Mason-Griffin to sign with agent?
Speculation continues to escalate that OU freshman point guard is in the process of signing an agent with the intention of playing professional basketball.
From the Twitter universe:
FoxSports.com college basketball writer Jeff Goodman reports on his Twitter page: “Source just confirmed that Oklahoma freshman Tommy Mason-Griffin is history with the Sooners. Expected to sign with agent. Expected to sign with agent. Terrible decision for Mason-Griffin to leave early for the NBA. Not even close to ready. And to clarify, Mason-Griffin will almost certainly be playing overseas somewhere next season.”
NBADraftExpress.com’s Jonathan Givony says on his Twitter page: “Vince Young & Tommy Mason-Griffin went to same high school. TMG has reportedly told people he’s signing w/Adams–something Adams dismissed. Adams says that, according to TMG’s mother, no “final decision” has been made about his future. It’s “premature” to jump to any conclusions. Mason-Griffin is “in the process of seeing if he’ll go back or test the waters. We’ll have to wait and see. Nothing has taken place yet.” Adams insisted that he’s “just one of the guys in the mix,” and that they will be “conducting interviews” to decide who TMG’s agent will be. Adams urges not to “speculate” and says that everything is “just hearsay” until TMG himself “says what he decides to do.”"
I spoke with Mason-Griffin’s high school, who does not know what Mason-Griffin will decide, or has decided. However, it seems clear that Mason-Griffin is telling people that he’s gone from OU.
-JT
Ray Willis no longer part of the team
Ray Willis is apparently no longer a part of the Oklahoma men’s basketball team.
“Its official no longer a sooner, its been real like my man Russell Simons say,” Willis wrote on his Facebook page.
Willis, a 6-foot-6, 165-pound sophomore guard out of Atlanta, appeared in 13 games this past season, averaging 2.6 points a game.
As a freshman, he was sent to emergency room after being stabbed during a fight. According to a police report, Willis was at a private party that was crashed, which led to Willis being attacked with a knife. Due to an abdomen wound, Willis had to stay at a hospital for several days.
After a disappointing 13-18 season and several off-the-court issues, OU coach Jeff Capel is meeting with members of the team this week to determine who will remain part of the program and who will not.
-JT
Chat Recap: Jake Trotter
Boise State head coach to visit Sooner practice
Boise State football coach Chris Petersen said Thursday that he will visit Oregon and Oklahoma for professional development during BSU’s spring break, which is March 27-April 4.
The Sooners will be practicing that week.
“I’m really interested in how Oregon practices,” Petersen told the Idaho Statesman. “And I just think Bob Stoops has done such a great job at Oklahoma over the years — he’s got his formula on success. I just have a bunch of questions. And I want to watch how they practice.”
Ironically, OU was the team that solidified Boise State’s status as a power program. The Broncos famously shocked the Sooners in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl using a series of trick plays.
* Former OU asst. recruiting coordinator David White has taken a job with Yale, FootballScoop.com reported. White came to OU as a graduate assistant from Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, where he was the head coach for several seasons. Thanks in large part to White, OU got several big-time recruits from Bishop Gorman, including DeMarco Murray, Ryan Reynolds and Justin Chaisson. After serving two years as a grad assistant, White was given a job last year working as a asst. recruiting coordinator, but the position was a one-year arrangement.
-JT
Q&A: Offensive line coach James Patton
Whether Oklahoma rebounds from a subpar 2009 season depends heavily on the development of the offensive line. Last year, the line struggled from the outset, as coach Bob Stoops blasted the group for its lack of work ethic and discipline last March.
But this off-season, the line already has changed its tune. At the advent of spring ball, Stoops noted the line was one of the team’s “best groups” during winter conditioning.
Now, the line will try to continue that momentum into the spring. Its position coach, James Patton, answered a few questions about the line, including some of the faces up front.
It sounds like Donald Stephenson is a guy who’s coming on?
“He’s done really well this off season and I think he understands his time is running out. This game don’t last forever, so I think he understands that it’s time for him to be committed to his team and be committed to his teammates and do as well as he can. He’s done that up to this point.”
Can you break down what the rotation looks like right now?
