Oklahoma signee Kobie McKinzie had a wild recruitment over the last month.
Although McKinzie was the first player to commit in Oklahoma’s 2022 recruiting class, he decommitted and opened up his recruitment once head coach Lincoln Riley abruptly departed for USC.
He took a visit to Texas soon after, and chose to verbally commit to the Longhorns. The commitment to Texas was short lived, as new Sooners head coach Brent Venables visited McKinzie in Lubbock soon after he was hired and was able to sign the four-star prospect on Dec. 15.
In a recent interview with the Hoover and Mayes Show on 97.1 FM The Sports Animal Tulsa, McKinzie touched on why he chose Oklahoma over Texas.
“When (Venables) came to Lubbock, Texas had came the day before and their whole selling point to me was money. Like that’s all they talked about in the meeting and that just didn’t sit right with me. I understand the opportunities money-wise they were amazing, but how do we change this football program?”
McKinzie continued further by explaining how his ultimate goal is to make long-term money in the NFL, not just short-term money via NIL deals in college.
The dig at Texas implying their recruiting pitch is all about money didn’t sit well with other signees, recruits, and the fanbase as a whole. For one, something clearly resonated well with Texas’ recruiting pitch if McKinzie was so quick to commit to the Longhorns shortly after opening up his recruitment.
Texas signee Derrick Brown, one of the most vocal members of the 2022 class, quickly jumped in and stated “I’ve been committed for a while and I’ve only heard about money twice.”
The Longhorns currently hold the No. 5 recruiting class in the country and the top class in the Big 12, according to 247Sports. Steve Sarkisian and his staff are clearly doing something right.