An exhaustive accounting of OU QB Dillon Gabriel’s Twitter recruiting recreation

“It simply comes pure to me and one thing that, taking part in the (quarterback) place, that it’s important to be actually good at, simply being the chief of the huddle,” he stated. “The blokes within the huddle are taking a look at you to be that voice of perception and confidence. It’s one thing that I’ve realized however one thing that comes pure to me.”

Gabriel proved himself an integral, foundational pillar for OU over the course of a rocky 2022 marketing campaign in Norman and he’ll fill the identical function in 2023, again with the Sooners for a fifth season in school soccer.

However for the reason that shut of the 2022 common season — maybe excluding OU’s Dec. 29, 2022, journey to the Cheez-It Bowl — Gabriel’s management has been seen nowhere greater than on Twitter. Sometimes reserved on social media, Gabriel kicked up his Twitter recreation throughout the 45-day switch portal window, which closed Wednesday with 10 scholarship gamers and a pair of walk-ons becoming a member of OU’s roster.

Gabriel made use of memes, GIFs and emojis, evoked the likes of Stephen A. Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio and SpongeBob SquarePants and at instances operated with the identical precision that earned him Large 12 Newcomer of the Yr honors in 2022 — all of it for the unquantifiable but more and more vital sake of recruiting by way of social media.

With the portal now shut till Might 1 and OU within the early days of offseason exercises, it’s time for an exhaustive accounting of Gabriel’s social media ways, who they had been focused to and what all of it yielded the Sooners within the flurry of the switch portal:

👀👀👀 https://t.co/Ej18W2YcbK

— Dillon Gabriel (@_dillongabriel_) December 17, 2022

Gabriel began small in mid-December with a logo as dependable because the veteran quarterback himself. The eyes emoji is an oldy, however a goody.

On this occasion, Gabriel supplied a nod to Tre Harris, the Louisiana Tech switch go catcher who accounted for 29.2% of his crew’s receiving manufacturing in 2022. The retweet obtained 1,095 likes, 54 retweets and a stream of replies encouraging Harris to “come residence.”

The eyes, all three pairs of them, proved unsuccessful for Gabriel and OU, nonetheless. Harris dedicated to Ole Miss on Dec. 26.

👀👀👀 https://t.co/k1AP8SZUoL

— Dillon Gabriel (@_dillongabriel_) December 22, 2022

Gabriel broke out the eyes emoji once more in late December, this time for the dedication of Texas Tech security Reggie Pearson.

An added layer to this: Pearson is the defensive again who unloaded a fierce hit on Gabriel on a trick play on the primary snap of additional time within the Sooners’ additional time loss to the Pink Raiders on Nov. 26, 2022. He even included footage of the hit within the video that accompanied his dedication.

Marvin Mims hit the nail on the top within the replies.

Bro hit you want that and put it within the video and also you reposted it. 🤣🤣🤣🤣Welcome @reggiepearson21 congrats brotha!!

— Marvin Mims Jr. (@marvindmims) December 22, 2022

DiCaprio’s well-known knuckle-bite from the 2013 Martin Scorsese movie arrives as his character, stock-market manipulator Jordan Beflort, describes his huge extramarital exercise.

Gabriel whipped it out when his former heart from UCF visited Norman earlier this month.

Lee, a three-year starter with the Knights, would have introduced expertise to the Sooners offensive line and a presumably problem to Andrew Raym for OU’s beginning heart spot.

As an alternative, Lee’s veteran presence will likely be felt at Miami subsequent fall following his Jan. 8 pledge to the Hurricanes.

pic.twitter.com/75i7FCmFxS

— Dillon Gabriel (@_dillongabriel_) January 5, 2023

Two issues occurred on Jan. 5: OU acquired a dedication from Miami (Ohio) offensive lineman Caleb Shaffer and Gabriel formally introduced his plans to return to Norman in 2023.

We’re going to imagine the edit of ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith that Gabriel posted two and a half hours earlier than his announcement was linked to the latter.

Concurrently, this marked OU’s most important offseason information and the most important memedrop of the Sooners’ 2023 season so far.

This story ended the identical approach for OU as Harris’ recruitment. Tyrone Broden, the 6-foot-7 switch from Bowling Inexperienced, picked Arkansas on Jan. 15.

However Gabriel will get factors right here for creativity and persistence. After Broden tweeted at him at 1:28 a.m. on Jan. 6, Gabriel waited almost 12 hours to answer. He delivered with an edit of Hasbulla Magamedov — the Dagestani web persona — in an OU hat with a lock edited into the picture.

Easy. Poignant. Finally ineffective for the Sooners who searched closely within the portal for go catching expertise following the departures of Mims and Theo Wease.

Third time’s the attraction? Gabriel pulled out a SpongeBob meme for go catcher Andrel Anthony and the Michigan switch dedicated to OU days later. Curiously, Broden — the eventual Arkansas commit — replied to this specific tweet asking for a DM from Gabriel.

Broden gained’t be in Norman subsequent fall. Anthony will. Right here’s what the 6-foot-2 did to Michigan State in 2021: 

It’s by no means too late, buzzer beater!!! 😩 @wrouse19 https://t.co/Ha5AZwFReC pic.twitter.com/AhjJABbj75

— Dillon Gabriel (@_dillongabriel_) January 14, 2023

We’ll should ask Gabriel about his affinity for Leonardo DiCaprio the subsequent time we chat with him.

The Sooners’ picked up an enormous flip when Stanford offensive sort out Walter Rouse decommitted from Nebraska and shifted his plans for 2023 to OU. A raised glass is the least Gabriel may provide his presumed opening day left sort out.