Douglass PG Stephen Clark considering reclassification to graduate early
Douglass junior basketball standout Stephen Clark, front, is considering the idea of graduating a year early and enrolling in college this fall.
The shock of losing his head coach to another school has shaken Douglass basketball star Stephen Clark to the point that he is considering reclassification to graduate a year early and enter college this fall, his mother told The Oklahoman Friday.
Clark’s mother, Dorshell Clark, said her son has checked with the school to make sure he has the proper credits to graduate early, and the family has been working in accordance with NCAA Clearinghouse guidelines since early in his high school career, when it became clear he would be a Division I recruit. (Clark’s first scholarship offer came at the end of his freshman year.)
Clark is a strong student, and has been doing advanced work in some of his classes, long before this option presented itself.
Dorshell Clark said Stephen hasn’t made an official decision yet, but in addition to making sure his schoolwork is in order, they have contacted some of the more than two dozen college programs recruiting him to see if they would have an opening for him in the class of 2012, instead of 2013.
“We haven’t called all of them, but we’ve called some of them,” she said. “We haven’t been told ‘No’ yet.”
The idea was prompted with news early this week that long-time Douglass coach Terry Long — also a long-time friend of Dorshell Clark – was leaving to become the new head coach at Mustang.
It has been very important to Clark to graduate from Douglass, where his mother and two older brothers each graduated from, but he doesn’t want to play for another coach in his senior year.
“It really breaks my heart. I’m not ready for him to be finished with high school yet,” Dorshell Clark said. “But right now, he sees it as a possible option.”
Stephen Clark, 5-foot-11, 175 pounds, was The Oklahoman’s Super 5 Player of the Year after averaging 25 points and 11 assists as a junior, leading the Trojans to their third consecutive Class 4A state title. Clark has been the leading scorer on all three championship teams.
Considered a top-100 recruit in the 2013 class by virtually every national recruiting service, Clark has more than 25 scholarship offers, including Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Connecticut, Missouri, Arkansas, Florida State, Marquette, Georgia and Memphis.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK
Fisher named Mt. St. Mary boys coach
New Mt. St. Mary coach Andy Fisher with the Rockets' seniors-to-be
BY RYAN ABER
raber@opubco.com
A day after officially getting the job as Mount St. Mary head boys basketball coach, Andy Fisher met with his new team.
“I can’t wait to get started,” Fisher said. “It’s a great opportunity and Lenny (Hatchett) did a great job here.”
Fisher replaces Hatchett, who led the Rockets to three consecutive state tournaments from 2009-2011. Hatchett recently left to take the job at Edmond Santa Fe.
“We had numerous candidates for this position and after visiting with coaches throughout the state of Oklahoma, Andy Fisher’s name came to the forefront,” Mount St. Mary principal Talita DeNegri said in a release announcing the hire Friday. “Once I sat down with him, he had a special presence about him and a distinct insight into who we are and what we are all about at The Mount.
“He has an extreme passion for kids, an incredible knowledge of the game of basketball and he has the leadership skills to continue to enhance the tradition of Rocket basketball.”
Fisher was an assistant for seven years under Tondrell Durham. The Irish won four state titles during his time there including this year’s Class 4A title.
“I’m really going to miss those guys,” Fisher said Thursday. “I had a great time there and learned a lot. It just felt like the time was right.”
Boys hoops: Terry Long leaving Douglass to become new coach at Mustang
Terry Long is leaving his alma mater, where he has coached the Douglass Trojans to three straight Class 4A state championships, to become the new boys coach at Mustang, according to athletic director Chuck Bailey.
The Mustang Board of Education approved the move at its regular meeting late Monday night.
Long will fill the void created when Alan Green moved into a full-time role as the school’s compliance officer, which was announced last month.
Long was also considered a candidate for the head job at Edmond Santa Fe, which went to former Mount St. Mary coach Lenny Hatchett last month.
Mustang, which is the largest school on the west side of the state, was riddled by injuries last season and struggled to a .500 record. But in the 2010-11 season, the Broncos were a top-five team, despite falling one win short of the state tournament.
Over the last three seasons at Douglass, Long’s teams lost seven games — six of those to out-of-state competition. The Trojans were led by point guard Stephen Clark, a nationally recruited prospect who will be a senior next season.
Douglass will be a highly sought-after coaching position, along with current vacancies at Guthrie and Mount St. Mary.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK
Girls basketball: Te’era Williams signs with Texas Southern
Douglass' Te'era Williams was the Little All-City Player of the Year after leading the Trojans to their first state tournament in 20 years. PHOTO BY NATE BILLINGS, THE OKLAHOMAN
Douglass girls’ basketball standout Te’era Williams has signed with Texas Southern, her mother said
Williams, who was The Oklahoman’s Little All-City Player of the Year after leading the Trojans to their first state tournament in 20 years, had signed with Grambling State, but was granted a release after coach Donnita Rogers was fired.
Williams averaged 27.3 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and seven steals as a senior.
Girls basketball: Coach Brett Sanders leaving Cache
Cache girls basketball coach Brett Sanders has resigned and taken the same position in Siloam Springs, Ark., athletic director Lonnie Nunley said.
Sanders led Cache to an undefeated season and a Class 4A state championship in 2010, and a runner-up finish in 2011.
Last May, Sanders had accepted Choctaw’s open girls’ basketball coaching position, but backed out before officially resigning at Cache and stayed one more year.
Nunley said Cache, which lost in the area semifinals in 2012, has a strong freshman class coming up.
