Super 30: No. 8 Garrett Gladd, Sallisaw
It seems like every few days I’m coming on here telling you how the latest kid I wrote about for our Super 30 series was my favorite kid to talk to. The truth is, every kid I interviewed for this series has been great, and that’s one of the things that makes this job so much fun.
Garrett Gladd of Sallisaw is no exception. He’s a humble, intelligent kid who works — as in, a real job — and still finds time to keep focused on his future, which has a wide array of possibilities.
He turned down offers from Oklahoma, Kansas and New Mexico to commit to Stanford in April. He’s an offensive lineman at the next level, but in Class 4A ball, he’ll have to be a two-way player.
“There’s no way we can’t play him on defense,” Sallisaw coach Craig Benson said. “But if he needs a break, he gets it on defense.”
After reaching the state semifinals last year, Gladd sees this year’s squad matching or surpassing that run, even with the loss of key players like quarterback Matt Oberste.
“We lost a lot of great seniors last year,” he said. “But we have a lot of great leaders back, guys who had to step up last year and play a big role. Defense could be our strength. We have a lot of depth.
“I’ll probably be a starter on the defensive line, but we’ve got some kids who can step in and be good. I really think we can get back to the semifinals or even go farther.”
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Edmond North’s Alec Heinen wins OJGT event
Alec Heinen’s strong summer continued Wednesday with a victory in the 36-hole OJGT Twin Hills Classic. Heinen began the day with a one-stroke lead and extended it by shooting 72 (142 total) to win by three strokes over a trio of players.
Austen Fuller, Heinen’s Edmond North teammate, shot 145 (74-71) to tie for second with Taylor Williams of Chickasha (71-74) and OKC’s Trent Mewborn (73-72). Alexander Hall of OCS was fifth at 146 (73-73).
Hayden Wood of Edmond won the boys 12-14 age group with a 146 (74-72).
In the girls tournament, Mustang’s June Tigert came from behind for a three-stroke victory over Alexis Sadeghy of Edmond. Tigert entered the day three strokes behind Sadeghy, but shot a final-round 77 — the best round of the tournament — to finish at 159. Sadeghy finished at 162 (79-83).
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Plenty of stars in Mustang for 7-on-7
I cruised out to Mustang High for their Tuesday night 7-on-7 competition, which had some talented players with Mustang, Bethany, Bridge Creek, El Reno and Santa Fe South participating.
The Mustang 7-on-7 is a very laid-back event, not real competitive. More like a practice than a game, nobody keeping score or wondering who won. Just a bunch of teams working on their fundamentals of pass offense and defense.
I came away from the event thinking I could put together a pretty good basketball team out there. You had some great big men, with Bridge Creek’s 6-foot-7 Ryan Spangler and Bethany’s Garrett McGrady, who must be close to 6-8. A speedy point guard in David Glidden of Mustang. I’m pretty sure I saw DeVante Moore of El Reno was out there, so he’d be a my starting two-guard. Just need another shooter/slasher on the wing and we’d be pretty solid.
Anyway, back to football… Here are a few bullet points that caught my eye during play:
- Glidden is back in action after a lingering shoulder injury kept him out of some team work in May and early June. He looked like his normal self and also said he took part in some team camp activities over the weekend which were more physically demanding than 7-on-7 and the shoulder held up fine.
- McGrady is a really good athlete at TE/DE for the Bronchos, and he just keeps growing. Probably close to four inches in the last year. He and Spangler were significantly taller than just about everyone else out there, and I think McGrady had the slight edge on the Bridge Creek QB. McGrady moves well and has decent hands. He’s likely to be a security blanket for new QB Ryan Claborn. The two are heading into their junior years and have been playing together for a few years now.
- El Reno must replace Jakeil Everheart at quarterback, and I didn’t get to discuss with coach Tom Cobble what direction they’ll go, but Ridge Gargasz, who played receiver last year, threw some nice passes.
- Santa Fe South WR Abraham Luna — and the SFS offense in general — showed the ability to be a serious deep threat. They went deep on a few different teams with good success, most often to Luna.
