The video of Oklahoma SAE fraternity members singing a racist song is having far-reaching consequences, including ones impacting the school’s football program (you can see the video here).
Four-star 2016 offensive lineman Jean Delance announced on Twitter Monday that he was re-opening his recruitment:
— Jean Delance (@JeanDelance74) March 9, 2015
“Firstly want to say thank you for giving me a opportunity to get my education and play football at OU, but I have Officialy de-committed from Oklahoma University. Nothing to do with the staff or team, I’ll be reopening my recruitment due to personal reasons,” Delance said in a message.
We cannot say for certain whether it was solely the video that led Delance to decommit, but with him writing that his choice had “nothing to do with the staff or team,” it’s very possible that the video played a big role in him no longer wanting to attend the school.
Scout reporter Bob Przybylo says the video is what led Delance to decommit:
#Scout150 OL @JeanDelance74 was clearly disturbed by the racist frat video from #OU last night, no longer committed to #Sooners
— Bob Przybylo (@BPrzybylo) March 9, 2015
Also, Delance’s philosophy on choosing schools is telling:
Guy's should always remember Commit to a school not a coach
— Jean Delance (@JeanDelance74) February 6, 2015
Delance was dedicated to Oklahoma, too, which makes this even more surprising. He committed to the program in November, becoming the school’s first class of 2016 commit (he committed during his junior season). It’s not like he didn’t have choices back then, either. He also had offers from top programs like Baylor, Oklahoma State, TCU, Arizona State, Ohio State and Mississippi State.
Delance even attended Junior Day at Oklahoma over the weekend and seemed to be happy:
Great Day at Oklahoma Today!! pic.twitter.com/PKNoS8z5Bi
— Jean Delance (@JeanDelance74) March 7, 2015
That tweet was sent on Saturday. What could have changed since then? It seems like the video was a big factor, and he wouldn’t be the only person associated with Oklahoma’s football program unhappy with the video.
In the past several weeks, Delance has been offered by LSU, Texas, Texas A&M, Auburn, South Carolina, Tennessee, Nebraska, Oregon State and Missouri. A few hours after he announced his de-commitment from Oklahoma, he said he had been offered from opportunistic Alabama. We’ll see what his new decision brings.
H/T The Oklahoman