“We’ve got a couple of teams out there, team “A” and team “B”. But Mensik is doing a good job and Cory Brandon is doing a good job and Donald will be in the mix, all three of those guys. Josh Aladenoye is doing a good job at right tackle. Inside at guard we’re looking at Tyler Evans, Tavaris Jeffries and Stephen Good on the left side and Bronson and Gabe Ikard on the other side with Ikard and Brian Lepak in there at center. Then Austin Woods.”
What prompted you guys to look at Ikard on the offensive line?
“He’s a good blocker. He got some reps during the bowl practices. But again, he can also put a number 80 jersey on the block on the edge if we needed him to. With Habern being down hopefully he’ll be able to do some reps after spring break. He was out there today running around and working out, so he looks pretty good. But Gabe is a good blocker, he’s smart, didn’t miss an assignment today. Smart football player.”
Coach Stoops said he was very pleased with how the offensive line worked during the off season and the way they came. That how you view your group has done?
“It’s a new year and a new spring, but we’ve still got a big challenge ahead of us. We made some dumb penalties last year and had some mistakes and that hurt us in some games. So the challenge is to play together as a group, play better as a group and stay consistent and stay healthy, which is a key But being more consistent is probably what coach Stoops is talking about. Having a mindset and being accountable as a unit. And through the winter, that’s been pretty good.”
Is Ikard a versatile guy like Brody Eldridge?
“He’s smart, a really smart football player. He can block the edge or block inside. He’s smart, he’s tough. He didn’t lose a competitive drill in the weight room during the off-season. He won every one. I like him.”
How positive would it be for your line to get Jarvis Jones and Ben Habern back for a little bit of the spring?
“Hopefully they get back and will be ready to go. It will be a bonus if those guys can get in some team drills by the end of the spring. To be able to get back into playing would be great for those guys. You only get so many snaps, so the more you can get out there and play the better you are going to do.”
Are you surprised that they might be back so soon?
“They’re working on it. Our medical and training staffs do a great job with these guys. So, they’re getting healed up. Drinking a lot of milk and doing good. It would be great if they can get back and get some team drills.”
-JT
Follow Jake Trotter on Twitter: @Jake_Trotter.
Bad year for OU hoops and helmets
Every spring, the Web site CollegeFootballNews.com holds its annual Hoops and Helmets rankings. Essentially, the power ratings combine the performances of a school’s football and men’s basketball teams.
Often, with a powerhouse football program and a basketball team that’s a regular in the NCAA Tournament, OU is ranked high.
Last year, with a BCS runner-up and an Elite Eight finish, OU was No. 1.
But this year, not surprisingly, the Sooners didn’t make CFB’s 2010 list.
Despite winning its last two, the football team struggled to an 8-5 season. But for all the football team’s struggles, those didn’t come close to what the basketball team endured. Jeff Capel’s club sputtered to a 13-18 record and will be home during this week’s NCAA Tournament.
Some have suggested this has been the worst year ever for OU football-basketball in one season.
Going by winning percentage, only one year has been worse than 2009-10 in the last 42 years.
Averaging out the two teams’ winning percentage, the Sooners finished with a 52 winning percentage in football and hoops this past year.
Since 1968, only one other time has OU finished with a football-basketball winning percentage worse than 52 percent.
That was 1996-97, when the football and basketball programs combined for a 45 winning percentage.
That year, in John Blake’s first season, OU finished 3-8 (.272) in football. The basketball team actually had a record of 19-11 (.633) but was bounced by Stanford in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
2009-10 might not be the worst season ever for OU football-basketball.
But in the last 42 years, only 1996 was worse.
-JT
Follow Jake Trotter on Twitter: @Jake_Trotter.
Q&A: OU defensive tackle Jamarkus McFarland
The top-rated recruit in Oklahoma’s 2009 recruiting class didn’t disappoint during his first season on campus. After waiting in the wings for weeks behind OU’s defensive tackle twosome of Gerald McCoy and Adrian Taylor, Jamarkus McFarland emerged late in the season.
After Taylor was injured in the Sun Bowl, McFarland filled in admirably as OU shut down Stanford’s power rushing in the second half of a 31-27 win.
Now, with McCoy preparing for the NFL Draft, and Taylor still rehabbing from a gruesome broken ankle he suffered in the Sun Bowl, McFarland is OU’s main man in the middle.
