Tennessee football target Danny Okoye released his top schools on social media on Sunday. The Vols made the cut, along with Alabama, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and LSU.
The six schools have separated themselves from the rest for the four-star edge rusher out of NOAH Homeschool in Tulsa, OK.
“Really just the vibes, communication, and relationships,” Okoye told Off The Hook about what set his top schools apart from the rest. “Not really NFL potential, but developmental potential.”
He ranks as the No. 158 prospect nationally and the No. 10 edge in the 2024 class by 247Sports Composite. He also is the No. 1 player out of Oklahoma. He holds over 25 offers.
While Okoye doesn’t have a commitment date yet, he plans to announce his decision around early October. He admits, though, that a decision may come at any time.
He has visits with Oklahoma on Sept. 2, Texas on Sept. 16 and Tennessee on Sept. 30. His visit to Tennessee will be an official visit. Texas has also hosted Okoye for an official visit.
Okoye projects as a LEO in Tennessee’s system, a hybrid edge rusher.
Here is what the 6-foot-4 and 241-pound Okoye had to say about each of his top schools.
Tennessee: “Tennessee has always been leading the recruitment for me. While talking to you, I just got a text from one of the coaches asking to talk later. So, that kind of shows they’re really big on communication, on friendship, brotherhood, all that stuff that I can really support. They’ve been the most involved, I guess, out of most schools.
“I guess maybe only the only other school that could really compete with them is OU. I really appreciate that from them. The program that they’re building right now, it’s going to be a powerhouse, especially with the recruitment that they’ve been doing on the defensive and offensive side of the ball. So just seeing all those pieces in motion, it’s definitely given me some good feelings about Tennessee,
Texas: Texas has always been showing the love, coach (Pete Kwiatkowski), all of them. They’ve really been my family for real just throughout the recruitment process, even one of the first teams to offer me. Ever since then, it’s really just been growing in the relationship. But every visit when I went down to visit, it was amazing, getting to connect with the players, getting to connect with the faculty, the staff, some of the student body.
“It was one of the best visits I’ve had by far. Just the vibes, the energy down there is amazing. I could really see myself developing as an athlete there. A lot of the people I’ve looked up to, athletically speaking, have come out of Texas and have spoken well with Texas.”
Oklahoma: “They didn’t have too good of a year last year, but with all the rebuilding and structuring that they’ve been doing in the off season, summer and spring, they’ve been making leaps and bounds in my recruitment. We didn’t talk much after the end of last season, but I’ve been talking to coach (Miguel Chavis) and coach (Todd Bates) and coach (Ted Roof) and all of those guys and they’ve been really, really informative, really helpful, and giving me all the details, all the information that I need.
LSU: I can really see LSU winning a national championship in maybe the next three to four years. And being a part of that is just a really crazy idea. LSU was kind of a special one in regards to recruitment because they were the first offer that I really like wanted, but I didn’t get it until I was well along on my recruitment.
“So it was kind of interesting because there Jamar Cain, who was their outside linebackers coach, he didn’t wanna offer me. But then he went to the NFL and they hired coach (John Jancek). And with him having the job, the new job for like three days, they decided to offer me. And ever since then, we’ve just been getting closer and relating more and talking more football and talking about how going to LSU could really benefit me and my future. I like everything he’s been saying so far.”
Alabama: I guess Alabama really speaks for itself, the history there, the legacy that coach (Nick) Saban has and all the different coaches that he surrounded himself with, like Coach (Coleman Hutzler), who I’ve been communicating the most with. I didn’t really have to think too much about putting them in the top six, as soon as I was thinking about releasing it. And as soon as I got back from the visit, I already knew that they were gonna be a pretty tough team to beat recruiting wise. T
They’ve always been telling me how they’re not going tell you if they want you. They’re gonna tell you why they want you, the reasons that they want you, what you can fix so that they can want you more, what you’re already good at. They know football, they know every aspect of football, every aspect of player development. I really like how detailed everything is over there.”
Colorado: Deion and them, I’ve been talking to them for a while, really. It was them and Tennessee that were really recruiting me the hardest at first. Things have sort of gotten a little busy. I was supposed to go on a visit to Colorado over the summer that sort of fell through, but I’m definitely going to try and get back out there for at least one camp day.
“I guess really just the intrigue of Colorado is why I put them in my top six. I haven’t really seen them do anything yet, but what I think they’re capable of, I really am interested in it and I really like to see what Deion has to offer this season.”
