The Oklahoma Sooners used a late commitment flurry to secure a top five finish in the final Rivals.com national recruiting rankings.

The Sooners’ No. 5 final ranking was Stoops’ sixth top 10 finish since 2002 and his best since finishing third in 2005.

It was also the third time Stoops has collected a top five class in that time span.

But the biggest impact of this recruiting class can be measured in how successful the Sooners were against their stiffest competition – the University of Texas.

“You can argue that the Sooners have taken their recruiting to a new level by signing the top three players in the state of Texas,” said national recruiting editor Jeremy Crabtree of Rivals.com. “I know Oklahoma has finished higher in the national rankings, but to go into the state of Texas and take away its best three players – that’s an accomplishment that will measure up with just about anything Oklahoma has done since the days of Barry Switzer.”

“This was a top-five class back in August and there was a lull in commitments during the season, but the way the staff finished off the season is what ended up securing that top five finish,” Crabtree added.

The Sooners’ late recruiting efforts with Lamar Harris, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound cornerback from Gilmer (Tex.) High School helped bolster the Sooners final ranking even though the nation’s top receiver, Julio Jones, signed with Alabama.

Harris spent most of his recruiting process committed to Texas A&M;, but the OU staff was able to secure the signing of the talented defensive back just days before signing day.

“Lamar is a big-time corner,” said defensive back coach Bobby Jack Wright. “He’s very, very athletic and has good size. He’s a heck of a basketball player and a good track runner and he’s been a great football player for them in a really good program that’s won a lot of football games.

“He’s a talented guy that’s explosive. He’s an exciting player.”

Harris’ signing wasn’t just important in securing the Sooners’ top five ranking, but Oklahoma truly needed talented cover corners in this class following the departure of Reggie Smith to the NFL.

Ideally, the Sooners would have liked to have signed one other corner in this class. But scholarship numbers and the possibility of landing Julio Jones made scholarship numbers tighter than expected.

And the Sooners simply couldn’t find another cornerback candidate who could make an immediate impact.

Oklahoma’s strong finish was also bolstered when the Sooners’ landed the top two prospects in the state of Oklahoma in Jameel Owens and Stacey McGee. The Muskogee High School teammates both selected the Sooners during a commitment announcement at their high school gym on Jan. 15.

McGee is a player with defensive end quickness who could project as a defensive tackle. There have also been arguments that McGee is more deserving than Owens when it comes to the title of the state’s best prospect.

Both players bolstered the Sooners’ final rankings by bringing two four-star rankings to the table.

During his press conference Wednesday, Stoops stopped himself in mid-sentence when discussing McGee’s athleticism.

He was about to compare McGee to a former Sooner great. But he thought better than to throw out that comparison in front of a large group of boosters on Wednesday.

It’s no stretch to imagine what player Stoops was referring to. Other coaches on the staff confirmed that it’s no big secret the name Tommie Harris has been flying around when McGee’s highlight tapes have been playing inside the Switzer Center offices.

Oklahoma will now have to wait out the eligibility process with at least one of their highly touted signees.

Joshua Jarboe, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound wide receiver still has work to do in the classroom in order to be eligible.

But sources close to Jarboe insist that he is far from a grade casualty.

Jarboe is currently working with a SAT preparatory instructor in an effort to improve his test scores to an acceptable NCAA eligible level.