When Oklahoma lastly will get Erik McCarty on the soccer subject, the Sooners would possibly want a little time to search out the proper place for him.
“He’s the most complete football player I’ve ever coached,” stated McCarty’s highschool coach, Forrest Mazey. “He’s one of them guys that, man, he’s done it all for us.”
McCarty rushed for almost 5,000 yards and made virtually 350 tackles in his four-year profession at McAlester High School as one in every of Oklahoma’s finest gamers on one of many state’s prime groups.
On Wednesday, the primary day of the early National Signing Period, he’ll formally signal on the dotted line, including his identify to the Sooners’ 2023 recruiting class of (at the moment) 23 prospects as a fearless, hard-hitting security.
McCarty dedicated to the Sooners on Jan. 29, and selected OU over gives from Baylor, Kansas State, TCU, Nebraska, Pittsburgh and others.
OU’s class now ranks No. 8 nationally, in line with the 247 Sports Composite Rankings, and the 6-foot-2, 180-pound McCarty ranks as a 3-star prospect, No. 735 total within the nation and No. 10 within the state. His plan is to graduate in December and enroll at OU in January.
McCarty has extra to beat than the standard incoming mid-term freshman, nevertheless. His highschool profession was ended not with a Class 5A State Championship or a playoff loss, however by a knee harm.
He’ll signal Wednesday and start lessons subsequent month amid the pains of ACL rehab. He’ll transfer by means of Jerry Schmidt’s grinding winter exercises at a surgically measured tempo, he has little probability of being out there for spring follow, and it’s uncertain he’s on the preseason depth chart when August arrives.
But that gained’t diminish McCarty’s enthusiasm for making a optimistic influence on the Oklahoma roster — wherever that could be.
“He’s thrown passes for touchdowns, he’s played defense, he plays safety, he can play linebacker, he can play running back, he has really good hands, he can kick return, he can block kicks,” Mazey stated. “I mean, you name it, and he can do it. Just very, very impressive to watch his body of work through the last 3 1/2 years, 3 3/4 years.”
McCarty informed the Tulsa World final summer season he finally expects to search out a residence at security in Brent Venables’ protection.
“I’m not afraid to come down and rock somebody,” McCarty informed the newspaper.
It could not occur in 2023, but when rehab goes nicely and issues work out, he could possibly be competing for taking part in time as quickly as 2024. That wouldn’t shock Mazey one bit.
Of course, if the Sooners want a working again down the road, McCarty may almost definitely lend a hand there, too.
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After taking part in virtually solely on protection as a true freshman at McAlester, McCarty grew to become a two-way famous person throughout his sophomore season, dashing for 1,966 yards and 34 touchdowns whereas racking up 88 tackles, three interceptions, two fumbles and two blocked kicks.
If these numbers sound spectacular, McCarty actually broke out as a junior in 2021, working for two,005 yards and 38 landing and accumulating 104 tackles with an interceptions, two fumbles, three blocked punts and a blocked kick.
In a championship sport showdown of two 13-0 groups, his efficiency in opposition to Collinsville — 268 dashing yards, 4 TDs — went down as one of many state’s finest ever in defeat, a 42-35 loss.
This season was truncated by harm, however McCarty nonetheless ran for 929 yards and 16 touchdowns on the bottom to go together with 86 tackles, one interception, three fumbles and 4 blocked punts.
In his 4 varsity seasons, McCarty completed with 101 touchdowns and added 5 2-point conversions. In 47 video games, he scored 616 profession factors. Underscoring his versatility, McCarty caught 37 passes for 745 yards and eight TDs, and completed with 5,863 all-purpose yards.
His profession dashing whole of 4,943 yards and his landing mark of 101 each stand as college information.
“Man, just athletically, he’s a gift. He has a gift,” Mazey stated. “And more importantly, he’s got a gift to be a great person. Everybody matters to him. He doesn’t look down on people. It’d be easy for a kid like that to have the same kind of — especially all the social media he garnered over the last year-and-a-half — it’d be very easy for him to not be humble. It’d be very easy for him to be a, I guess, bigger-than-life guy. Especially in McAlester.
“Man, he is — you’ll never hear anybody say anything bad about him. I’ll promise you that. He is a great, great young man.”
Whether it’s security or working again or as a gunner masking punts or an edge rusher attempting to dam them, McCarty would appear extraordinarily doubtless have an effect of some sort in Norman.
“I’m excited to be able to watch him go to OU,” Mazey stated. “I’m excited to be able to go and sit in the stands and say, ‘Hey, I coached that young man and hopefully I had an impact on his life as he moves forward.’ ”
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