Aquinas, Deerfield draw recruiters
Family quality, program attract SoFla players
FORT LAUDERDALE — After Oklahoma signed St. Thomas Aquinas edge rusher Nik Bonitto and Deerfield Beach cornerback Miguel Edwards out of Broward County last recruiting cycle, the Sooners continue to pluck from South Florida, more specifically those same two schools.
Oklahoma earned commitments from Raiders senior cornerback Jaden Davis and Bucks junior running back Jaylan Knighton in recent months. The two discussed what drew them to the Sooners during the opening week of high school football practice.
“I felt like it was the best opportunity for me and my family, and it was the best position,” said Davis, a four-star recruit, at St. Thomas’ first practice. “I like the family aspect of Oklahoma. Since I was on campus, everybody treated me like family – more than just a football player.”
Bonitto, before getting fall camp started in Norman, was watching his former Raider teammates get back to work.
“Me and Nik have been close since middle school,” said Davis, who attended University School with Bonitto before Aquinas. “He always talked to me about Oklahoma and that he was actually going there. He told me [before his announcement]. We’ve been talking about it, and since I went up there, he’s been up there twice. And he says he loves it, nothing’s changed.”
Davis visited a number of colleges in the spring and summer but described what stood out to him in his April trip to Oklahoma.
“It was the whole vibe up there,” he said. “It wasn’t even a recruiting trip. It was a family trip. Everybody treated me like you were one of the unit.”
For Knighton, the quality of previous running backs to have gone through the program – Adrian Peterson and DeMarco Murray – made an impact on his choice.
“It’s RBU [Running Back University],” said Knighton, also rated four stars. “I fit their system. That’s just home. When I visited there for the spring game, it was magnificent.”
The 2020 prospect still has a long time to go before that commitment is final, though.
“My recruitment is open. I’m open to all schools. I’m talking to them,” Knighton said.
He noted LSU, Clemson, Penn State and Louisville as “top contenders right now” trying to supplant the Sooners.
Davis committed to OU on July 18 and Knighton on April 13.
Before Bonitto and Edwards, Oklahoma also had Suncoast outside linebacker K’Jakyre Daley and former Chaminade-Madonna receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, who went through College of the Canyons in California first, in the 2017 recruiting class.