McFarland took time after OU’s spring practice to answer a few questions:
Talk about replacing the leadership that left with Gerald McCoy?
“When someone leaves then you have to fill those shoes. Automatically when you come into Oklahoma you have that leadership role branded in you somewhere. You just have to bring it out when the time is needed. Now is kind of my time but a lot of those guys from last year aren’t completely gone though. Gerald is still available whenever I need to call him and Adrian is also there in practice every day telling me what I need to do during plays. Hopefully we can get him back and he can be beside me and the others again. I don’t know if I could take that role yet. I’m younger than a lot of those guys playing with me so I don’t look at myself above any of them. I’m still in a learning phase. I’m not a leader right now. I’m still following Travis Lewis and those guys.”
Are you surprised that at this point, you’re really the only defensive tackle that has played significant snaps and who’s currently healthy?
“Yeah, you’re kind of surprised coming into this program, but all those guys who haven’t gotten the snaps doesn’t mean they don’t have the potential. They’ve been doing everything I’ve done in practice, drills and meetings. They’ve gone through everything I’ve been through. They’re bringing the same abilities and the same mental attitude that I have, I’ve just had the opportunities. I don’t look at it as we’re lacking any potential. We’re bringing in guys like [db]Stacey McGee, Casey Walker and Justin Chaisson.”
How important is it for at least two of those guys to step up because you probably can’t play every snap of every game, not to mention Adrian Taylor’s return still a bit of a question?
“It’s very important and it’s also important for me to step up right now despite being in a learning phase. Like I said, I don’t have a spot in front of those guys yet. We’re all out here busting it. Like I said, there are guys out here older than me too and I don’t put myself in front of them. They have potential just like I do. We’re all different players with all different techniques and we bring different things to use in the games. So we might swap it up with different personnel, I don’t know. I look at those guys as the same as me and they’re stepping up right now as well. We’re all going through the same thing.”
How big was it for you to get that game experience like you did in the Sun Bowl?
“It was real good. But I’ve been going against some of the best guys in practice. You still have the tingles because you’re going into a big game but you can’t look at it like you’re beneath them. You’re playing against guys with the same potential in practice. You’re going against the same speed and the same size. So I just approached it as that was my turn and I had to step up.”
When you sit behind a guy like Gerald McCoy, how often did you just stand and stare at what he did, and what can you learn from him?
“I look at him as his whole person not just practice. I look at everything, I take what he does in the games, I take what he does in practice, what he does in the locker room, what he does at home, what he does in the media, everything and I piece it piece by piece and see what I can take out of it to take his personality that’s got him to where he wants to be right now. He was known just as much on campus as he was on the field, and that’s the way I want to be; not just a number, I don’t want to be 97. I want to be known as Jamarkus McFarland as a good person off the field just as on the field like he was.”
What advice has he given you about succeeding in college?
He just told me to approach everything with the right mindset. He told me, “You’re here and you can’t change anything about it. It’s going to be hard but it’s going to make you the best. Coach Shipp is going to be hard on you but he’s the best. You’re going to be the last one to leave the field, but it’s all going to get you to a better place. The main thing he told me is to approach every day with the right attitude.
-JT
Follow Jake Trotter on Twitter: @Jake_Trotter.
Bengals resign former Sooner Roy Williams
Former Oklahoma Sooner great Roy Williams will be in Cincinnati for another season after agreeing to a one-year deal Saturday.
Williams, who will be entering his ninth season, started four games and had 30 tackles with three passes defended, but he missed most of the year due to a recurring forearm injury suffered in Week 3 against Pittsburgh. It was the same forearm he injured in 2008 with Dallas.
Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer was a strong advocate when it came to bringing Williams back. Said Zimmer to the Cincinnati Enquirer during the Scouting Combine: “Roy Williams wants to come back. He’s a good player and played very well. I’m not biased he’s good. He was good until he got hurt. If he does play 17-18 games he’ll be a factor. Whether or not he can do it I don’t know.”
-JT
Follow Jake Trotter on Twitter: @Jake_Trotter.