Girls basketball: Western Heights’ Antoinet Webster signs with Tulsa
Western Heights' Antoinet Webster has signed with Tulsa, her coach said. PHOTO BY DAVID MCDANIEL, THE OKLAHOMAN
Western Heights guard Antoinet Webster finally found a college basketball home.
Webster, whose lack of any NCAA Division I offers was the subject of an Oklahoman story earlier this year, signed with Tulsa, Jets coach Carol Beall said.
Webster averaged 19.2 points as a senior for Western Heights, which missed the Class 5A state tournament for the first time in three seasons. Webster (5-foot-9) was forced to shoulder the load for the inexperienced Jets.
Webster joins a Tulsa recruiting class of 2012 that includes a few big names around the metro — Shawnee’s Kelsee Grovey and Kaitlyn Ramirez and Midwest City’s Ashley Clark.
Girls basketball: Oral Roberts news affects Shawnee’s Taylor Cooper
Shawnee's Taylor Cooper (10) has signed with Oral Roberts. PHOTO BY MATT BARNARD, TULSA WORLD
There’s lots of news coming out about Oral Roberts’ womens basketball program today.
First, a source confirmed that coach Jerry Finkbeiner, who has been with the program since 1996, will be introduced as Utah State’s next coach at an 11 a.m. press conference Thursday.
Finkbeiner won three straight NAIA national titles from 1994-96 at Southern Nazarene in Bethany. The news of his departure was first reported by the Tulsa World late Tuesday.
Also breaking Wednesday was that sophomore Jenni Bryan will transfer from Oklahoma State to ORU. Bryan, from Coweta, was granted a release by the Cowgirls, coach Jim Littell said in a text, and a source confirmed she’d join the Golden Eagles.
One of the folks in the Oklahoma City area most directly impacted by all of this is Shawnee senior forward Taylor Cooper, who signed with ORU in November.
Cooper was the Golden Eagles’ only high school signee for the class of 2012, and she picked ORU over offers from bigger schools.
From an outsider’s perspective, it seems to me Finkbeiner and Co. intended to build the future of their program around her. And the future certainly appears bright because the Golden Eagles just wrapped up a third consecutive 20-plus win season.
But will Cooper stick with ORU? She has developed a close relationship with assistant coach Misti Cussen, who is a possible candidate to succeed Finkbeiner.
Cooper was on our Super 5 team for 2012 after helping lead Shawnee to an unbeaten season and the Class 5A state championship. She averaged 13.2 points and 6.1 rebounds as a senior.
She said then that she picked ORU largely because of the coaches, who she said “reminded me of my parents.”
Only time will tell what Cooper will decide, but should she ask for and be granted a release, it would be a big blow to the ORU program, a program that has been through a whirlwind couple of days.
Boys basketball: Edmond Santa Fe, Edmond North set to hire coaches
Bishop McGuinness coach Tondrell Durham has been mentioned by sources as a candidate for the Edmond Santa Fe job.
EDMOND — Edmond Public Schools will recommend the hiring of boys basketball coaches for Edmond Santa Fe and Edmond North to the school board Tuesday morning, district athletic director Mike Nunley said.
Edmond Santa Fe is hiring its third-ever boys basketball coach after Shawn Schenk was dismissed in late March.
Schenk was Santa Fe’s coach for six seasons. Last month, the Wolves advanced to the 6A semifinals.
Bishop McGuinness coach Tondrell Durham, Douglass’ Terry Long and Mount St. Mary’s Lenny Hatchett have all been mentioned by sources as candidates for the Edmond Santa Fe job.
Durham’s Irish squad won the Class 5A state championship last month. It was Durham’s fifth title with the school since he became coach in 2001.
Long won his third consecutive 4A title last month at Douglass, while Hatchett has been Mount St. Mary’s coach since 2004.
For Edmond North, it will be the school’s fourth boys basketball coach in four seasons. Quinn Wooldridge, who was hired last summer, resigned to become head coach at Southwestern Christian University in Bethany earlier this month.
Edmond North athletic director Tom Snider said then long-term stability would be one of the main criteria in hiring Wooldridge’s replacement.
Girls basketball: Sara Rogers’ funeral set for Saturday at Harrah gymnasium
Harrah girls basketball player Sara Rogers died Tuesday after a car accident.
Funeral services for Sara Rogers, the 16-year old Harrah basketball player who died after a car accident earlier this week, will be Saturday at 10 a.m. in the Harrah High School gymnasium.
Those attending the ceremony are being asked to wear Harrah or Duke clothing, because those were Rogers’ favorite teams.
Rogers was pulling out of Harrah’s Sonic Drive-In when she was hit by another car at around 4 p.m. Tuesday. She was taken by helicopter to OU Medical Center, where she died of her injuries.
Oklahoma State offers Douglass DE Deondre Clark
Douglass sophomore Deondre Clark, back center, gives the family another sought-after recruiting prospect, this one on the football field.
The first official scholarship offer is on the table for Douglass sophomore defensive end Deondre Clark.
Oklahoma State extended an offer on Thursday, Douglass coach Willis Alexander said.
Clark played a significant amount as a freshman on Douglass’ Class 4A state championship team in 2010, and started at both defensive end and tight end as a sophomore.
He finished the season with 75 tackles, 18 sacks and 16 quarterback hurries, as well as 12 receptions for 154 yards and two touchdowns.
Clark has a busy summer planned, with stops at a variety of major-college camps and elite combines.
Clark, 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, is the younger — but much bigger — brother of Douglass basketball star Stephen Clark, a 5-foot-11 junior who has more than 20 scholarship offers, including OSU.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK
