One of the most highly-touted members of Oklahoma’s most recent recruiting class will see his collegiate playing career delayed -- but not derailed, thankfully -- by a health issue.
Over the weekend, Lincoln Riley confirmed that Jalen Redmond will not see the field at all during the upcoming season because of issues involving blood clots. The clots were discovered by doctors in Redmond’s lungs earlier this month, with the discovery resulting in a two-night hospital stay.
Despite the dire-sounding diagnosis, Riley fully expects Redmond to join the Sooners on the field at some point on down the line.
“We do fully anticipate to have him back here in the future,” the head coach said. “We’ve got to make sure that that’s completely under control with the obvious severity of a complication like that.”
Redmond was a four-star 2018 signee, rated as the No. 8 weakside defensive end in the country; the No. 4 player at any position in the state of Oklahoma; and the No. 135 player overall on 247Sports.com‘s composite board. Just six of the two dozen signees in the Sooners’ class this year were rated higher than Redmond.