An Inside Look at How a Top Prospect Made His Pick

Terrific reporting here, with an inside look at how one of the nation's top recruits, defensive lineman Jamarkus McFarland chose Oklahoma over Texas.

Some highlights:

He said he saw everything from flat-screen televisions in Texas Coach Mack Brown's bathrooms to L.S.U.'s recruiting hostesses sitting on the laps of prospects.
But the best summation of his experience might have come from a paper he wrote for his English class comparing Oklahoma and Texas. The paper, "Red River Rivals Recruit," includes a description of a wild party hosted by Longhorns fans at an upscale hotel in Dallas after the Oklahoma-Texas game on Oct. 11.
"I will never forget the excitement amongst all participants," McFarland wrote. "Alcohol was all you can drink, money was not an option. Girls were acting wild by taking off their tops, and pulling down their pants. Girls were also romancing each other. Some guys loved every minute of the freakiness some girls demonstrated. I have never attended a party of this magnitude."
He continued: "The attitude of the people at the party was that everyone should drink or not come to the party. Drugs were prevalent with no price attached."
He compared that with a house party hosted by a sorority at Oklahoma.
"Drinks were plentiful, but not to the extent they were" at the Dallas party, he wrote. "Some people were tipsy, but in control of themselves."