- Spangler is busy with both basketball — playing for Athletes First — and football, so he wasn’t as in sync as he’ll be in September, but he’s still got a strong arm and throws the ball well. He also has some talent to throw to at WR, led by Caden Locke, one of the top yardage producers in the state at receiver last year. Spangler said in the spring that basketball is his preference at the next level, and he has offers already from Oral Roberts, Wichita State, Lehigh and Liberty, with more sure to come. But he has shown some interest on the football side of things this summer.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Super 30: No. 9 Jamelle Naff, Del City…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Del City's Jamelle Naff has come out of nowhere to become a top prospect. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Missouri is known as the school that got the whole conference realignment talk started. It’s starting to become known as another thing in Oklahoma recruiting circles.
Just like Guthrie stud Kentrell Brothers, the Tigers were the first school to offer Del City offensive lineman Jamelle Naff. And just like Brothers (whose offer total is now a whopping 15), Naff has become a name for a list of who’s who in schools keeping an eye on him.
I’ve seen Naff play twice, but it felt good to be able to sit down and talk with the Eagles’ beast last week at our photo shoot.
You can tell the recruiting process is fun and stressful at the same time for him. “I’m just so new to it, you know.” In less than two months, the offer count went from zero to eight. Not bad, huh?
The attention started last year with WR studs Chris McAlister and Donavan Dan, but it carried over in helping Naff and quarterback Chazten Gonzales into getting some looks.
Naff, like most Del City players, cannot wait for this year to start. Missing the playoffs last season is just something burnin’ in all of them right now.
Naff would like to visit Colorado, which I thought was interesting. Like most recruits, he had the ‘it’s good and bad’ approach to the Buffs going to the Pac-10.
He said it would stink, of course, because friends and family can’t see him play, but he would get the chance to go out west and play some new teams and visit new areas.
With Naff leading the way for Gonzales to throw and Greg Johnson to run, August and September cannot get here fast enough for Del City fans.
PC’s Dominique Raney gathering offers
Putnam City's Dominique Raney
After leading Putnam City in scoring on the way to the team’s second consecutive state basketball championship, Dominique Raney’s future has only gotten brighter.
Several schools have already extended scholarship offers to the 6-foot-4 guard as he prepares for his senior season with the Pirates. His offer list is topped by Oklahoma State and Wichita State, with Oklahoma strongly recruiting him, though their scholarship situation for the 2011 class is uncertain.
“You really enjoy it at first, with all those schools talking to you,” Raney said of the recruiting process. “But it gets old real fast. I don’t want to say it’s a burden, because I’m not taking it for granted, but there’s schools calling all the time.”
Raney averaged 17.5 points per game as a junior, but he wants to use the next year to show he’s more than a scorer.
“When I get to college, I want to be a combo guard. I like playing point guard,” said Raney, who is playing this summer with the Dallas Slam, formerly Team Texas. “I’m working out, trying to get bigger. I want to show people everything I can do, show them my full game.”
He should have some opportunities to run the offense for coach A.D. Burtschi next season, with one point guard, Trey Thomas, returning. Of course, the tough thing for a 6-foot-4 point guard is defense, because they usually end up guarding a much smaller player. But Raney is committed to improving his quickness.
He also wants to show people he can pass the ball, a criticism he has heard at times in his career. If he can take that next step and prove he has point guard potential, Raney could shoot up the recruiting lists. He already has the outside shooting and slashing ability to be a D-I player. Add in point guard skills
Heritage: Chargers busy on 7-on-7 circuit…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Been an interesting summer for the boys at Heritage Hall. The Chargers, as usual, have been making the rounds playing 7-on-7 competitions in Arkansas.
Heritage fared very well at one a couple of weeks ago, losing to Allen, Texas, on the final play. Enrollment for Allen is only at 4,700.
The Chargers will be back for 7-on-7 stuff in Springdale, Ark., and will be the smallest team competing. Muskogee and McAlester are the other Oklahoma teams there that includes Shiloh Christian (the only team to beat Lincoln Christian last year). That event is July 9-10 (same as the HUGE one in Edmond).
My biggest question was QB. Sterling Shepard has proven to be very formidable at the spot, but the concussions are a concern. Cooper Cloud shut me up time and time again late in the season and performed well.
So what to do? Hmm, how about nothing?
