It's Bedlam! Oklahoma's recruiting ace had trick up sleeve Mike Gundy couldn't match

It's Bedlam! Sort of, as National Signing Day is upon us. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are fighting for many many of the same prospects – as is typically the case with schools so close in proximity.

One of those incoming freshmen was three-star quarterback commit Jett Niu, a prospect from Utah. Niu is ranked as a top-20 player in the state of Utah. While he had been committed to Oklahoma State since September, Niu opted to flip to OU at the last possible moment.

"After much thought and reflection, I've decided to decommit from Oklahoma State and commit to the University of Oklahoma," Niu said in a statement on X. "I am incredibly grateful for the amazing support and opportunities I received from Oklahoma State and their coaching staff. Thank you for believing in me and helping me grow. I am looking forward to this new chapter at OU and can't wait to see what the future holds."

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy loses a QB commit to Oklahoma

As fun as it would be to pin the loss of a three-star quarterback on Mike Gundy, we cannot in good faith do that. Niu was always the backup plan for Oklahoma State, as they lost Adam Schobel to TCU. Instead, Niu went somewhere he felt valued. In fact, the Sooners had a secret recruiting weapon OSU simply couldn't compete with.

Ben Arbuckle, formerly of Washington State, had recruited Niu since his Wazzu days. When Arbuckle was hired by Oklahoma, it was only a matter of time before Niu joined him.

"I have had a relationship with coach Arbuckle ever since the beginning of my recruiting process," Niu told 247Sports. "We have always had a good connection and we happened to cross paths again. Everything was just falling into place."

Niu added that his relationship with Brent Venables has grown of late, saying "when I was talking to coach...I just felt something with him and I felt that he really cares about me and he knows the talents I have. I have a great opportunity over there to go compete and I have prayed about it long and hard. I felt that this was the decision I need to make."

Those sound like good selling points to me. Hopefully for Gundy and Oklahoma State, losing out on a player like Niu doesn't come back to haunt them.