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LOOK: Oklahoma defensive tackles coach at game of 4-star DL target Kayden McDonald

On3 imageby: Drew Schott10/29/22dschott328
On3 image
Photo by Chad Simmons/On3

Suwanee (Ga.) North Gwinnett four-star defensive lineman Kayden McDonald is announcing his commitment on Oct. 31. He will be choosing between Clemson, Florida, Michigan Ohio State and Oklahoma.

Prior to his announcement, Sooners defensive tackles coach Todd Bates decided to catch his game against Lawrenceville (Ga.) Discovery. McDonald was in Norman for an official visit on Oct. 15.

McDonald is the No. 299 overall prospect and No. 40 defensive lineman in the 2023 cycle, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is also the No. 27 player in Georgia.

“It is about (head) coach (Brent) Venables and Bates with Oklahoma,” McDonald told On3’s Chad Simmons. “They recruited me when they were at Clemson, so I already knew them. Then they offered me as soon as they got to Oklahoma. I really like how coach Venables is a defensive-minded coach. I went there in March, I liked it a lot and I am ready to get back. The relationships I have with the coaches are strong and I am ready to spend more time there.”

According to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine, Clemson is leading for McDonald’s pledge at 61.3%. Meanwhile, the Sooners’ odds are 1.6%.

RPM was released to the public in December. The On3 engineering group teamed up with Spiny.ai to create the industry’s first algorithm and machine learning-based product to predict where athletes will attend college. 

It factors in machine learning, social sentiment, visits and historical trends. However, expert predictions are still a big piece of the RPM equation.

McDonald has an On3 NIL Valuation of $11.5K. The On3 NIL Valuation is an index that looks to set the standard market value for both high school and college-level athletes. The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.