Rankins Keeps the Laughter Coming

Jejuan Rankins | Senior | Football

NORMAN, Okla. --

If you're ever in need of a good laugh, Jejuan Rankins is a good person to go to. While soft-spoken on the field, the senior wideout from Windsor, North Carolina, is not as quiet off the field.

"I'm a funny guy," said Rankins when asked if he had any special talents. "I can keep the laughs going ."

Chijioke Onyenegecha, a senior cornerback for the Sooners and a close friend of Rankins, agreed that he is a fun person to be around.

Jejuan Rankins Bio & Stats | Jejuan Rankins Photo Gallery

"Jejuan is very outgoing. He always has something entertaining to say," said Onyenegecha, "Everyone on the team likes him. He's just a genuine guy all-around, and he's also mature enough to be a leader on the field."

Known as "J-Rank" by friends and teammates, Rankins was not always set on playing football in college. Growing up in North Carolina, a state known for its basketball more than its football tradition, Rankins played AAU hoops through his junior year.

However, his high school football team won the state championship that same year, and that was all Rankins needed to shift his focus solely to football.

"Playing AAU through my junior year, I had scholarship offers from Virginia Tech, Iowa State, and NC State. As a junior, we won state in football. After that I stopped playing basketball and played just football," Rankins said. "About a week after the game, all the big football schools started talking to me, sending me a lot of mail."

Many schools came calling, but the University of Oklahoma stood out above the rest.

As soon as Rankins made his way to Norman, he met one of the best to ever play receiver at OU, Mark Clayton, who was a current Sooner at the time.

A lot of people, including Onyenegecha, compare Rankins' style of play to Clayton's, but Rankins doesn't buy it. If not Clayton, then who does Rankins model his game after?

"Marvin Harrison. He's a little guy, but he's real," Rankins said of the All-Pro wide receiver for the NFL's Indianapolis Colts. Not a bad role model, and Rankins has made his share of big plays during his tenure as a Sooner.

Rankins' open personality has translated to good relationships with his teammates. One of those good friends is Onyenegecha, who Rankins calls the toughest corner to go against and his favorite one to match up with. When asked who usually wins that battle, Rankins said, "Me -- it depends on the day. Jioke's pretty good."

Onyenegecha agreed that it is a tough matchup between the two of them.

"We have some good battles. You win some, you lose some," Onyenegecha said, "He's real unpredictable. His speed is so deceiving and you never know what you'll get. Overall he's as shifty as MC (Mark Clayton) and he's got great hands. He'll make all kinds of acrobatic catches."

Rankins, who has a three-year old daughter, is not sure of what his future holds in football and beyond. He said he's going to finish school and take it from there. One thing in the visible future is his final game in front of the 80,000-plus fans at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Reflecting on his four-year career, Rankins said his most memorable moment was the 2003 regular season.

"It'd have to be the 2003 regular season. We went undefeated and led the nation in scoring," Rankins said.

When he enters the stadium, Rankins said he's nervous, but "ready to play." The final time he walks out onto Owen Field, which will be against Oklahoma State, may be a little different.

"I'll have to see when it gets here," Rankins said. "It will probably be kind of rough, being the last time to walk through the tunnel. After the game gets going, it will just be like another game. It will be all good."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sooner Feature by Kellen Coleman
Read more features on your favorite Sooners

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors