As recruiting becomes more and more competitiveâ€"middle schoolers are getting scholarship offers nowadaysâ€"the infamous recruiting bust becomes all the more detrimental. All those years spent at dinner tables with their family, in meetings with their coaches and in the bleachers on Friday nights get flushed down the toilet faster than you can say "possession with intent to distribute."
Let us first define a "bust" simply as someone who came to campus with large expectations, lighting up the message boards and phone lines, and did not get anywhere near fulfilling those expectations.
Lots of kids do not meet their full potential, but it's the big fish that are the most dramatic when they fall from grace. The 5-star stud from a small town who couldn't handle the pressure. The physical freak who never got his priorities sorted out. The loud-mouth prima donna who never backed it up.
Let's review five of the biggest recruiting busts in Oklahoma history.
Jermie Calhoun
Jermie Calhoun was the prized recruit from the 2008 class, one of Bob Stoops' best hauls that included Landry Jones, Ben Habern and three of the four starters on next season's defensive line.
But there is something about the nation's No.1 running back being from Texas and coming to OU that comes with a little added pressure. We can all thank Adrian Peterson for that.
Calhoun sowed some promise his freshman season in 2009 (4.9YPC on 45 carries), but a knee injury saw him slide down the depth chart behind Demarco Murry, Roy Finch and Brennan Clay. After watching walk-on sensation Dominique Whaley steal the show in 2011, Calhoun transferred to Angelo State in central Texas.
In his favor, at least Calhoun's exit was far less dramatic than the rest of this group and did not involve the authorities.
Josh Jarboe
Josh Jarboe was a member of the 2008 class along with Calhoun, but his career was much, much shorter.
The Georgia native was one of the top wide receivers in the country and ranked in the top 20 overall by most recruiting services. Oklahoma was short on playmakers at the position, so he was met with extremely high expectations upon arriving in Norman.Â
But Jarboe had a nose for trouble. He got lucky when Bob Stoops gave him a second chance after his gun possession charges were reduced. What did he do with this opportunity? He posted a video of himself rapping about shooting people on YouTube and was quickly dismissed from the team before ever getting a chance to take the field.
He transferred to Troy, then to a Mississippi JUCO and finally to Arkansas State where he made an impact with 730 yards and two touchdowns last season. He is a senior this year.
Rhett Bomar
Rhett Bomar came to Oklahoma from Texas along with Adrian Peterson in 2004. They were considered the top recruits in the nation at their respective positions and were quickly pegged as the future of the program.
He won the job in 2005 and, despite a 3-3 start, finished strong by beating Oregon 17-14 in a memorable Holiday Bowl victory. Bomar's 54.2 percent completion rate and 1:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio raised a few question marks, but overall, his future looked bright at Oklahoma.
That is, until he got caught accepting pay checks from a local car dealership for hours he didn't actually work.
Bomar was swiftly booted from the team and is loathed to this day by Sooner nation, blamed for slamming their championship window shut for the next few seasons.
He finished out his college career at Sam Houston State where he played well enough to get drafted by the New York Giants in 2009. After being cut in 2010, he landed in Minnesota but was waived after a drunk driving incident. He is currently an Oakland Raider but has yet to step on the field during an NFL game.
Brent Rawls
Brent Rawls came to Norman in 2001 as one of the top quarterbacks in the nation. The Sooners were building on the momentum gained from winning the national championship the prior season and Rawls was pinned as the guy who could go get another one.Â
Things didn't go quite as planned for the Louisiana prospect, however. Jason White won the starting jobâ€"and a Heisman, no lessâ€"and Rawls suffered a concussion when he was thrown from the back of a pickup during a party.Â
He tried to transfer to Louisiana Tech, but didn't have the grades and never played again.
Charles Thompson
As a redshirt freshman, Charles Thompson led the 1987 Sooners to a perfect regular seasonâ€"including a win against No. 2 Nebraskaâ€"and found himself on the cover of Sports Illustrated. They lost 20-14 to Miami in the Orange Bowl, falling just short of another national championship for coach Barry Switzer, but things were looking very optimistic for Thompson's future.Â
Charles made the cover again after the 1988 season, but this time under very different circumstances. Instead of wearing Sooner crimson, the quarterback was pictured in jailbird orange, being placed into the back of a police car. Thompson was busted selling cocaine to an undercover police officer and later pled guilty to the charges.
This was the last in a string of OU football player arrests that led to Switzer leaving the program after 16 years at the helm.
After serving his sentence, Thompson thankfully turned his life around. His son, Kendal Thompson, is currently a sophomore quarterback for the Sooners.
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