HAYWARD, Calif. -- Clovis (Calif.) West wide receiver Darian Owens has a chance to be one of the top wide receivers in the state for the 2016 class and showed why at the recent Oakland Nike Football Training Camp at Chabot College.
How good was his afternoon? Good enough that he earned consideration for the wide receiver MVP award, which ended up going to Danville (Calif.) San Ramon's JJ Koski, a 2015 wide receiver still looking for his first offer.
After the event, Owens spoke with SB Nation Recruiting about the state of his recruitment, which has since changed with his second offer from the Trojans.
"When coach Stoops came out, he talked to my coach and asked about my grades, but I feel like we have a good relationship," said Owens.
The inside receiver, who measured in at just under 6'0 and at 180 pounds at the event, said that he would rate his interest level in the Sooners as a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10.
Oklahoma has had some serious success recruiting in California in recent years, but especially in the city of Fresno. Owens said that he knows several of those players, including Michiah Quick and Hatari Byrd, as well as Joe Mixon, who hails from Oakley.
So far, the only school that Owens plans on visiting this summer is Oklahoma. He has not yet visited Norman.
Owens thought at the time that USC was close to offering, which happened over the holiday weekend. Another school that could extend an offer in the near future, according to Owens, is TCU.
A strong relationship with the Trojan staff may have helped Owens get on the radar of USC early and was something that he cited as a major appeal for the in-state school.
Despite the in-state connection and the fact that he was wearing a USC visor at the camp, which he was given by the coaching staff, Owens said that he didn't grow up a fan of the program.
So the Fresno said that he's open to going anywhere in the country to play his college football as long as he can play early and said he would possibly have interested in the Horned Frogs if they were to offer.
The offensive scheme of Oregon is something that Owens finds appealing and he hopes to hear more from the Ducks as his recruitment progresses.