Right now, coach Andy Bogert has both of them playing the position. They’re two very different QBs that bring different skills to the table. If they’re not QBs, they’re both solid at wide receiver, said Bogert. So it will be tough to prepare because you won’t notice a change in their personnel.
Heritage is trying to recover after the loss of Marc Robinson, who has transferred to Millwood. Bogert said the 7-on-7 format isn’t helping in that respect, but the team has found a break out star in wide receiver Shaun Tkach.
Bogert said Tkach proved to be a very versatile player last year and didn’t drop a ball in Arkansas.
Barry Sanders tweaked him hamstring a while back so he’s been playing defense at these events for the most part. Bogert said it’s not a big concern and that Sanders should be ready to roll in Springdale.
The Chargers are one of numerous teams making that jump up to the ultra-tough Class 3A. And one thing these 7-on-7 events are doing is building toughness, playing hard in the Arkansas heat.
Oklahoma stars branching out…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Former Central star Demarco Cobbs is one of many past in-state recruits looking to make his name outside of Oklahoma. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Well, seems like I ruffled a few feathers in my piece Monday about ‘it’s OK for in-state kids to look elsewhere.’ I’m not backing down from my position because I know what Millwood’s Josh Turner is going through.
Well, sort of.
It wasn’t like I was a top-notch athlete with colleges banging down my door or anything. However, I made a decision pretty early on that I wasn’t going to stay in Ohio to attend college. I wanted to branch out and experience things. And some of it was definitely ego wanting to show I could make it by myself.
I could have (and financially speaking, should have) stayed home and attended The Ohio State, but I didn’t and went to OU.
Turner and former Tulsa Central stud Demarco Cobbs were lucky enough to have the country at their disposal. I agree with what Millwood assistant Kevin Cox said ‘there is no bad decision.’ I mean when you’re talking about teams like Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, etc., aren’t you nitpickin’ at that point?
Turner took a lot of heat. He responded to a couple of the negative comments and turned them into fans. When you let Turner explain himself, it’s easy to respect the kid for his choice.
And let’s get one thing straight – not all the comments were bashing Turner. A lot of people are wishing him the best of luck (except for that one weekend in October) and a lot are excited for Turner and proud that the young man knows what he wants to do.
Turner respects the Sooners and has been an OU fan for a long time. Truth of the matter is OU got into the game a little too late as Texas had already made quite the impression on him.
On one hand, I understand it’s tough to watching Gerald Jones (Millwood) and David Oku (Carl Albert) thrive at Tennessee or Texas Tech succeeding because of kids like Colby Whitlock (Noble), Tramain Swindall (Millwood) and Harrison Jeffers (Lawton Eisenhower), among numerous examples.
But on the other, I think it’s great to see the home-grown talent going elsewhere and making a name for themselves.
Super 30: No. 11 Davion Pierson, Millwood
Millwood lineman Davion Pierson
Spend five minutes talking to Millwood’s Davion Pierson, and then spend five more minutes watching him play, and you’ll quickly realize he’s one of those enigmas that exists in football’s big men on the offensive and defensive lines.
Grizzly bears on the field, teddy bears off it.
Pierson is a polite, soft-spoken kid who transforms into a terror at defensive tackle. He had offensive line coaches going mad at the Yukon team camp earlier this month, because no two players could block him, even from the 6A schools.
Right now, Pierson only has two offers, Kansas State and Tulsa. But that list will grow as he reforms his body. He has trimmed 25 pounds since last season, and he’s busting it in the weight room to rebuild the lost pounds with muscle.
Millwood is full of major-college prospects, including the top recruit in the state in DB Josh Turner. But to the Falcons, it’s hard to imagine any player more valuable to the team’s potential success. Take away Turner — as dangerous as he is — and Millwood has four more guys who can step in and play at a high level.
But on the offensive and defensive lines, Pierson is bordering on irreplaceable, along with junior-to-be Devin Dobbins.
Last year, the team went through a virtual carousel of offensive linemen, grabbing anyone with decent size to play a role. But building around Pierson, offensive coordinator Kevin Cox feels much better about his front five this year.
“The offensive line has always been a question since we’ve been here,” Cox said. “We think we made some strides and found some people who can help us out a lot — maybe even a freshman. We’re actually going into this season and we’ve got a clear picture of where we’re going up front.