OU picks up commitment No. 7
OU added a verbal commitment Friday in Whitehouse, Texas, wide receiver Trey Metoyer, according to Rivals.com
The 6-2, 200-pound Metoyer held additional offers from Arkansas, Nebraska, OSU and Texas A&M.
Here’s his stat line from the last two seasons:
Year Rec. Yds. Avg. TD
2009 (Jr.) 77 1,169 15.6 15
2008 (So.) 74 1,105 14.9 14
-JT
Follow Jake Trotter on Twitter: @Jake_Trotter.
OU spring practice report: Days 1, 2
The biggest news through the first two days of spring ball has been the work and dedicated the offensive line has shown so far.
“They’ve been one of our best groups, how they’ve worked, met the challenge every day and their attitude,” coach Bob Stoops said. “I’m pleased with where they’re at right now, at least to this point with the work they’ve done.”
Stoops was very critical of the the group at this time last year, calling out the line for its lack of work ethic and commitment to the team.
Apparently, the line, which hands down was OU’s weakest unit last season, is turning a corner.
Others reiterated Stoops’ words.
Said offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson: “Well, the thing that we’ve had going through winter is the ability to understand responsibility and accountability to each other. We’ve done a really good job in our ability to work hard in the off season.”
Said line coach James Patton, “It’s a new year and a new spring, but we’ve still got a big challenge ahead of us. We made some dumb penalties last year and had some mistakes and that hurt us in some games. So the challenge is to play together as a group, play better as a group and stay consistent and stay healthy, which is a key But being more consistent is probably what coach Stoops is talking about. Having a mindset and being accountable as a unit. And through the winter, that’s been pretty good.”
As of now, the offensive line two-deep looks like this:
LT: Donald Stephenson/Eric Mensik
LG: Stephen Good/Bronson Irwin
C: Gabe Ikard/Brian Lepak/Austin Woods
RG: Tyler Evans/Tavaris Jeffries
RT: Cory Brandon/Josh Aladenoye
More good news from the line is that both Ben Habern and Jarvis Jones are expected to be back full go not long after spring break. Habern is coming off a broken fibula. Jones, a fractured heel. Their return will only strengthen the continuity of the interior of the line, though Jones could swing back to tackle. Look for Habern to return to center, though he could play some guard, too.
“It will be a bonus if those guys can get in some team drills by the end of the spring,” Patton said. “To be able to get back into playing would be great for those guys. You only get so many snaps, so the more you can get out there and play the better you are going to do.
“They’re working on it. Our medical and training staffs do a great job with these guys. So, they’re getting healed up. Drinking a lot of milk and doing good. It would be great if they can get back and get some team drills.
* The most interesting experiment of the spring might be Ikard playing center. However it’s an experiment the coaches feel very good about, if only after two practices.
“He’s a good blocker. He got some reps during the bowl practices. But again, he can also put a number 80 jersey on the block on the edge if we needed him to,” Patton said. “With Habern being down hopefully he’ll be able to do some reps after spring break. He was out there today running around and working out, so he looks pretty good. But Gabe is a good blocker, he’s smart, didn’t miss an assignment today. Smart football player.
“He can block the edge or block inside. He’s smart, he’s tough. He didn’t lose a competitive drill in the weight room during the off-season. He won every one. I like him.”
* Mossis Madu has made a return to the backfield after playing slot receiver last year. Madu is vying to be DeMarco Murray’s top backup at running back. In attempt to get him on the field last season, Madu was moved to the slot. But Madu being slow to pick up the new position combined with Ryan Broyles needing to be on the field for every play eliminated Madu from getting much playing time. Madu is a player, though, now with experience at both positions, that could rotate some from running back to receiver in OU’s fast past offense.
“As we get going after spring break he does have some more time to where he can be a move guy that could all of the sudden pop out and pop back in,” Wilson said. “He’s a running back today and we need to have him have a positive role. He’s a guy that has made some plays. He’s always been the best third-team running back but Mossis needs to have a more positive role and at receiver he was just a slight compliment. He needs to be a major compliment guy who takes some load at tailback and because he does have that receiver time maybe we do all of the sudden flex him out. But it’s because he’s done that more, it’s not that we’re making him a duel position. He’s going to be a tailback who maybe could move around some.”
