Obi Muonelo on Philly 76ers summer league roster
Former Oklahoma State guard Obi Muonelo will play on the Philadelphia 76ers summer league team.
Former OSU basketball player Obi Muonelo will play on the Philadelphia 76ers Summer League roster. PHOTO BY JOHN CLANTON, THE OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVES
Muonelo, who went undrafted in last week’s NBA Draft, is one of seven rookies on the 76ers summer league roster.
The 76ers first summer league game in Orlando is on Monday vs. New Jersey. Philly will also take on the Oklahoma City Thunder on July 7.
OSU fans can watch Muonelo, a former Edmond Santa Fe standout in action during the Orlando summer league on NBA TV or online at NBA.com/summerleaguebroadband (for a cost).
– Ryan Sharp, Asst. Sports Editor
Cowboys land commit No. 12
by Brandon Chatmon
bchatmon@opubco.com
Follow me on Twitter @BChatmon
STILLWATER — The summer camp circuit is beginning to pay off for Oklahoma State.
Linebacker Nico Ornelas of Richland (Texas) North Richland Hills committed to the Cowboys on Monday night, according to GoPokes.com. Ornelas picked OSU over Arizona, Arkansas, Nebraska, Kansas, Houston and others.
Ornelas spent time with the Cowboys coaching staff during a camp at Austin College last weekend and when OSU offered him, he jumped on the chance to become a Cowboy.
“I went to that camp and I could tell they were showing a lot of interest in me,” he told the website. “I needed to know how much interest they had, and after talking to them there was a scholarship offer and I committed. That was where I really wanted to go.”
At 6-foot-3, 195 pounds, Ornelas could project to play the star linebacker spot with his reported 4.5 speed. The junior, who also runs track for Richland, had 76 tackles last season.
He is the 12th known commitment in OSU’s class of 2011.
Chat Recap: Brandon Chatmon
Chat Recap: John Helsley
Chat with Brandon Chatmon at 11 a.m.
Weeden out the bad habits: OSU quarterback says he’s a changed man
Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden says he wasn’t stung by Cowboys coach Mike Gundy’s past criticism of his practice approach. In fact, it sounds like Weeden has embraced it.
After coming off the bench to throw two touchdown passes in OSU’s 31-28 win over Colorado last November, Weeden acknowledged
“I’m not a practice player, I’m more a game-type player.”
Now, in a Q&A with Robert Allen of GoPokes.com, the 26-year-old former professional baseball player says all that’s changed. Now that he’s the OSU starter, Weeden says he’s changed “the way I went about practice and the way I went about everything I do.”
“I’ve changed the way I go about my business whether it is on the field and everything, field, weight room, trying to get the guys going,” Weeden told GoPokes.com. “I know I am a little bit older than these guys and I try to use that to my advantage as much as I can.”
The compete Q&A can be found here.
Boone Pickens: “Nebraska’s wanted to leave since the Big Six; that’s 1940.”
Here’s the secret to finding out what OSU super booster Boone Pickens really thinks: Just ask him.
That’s what some folks from the Austin American-Statesman did when Pickens stopped by their offices in Austin yesterday on the day the Big 12 put the band back together, at least most of it. Pickens’ comments about Nebraska will make the Huskers’ Oct. 23 trip to Stillwater a little more interesting.
Chat with John Helsley at 11 a.m.
The Quiet Before The Storm
By John Helsley
Follow Me On Twitter @jjhelsley
Checked in with some Cowboys coaches today. Interestingly, before the conversation took off, they checked me first.
“What are you hearing?”
“What’s the latest?”
“Where will we land?”
As the realignment wheel spins — and it’s spinning wildly — those in the crosshairs, the coaches and the athletes, are starving for news and info much like the rest of us. These are high-level decisions being made, and only the highest of the highs are involved.
And in the Big 12′s case, that’s Texas. That’s why the news keeps spinning out of orangebloods.com. UT is the CPU for all arrangements regarding, seemingly, a Pac-10 departure, although late Thursday there was still hope in Stillwater that Nebraska may buck prevailing thought and stick with the Big 12.
The Longhorns are calling the shots, with supreme power bestowed upon them by the others involved in an alliance with, seemingly, the Pac-10. Once the Huskers make their intentions official Friday, the Texas trust, led by DeLoss Dodds, will make the next move, or non-move.
Meanwhile, in Stillwater, they wait for word.
There is no trickle-down talk, beyond the rumors and craziness. Texas and Texas A&M to the Big Ten? C’mon. Yet that makes-no-sense suggestion was spun out by a Kansas City television station Thursday.
Rule to live by: Whenever a TV entity not bearing the letters ESPN attempts at breaking news, ignore it.
As for Oklahoma State, the coaches offices are all abuzz about the possibilities. Mostly, if the Big 12 can’t be saved, they’re in favor of a Wild West Conference, a Pac-16, a Big Pac, whatever. They recognize the possibilities. The new recruiting doors opened. The Super-Conference appeal. The money, oh yes, the money.
They’re abuzz, too, because of the unknown. They know they’ll have jobs in the morning, but will they be selling the Big 12 or the Wild West? Will they be selling travel home to Texas, or road trips to the West Coast?
So they wait, wait for word from Texas. And on that front, it’s quiet.
The storm, however, looms.
OSU vs. USC? Oregon? J.W. Walsh likes the idea
J.W. Walsh likes the idea of adding USC and Oregon to the Cowboys schedule
by Brandon Chatmon
bchatmon@opubco.com
Follow me on Twitter @BChatmon
Quarterback J.W. Walsh likes the idea of Oklahoma State joining five other Big 12 schools and forming a superconference with the Pac-10.
The OSU commitment from Denton (Texas) Guyer was initially disappointed to hear the news but when he got the details of the potential realignment, he got excited.
“At first it made me mad, because I didn’t think I’d get to play against Oklahoma and Texas, our big rivals,” he said. “Then my dad told they were moving the Big 12 South and I was like let’s do it. I’d like to play USC, Oregon and Cal along with Oklahoma and Texas.”
Walsh, who reiterated his “100 percent” commitment to OSU, views playing at USC or at Oregon as a great opportunity, especially since he prefers warm weather.
“The travel excites me a little more because I’m not a big fan of cold weather,” Walsh said. “I’ll play in it, I’ll perform in it but if I had to chose playing in Kansas or playing in Arizona, I’d choose Arizona. Better weather, better conference to play in.”
The proposed 16-team conference would be a power conference in football, one in each there are no easy games and simply surviving becomes the goal.
“I think it would be a lot of fun,” Walsh said. “To play the top schools in the Big 12 South and USC would be fun to play them and compete against them. It would be extremely difficult, there’s so many good teams, you’d never have a clear win. But I think that’s what college football is about, competition.
“If you come out of that conference undefeated, you’re the No. 1 team in the country.”
