The video of Sigma Alpha Epsilon's University of Oklahoma chapter cheerfully chanting the N-word, with a riff about lynching, has now hit the Sooners where it hurts: Football. On Monday, top football recruit Jean Delance de-committed from Oklahoma, two days after affirming his decision to play for the Sooners. He cited "personal reasons," but later acknowledged that the racist video was the driving factor.
Delance, a junior offensive tackle from Mesquite, Texas, is ranked a 4-star recruit by 247Sports, the No. 16 offensive tackle and the 167th overall prospect in the class of 2016. He'll be fine — Oklahoma's loss is some other team's gain.
But it has to sting for Oklahoma. Later Monday, Delance told a Dallas TV station that the University of Oklahoma had "felt like home," and that the football staff had always "treated me like family." But the video changed his mind, even though the university boarded up SAE on Monday and kicked everyone out. "I'm glad the way they handled it, but still, that's a bad downside to me," he explained. Watch Delance bid the Sooners farewell below. —Peter Weber
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