“We’ve got the guys in the backfield and out wide that are gonna make the plays. If our linemen can just give them a split second, they’ll do what they need to do. We’ve got to get our guys taking pride in protecting the quarterback. When I played, you took pride in your quarterback having a clean jersey. We’ve never had that with our offensive line.”
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Super 30: Week 3 recap…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
And down the stretch we come. It’s not that the first half of the Super 30 isn’t an impressive list, but we broke on through to the other side this week.
Starting to look at the kids that either have an insane amount of offers of who have committed to some top-tier schools.
Here’s a look back at the week that was in the Super 30…
No. 18 Trevon Lewis, Midwest City: It’s his time to shine now. With Dominque Jones and Emmanuel Maxwell moving on, Lewis will become the unquestioned leader of what should be another stout Bombers defense. For my story on Lewis, go here.
No. 17 Archie Bradley, Broken Arrow: Making adjustments is pretty easy for Bradley. Whether it was transferring from Muskogee to Broken Arrow or playing football and baseball, the man has a plan for everything. For Justin Harper’s story on Bradley, go here.
No. 16 Hunter Davis, Choctaw: A polarizing figure with great size and speed. Problem was he didn’t play his heart out on every play, now it’s playing a role in the recruiting process. He’s determined to show what he’s made of. For Scott Wright’s story on Davis, go here.
No. 15 Cody Miller, Lawton: The Wolverines have one of the most talented pools of kids in the state. But every team needs that one guy it can look to when the times are tough. For Lawton, that is Miller. For my story on Miller, go here.
No. 14 Tyler Lockett, Booker T.: Another Lockett, another Kansas State commit. His father, Kevin, and his uncle, Aaron, had great careers for the Wildcats. It wasn’t a slam dunk, but Tyler is ready to add to that legacy. For Scott Wright’s story on Lockett, go here.
No. 13 Daniel Davis, Norman North: Ya know, if Davis’ football career ever goes south, he has a backup plan. The Timberwolves star and Stanford commit is obsessed with swimming pool basketball and is poised for another great year. For Justin Harper’s story on Davis, go here.
No. 12 Kameron Doolittle, Edmond Memorial: He’s been having fun this summer playing basketball and other things like that, but yes, he does realize he is a top recruit. With four offers, Doolittle is in no rush to make a decision. For my story on Doolittle, go here.
We’re entering the top 10 this week. For more thoughts on all the Super 30 kids, including stories, bios, blogs and videos, keep it locked on NewsOK.com.
Super 30: No. 12 Kameron Doolittle, Edmond Memorial…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Edmond Memorial's Kameron Doolittle is someone who can Do-a-lot. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman
Ah, finally felt I had a ‘gimme’ in my assignments. Scott Wright can tell you everything there is about Mustang’s David Glidden. And you know Justin Harper knows about as much as possibly can about Norman North’s Daniel Davis.
I just had to be patient, and it came with Edmond Memorial’s Kameron Doolittle. The first time I wrote his name in the paper two years ago, I put ‘Cameron.’ Well, it didn’t take long to know that was a mistake, and it didn’t take long for me to realize this was a name I better get accustomed to typing.
Doolittle really is a rather unassuming fella. He doesn’t look too stressed out about anything and just kinda has fun and goes with the flow. He doesn’t carry himself around with a ‘star’ attitude.
It began early as Tulsa offered Doolittle before last year started. Since then, it’s been a nice steady flow of offers (Colorado, Colorado State and Wyoming) and interest. But he’s also had fun playing basketball this summer, too. I admire him for not letting the recruiting process control his life.
There is no question he’s not a natural quarterback, but he’ll definitely do the job this season for the Bulldogs. Blake Umberham helped him in his development so much last year, especially when it came to the little things.
On the recruiting trail, he’s being looked at as a wide receiver. It makes sense. He has great speed, solid hands and is dangerous when he’s out in open space.
His name got helped with how well Memorial did as a team last year. It got more eyes on him, and he certainly delivered.
The Bulldogs have a nice group of seniors returning this year, and I’m pumped to see this offense. From coach Justin Merideth to Doolittle to Connor Myers, they’re all talking about how much more explosive this group is going to be.
