Fox News
NBA Finals Game 2 takeaways: Thunder bounce back to even series 1-1
The NBA Finals are here, with West No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder and the East No. 4 seed Indiana Pacers squaring off with the hope of lifting their first-ever Larry O'Brien trophy at the end of the highly-anticipated series. This is the Pacers' first Finals appearance since 2000, when they eventually fell to the Lakers in six games. The Thunder last made the Finals in 2012 and lost to LeBron James and the Miami Heat in five games. Here's what has stood out from Sunday's Game 2 and what to expect from Game 3 on Wednesday: Game 2: Thunder 123, Pacers 107 What stood out for the Thunder: The Thunder learned their lesson from Game 1 and played all 48 minutes of Game 2 after blowing a 15-point fourth-quarter lead in the Finals opener. The Thunder outscored the Pacers 33-21 in the second quarter to lead by as much as 23 points, entered the fourth quarter with a 19-point lead and kept a sizable advantage through the final buzzer. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had another 30-plus point performance in the championship round, finishing with 34 points, five rebounds, eight assists and four steals. But this time around, he had much more help, with the Thunder's reserves outscoring the Pacers' bench, 48-34. The Thunder's top-rated defense suffocated the Pacers' offense. Four Thunder players scored at least 18 points, while no one on the Pacers scored more than 17 points. What stood out for the Pacers: The Pacers were outrebounded, 43-35, and outscored in points in the paint, 42-34. Tyrese Haliburton had just 17 points, including only scoring three points in the first half on 1-for-5 shooting from the field. The Pacers simply looked out of sorts against a Thunder team that was stunned in Game 1 and made sure to come out with their foot on the gas on both ends of the court in Game 2. Every run the Pacers went on was thwarted by the Thunder, who made sure not to allow the come-from-behind team to take a 2-0 series lead on their home court. What to expect in Game 3: For the Pacers, here's to betting Haliburton and Co. come out way more aggressive in Game 3. There's no way the Pacers' star player can finish with just two more field goals (seven) than turnovers (five) and the Eastern Conference Finals MVP, Pascal Siakam, can have 15 points on 3-for-11 shooting and this team can expect to have a chance to win. The Pacers need to pound the boards and figure out ways to find their lanes against the Thunder's swarming defense. As for the Thunder, they need to try to replicate this wall-to-wall effort in Game 3, knowing that no lead is ever safe against the Pacers, especially on their home floor. The Thunder did a great job getting multiple players involved, including reserve Alex Caruso, who shined on both ends of the court with great defense as well as being the team's second-leading scorer with 20 points, making four 3-pointers. Game 1: Pacers 111, Thunder 110 What stood out for the Thunder: Oklahoma City learned a very important lesson in Game 1 of the Finals. No. Lead. Is. Safe. Against. The. Pacers. Ever. The Pacers, who have had multiple historic comebacks this postseason, pulled off the improbable again, storming back from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to take their first lead of the game with 0.3 seconds left after Tyrese Haliburton made a 21-foot pullup jumper to stun the Thunder and their sold-out crowd at Paycom Center. This was the ultimate wake-up call for the Thunder, who held control for over 47 minutes, behind a 38-point performance from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored twice as many points as any other player on the court. But Haliburton, who has made a name for himself this postseason with three buzzer-beaters and go-ahead buckets heading into the Finals, made the Thunder his latest victim. What stood out for the Pacers: While Haliburton's late-game heroics have already become playoff lore, it would be nice if he and his team weren't in that position. The Pacers had a whopping 25 turnovers while the Thunder only had seven. They also had 16 fewer field goal attempts than the Thunder. For much of the game, the Pacers struggled to generate much offense against the swarming Thunder defense, with no player on Indiana even scoring 20 points. Even though the Thunder only led by as much as 15 points, it seemed as though their lead was twice as large for much of the game -- until the fourth quarter when the comeback kings did what they do best. What to expect in Game 2: For the Thunder, they've obviously realized that they need to play all 48 minutes against this Pacers team, which has made it very clear that they never quit. They can't allow the Pacers to go on heaters late in the game, such as when they went on a 12-2 fourth-quarter run to cut their 15-point deficit to just four points. If the Pacers are within striking distance, the opposing team is in trouble. As for the Pacers, while Haliburton is once again the hero of the playoffs, he only scored 14 points. He needs to be much more aggressive offensively for the Pacers to avoid needing to rely on a buzzer-beater. Meanwhile, the Pacers did a great job dominating the boards, where they had a 56-39 advantage. If they can get fewer turnovers and Haliburton gets going early, they could be in a different position in Game 2. Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.
USA Today
37 minutes ago
- USA Today
Iowa basketball offers rising forward in 2026 recruiting class
Iowa basketball offers rising forward in 2026 recruiting class Iowa basketball identified another player it would like to make a part of its future. The Hawkeyes offered forward Quinn Costello on Friday evening. The three-star forward out of Newman School in Boston and of the Middlesex Magic in the UAA was recently named the co-MVP of the Pangos All-American Camp from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas. Costello is ranked as a three-star power forward by both On3 and 247Sports. 247Sports ranks Costello as the No. 8 player from Massachusetts and as the No. 38 power forward. Costello is rated as the nation's No. 144 player and as the No. 28 power forward in the 247Sports composite rankings. According to On3, Costello is the 130th-ranked player nationally, the No. 22 power forward and the No. 5 player from Massachusetts. In addition to Iowa, Costello has also picked up offers from Vanderbilt, Minnesota, Illinois and Virginia Tech in the past week. Costello also holds offers from Notre Dame, Stanford and Wisconsin. Here's a look at some of Costello's highlights: Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Josh on X: @JoshOnREF
