MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — About six months before he left Oklahoma, Brent Venables secured commitments from Eric Striker and Charles Tapper.

The two players weren’t can’t miss, five-star stud prospects coming out of high school, according to the online recruiting rankings. Now, they’re key pieces to the 30th-best defense in the country.

Striker was the better prospect, according to Rivals. A four-star from Armwood High School in Seffner, Fla., he was ranked as the No. 243 overall player and the No. 18 outside linebacker in the class of 2012. After Oklahoma, his next best offers were West Virginia and Tennessee.

Tapper, a three-star from Baltimore-City College High, wasn’t nationally ranked by Rivals. Among the strong-side defensive ends in that class, he was 26th. Miami, Penn State and West Virginia also offered.

Both were listed as three-stars by 247 and ranked just outside of the top 350 prospects. Venables locked them up within a month of each other during his last summer in Norman.

“He was a fantastic guy. I can remember, what stuck out to coach Venables about me, he wanted me,” Striker said. “Colleges like OU wanted me. Other colleges might have been slow…coach V was like, ‘Eric, you’re a heck of a player. I’m going to offer you a scholarship.'”

Tapper called him a great recruiter.

“He sold me on Oklahoma University. Everything he told me about Oklahoma, the players and the family and tradition was all true,” Tapper said. “He didn’t tell me one lie through that whole recruiting process.”

Both players were disappointed when Venables took the Clemson job in January of 2012.

“When he (left), it hurt a little,” Striker said. “He explained to me his move. He said it was best for him. I’ve got no knock on that. It’s what’s best for him.”

Like Striker, Tapper has no ill feelings towards his old recruiter, just disappointment that he never got to play for him.

“You watch his defenses and what he does with his defenses, it’s amazing. I remember, playing him last year, he just knew everything that we were going to do on offense,” Tapper said. “It’s like he was coaching their offense against us. No matter what. They knew what was coming on.

“We hope this year we can beat coach V. That’s the guy that recruited me. You want to beat that guy, so there’s that chip on your shoulder. You did recruit me and you left, so I want to beat you, coach.

“There’s still love and respect.”