Denison junior point guard T.J. Taylor made a verbal commitment to Oklahoma yesterday and the announcement was something of a foregone conclusion.

The Sooners have been Taylor's top choice for awhile and it was only a matter of time before he officially made his feelings known.

The biggest deciding factor to play for the region finalist was head coach Jeff Capel. And the timing of the decision isn't a surprise. Capel was a hot commodity in the past six weeks, being mentioned for the openings at Virginia and Georgia, among others.

It was a pretty safe bet that if Capel left Oklahoma, they would have dropped off Taylor's list.

The two met at Denison High School yesterday morning for a few hours and Taylor felt comfortable enough to give the verbal commitment.

But that doesn't mean Taylor can't change his mind -- it will be at least six months before he can sign a national letter of intent. Taylor could wait even longer, until the spring signing period.

Unless Taylor has his heart set on Oklahoma for reasons other than Capel, waiting might be his best bet. He only needs to see what happened to fellow districtmate G.J. Villarino of McKinney.

Villarino committed to Kentucky as a sophomore when Billy Gillispie took that job. Two years later Gillispie was fired and Villarino was stuck without a school. I'm not saying Capel has to worry about being fired but he could jump to another program after another highly successful run in next year's NCAA Tournament and there would be no guarantee Oklahoma would allow Taylor out of his letter of intent if he signed before Capel bolted.

But it is safe to say that if Capel is still at the head of the Sooners bench in the fall of 2010, Taylor will be on the court directing the offense.