COLLEGE COMMITMENT
The speed and athleticism of Zion Ragins has attracted college football coaches from all over the country through the past few seasons, each courting the Greyhounds receiver. Last week, after multiple visits by Ragins and visitors to JCHS that have included Georgia head coach Kirby Smart coming in for a visit via helicopter, Ragins settled on his decision.
Ragins verbally committed to Oklahoma last week over a host of teams, including Georgia and Florida State. He’ll be heading to a Sooners program that next year will join Texas as the two newest members of the SEC. That means the Sooners will play on the road as close as places like Athens, Knoxville or Columbia, much closer that current Big 12 opponents in locales such as Stillwater, Okla., Or Lubbock, Texas.
“I was very excited; it was a very exciting moment for me and my family,” Ragins said of last week’s announcement. “I’m just blessed.”
Ragins’ pledge to Oklahoma came as part of a big recruiting week for the Sooners, who with Ragins now have five wide receiver commitments for their 2024 signing class. On Friday, Oklahoma picked up a commitment from Taylor Tatum, rated as the nation’s top running back.
Ragins said the connection atmosphere at the Norman, Okla., campus helped set the Sooners apart.
“It was the connection and atmosphere with the coaches and the love that they showed,” Ragins said. “They said that they’d use me in a lot of ways; it’ll be an electric offense.”
Ragins, selected to play in the 2024 Army All-American Bowl and rated as a four-star by multiple recruiting services, is not the only highly rated Greyhound.
Quarterback Judd Anderson has verbally committed to Miami, and three-star receiver Tyler Stewart has committed to Temple.
Running back/defensive back Javion Butts has picked up offers from schools including North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest and Indiana.
