Oklahoma and Oklahoma State didn’t meet on the football field in 2024, but the Sooners and Cowboys still share the recruiting trail and go head-to-head for talented prospects quite frequently.
A perfect example of that showed up on Early Signing Day, as Mike Gundy and the Cowboys were expecting to sign three-star signal caller Jett Niu out of Lehi, Utah. However, Sooners’ new offensive coordinator, Ben Arbuckle, had other ideas.
Niu committed to Oklahoma State back in September, but when it was time to put pen to paper, he’d had a change of heart.
“I have had a relationship with coach Arbuckle ever since the beginning of my recruiting process,” Niu told 247Sports. “We have always had a good connection and we happened to cross paths again. Everything was just falling into place.
“It was a very difficult decision to make the flip. I love everything about Oklahoma State and what they stand for, but when I was talking to coach Brent Venables I just felt something with him and I felt that he really cares about me and he knows the talents I have. I have a great opportunity over there to go compete and I have prayed about it long and hard. I felt that this was the decision I need to make.”
Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables talked about the role that Arbuckle played in flipping the three-star quarterback, calling the fit a “slam dunk” for both sides.
“He had recruited Jett for a while,” Venables said of Arbuckle. “He was a guy that played a pivotal role in being able to get Jett. I think there’s a trust, knowing what [Niu] was signing up for. Once I was able to kind of bridge the gap with Jett and his family — how we do what we do, all those types of things — it was a slam dunk for both sides.”
