NORMAN—Ninety days ago, Jaqualyn Crawford was leading the Rockdale Tigers to a state championship.
Flash forward a bit and Crawford is snagging spirals from quarterback Kyler Murray, who will take over for graduated Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield as the Sooners began spring practice on March 10.
Oklahoma’s spring game is April 14 and there will be 80,000 rabid fans on hand to watch it.
The 5-foot-10, 172-pound Crawford is just one of several players who checked into school early.
“So far, so good,” said Sooner head coach Lincoln Riley on his early enrollees. “For their age and the position they’re in, it’s a pretty mature group. I like the mindset. They’ve done a good job adapting to everything we’ve asked them to do.
“I know they’re probably as eager as anybody to get out on the fi eld and get those first college practices under their belt. It’s an exciting group. I think we’ve got some guys who have a chance to be big contributors for us.”
Oklahoma has a stable of experienced receivers in CeeDee Lamb, Marquise Brown and Grant Calcaterra who played big roles last season for the Big 12 champions.
Scouting reports have Crawford with the highest ceiling to crack the rotation and make an impact among the Sooners three receiver signees.
Crawford—who was rated the eighth best athlete in the country by 247Sports out of high school—is just trying to find his place in the sun.
He would love to follow in the footsteps of Cameron receiver Dede Westbrook, who was a Heisman candidate as a Sooner receiver and plays in the NFL now.
The charismatic speedster is the most recruited athlete in Rockdale history and received football offers from just about every school in the nation, including Notre Dame, Nebraska, Florida, and Auburn.
He committed to Oklahoma over Texas in July after Riley made a trip to Rockdale and was part of the No. 9 ranked recruiting class in the nation.
Crawford was leaning towards Texas, but when Longhorn coach Tom Herman wanted him as a defensive back, he shifted to the Sooners camp where he would be allowed to line up at receiver.
His commitment to Oklahoma was tested when former SMU coach Chad Morris got the job at Arkansas. One of Morris’ first calls was to Crawford.
Crawford and his family had formed a bond with Morris, but SMU was not on the same level as the powerhouse schools that were courting Crawford.
The weekend before national signing day, Crawford visited Morris at Arkansas and was torn and contemplated signing with the Razorbacks.
Crawford’s father Riley Moore said, “it was very close.”
It came down to one factor: Do you want to play for a school that will be rebuilding for the next four years, or play for a school that will likely be playing for a national championship this fall?
During his time at Rockdale, there was little doubt that Crawford was a special athlete.
His 58 career touchdowns is a school record. He set that despite missing three games last season with injury.
After kicking an extra point against Jarrell, Crawford scored in seven different ways you can score a point in football.
Crawford was also a star in track, leading the Tigers to a state championship in 2016 to accompany their recent football title.
He was the Class 3A 100-meter dash champion and anchored the Tigers’ gold medal winning sprint relay and 800-meter relay squads.
Crawford was a national AAU champion in the 400-meter dash while he was in junior high.
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