* Running back Jermie Calhoun, who will be battling Madu for playing at running back along with Jonathan Miller this spring, missed the first day of practice with a head cold. He should be back at 100 percent after spring break.
* The X factor of the offense this spring is tight end, where the Sooners have a pair of talented prospects who have yet to display their full potential. Those players are James Hanna and Lane Johnson.
Hanna, who has been clocked at a 4.48 40-time, has athletic ability to burn for a tight end. But for him confidence and consistency have been the issues.
“He’s a young man that has a lot of talent but he lacks the confidence and the trust to play at a high level, to play fast and physical,” Wilson said. “He has flashes. When we test, he will test very well. But it’s taking that and making plays.”
Johnson, meanwhile, who redshirted last season, is still learning to play the position. A lifelong QB, Johnson was recruited out of Kilgore (Tyler, Texas) College to play tight end. At 6-foot-7, 265 pounds, with good speed, Johnson has all the tools of becoming an elite tight end.
“He’s still learning,” said Wilson, who in addition to being the team’s offensive coordinator is its tight ends coach. “I heard a great quote when I was watching the NFL Network last week. Marshall Faulk said, ‘The greatest way to inhibit speed is to make a man think.’ And he’s (Lane) thinking a lot because he’s still learning how to play tight end because he was a high school quarterback.
“He’s still learning our concepts and learning what to do. He’s tough, strong and fast. He’s got a lot of the right skill set but he’s still learning to play. He did a great deal of work today. He got more reps than he’s ever gotten and he’ll get them all spring. That tight end position really took a hit last year and it would be nice to have him step up and take a vital role this season.”
* Wide receiver was a position that a took a turn for the better late in the year, showing up big in a win over Stanford. Broyles had a huge game, but so did sophomore Dejuan Miller and freshman Jaz Reynolds. The wide receiving corps seems to be confident thanks to that performance going into the spring.
“We showed in the bowl game that we are a solid receiver corps,” Miller said. “2010 I feel is going to be a pretty good year.”
* This blog, among others, has been touting the young, talented safeties OU has stockpiled in recent years. Kevin Brent, Javon Harris, Marcus Trice, Joe Iblioye and Tony Jefferson are players that a lot of schools wanted.
But defensive coordinator Brent Venables cautioned against anyone calling OU “loaded” at safety.
“Loaded means that you have a ton of guys that have played and played a lot and played really good. To me, to us in this building,” Venables said. “So we’re far from it.
“We’ve got a couple guys who have actually played and played pretty good, but not to an All-American level yet. Are they capable? Yes. But we’ve got to bring some young guys along. They’re young guys and you recognize potential. We recognize performance.”
Point taken. However, OU’s potential at safety should translate into some heated competition for playing time, something the players have already copped to.
“That’s something we always talk about,” Trice said. “Us defensive backs will sit around together and talk about how competitive this summer and fall are going to be. You have to bring it every day. You can’t have a bad day because a guy who is the same age as you might have a good day. You don’t want to get stuck behind a guy who’s the same age as you or you’ll get stuck riding the pine until the day he leaves. There’s a lot of competition that’s about to be going on this spring starting once we get back from spring break.”
* New secondary coach Willie Martinez is already receiving rave reviews. Safety/cornerback Jonathan Nelson called Martinez an extension of Venables.
Said Trice: “He’s a great coach. He really preaches fundamentals and technique. If you’re not on top of those two then he’ll let you know it. He’ll get in your face but then he’ll let up on you too. He’s not a coach that has nothing but negative things to say. We were on the field the other day and he ripped me. Then I came back and made a good play and he gave me praise. I like that about him. But he’s real fiery, real enthusiastic.”
* OU’s situation at defensive tackle, with Gerald McCoy gone to the NFL and Adrian Taylor coming back from ankle surgery, is alarming. But Venables expressed confidence this week that Taylor will be cleared by doctors sometime at the beginning of the summer. That would be huge news for OU’s defense. Taylor was not only one of OU’s best players last year, he was one of its defensive leaders. In the meantime, OU will be leaning on rising soph Jamarkus McFarland to elevate his game as the only tackle on roster with meaningful experience.
“Coming here, you’re already expected to be a leader,” McFarland said. “They only take leaders coming here. You already have that weight on your shoulders. Automatic when you come to Oklahoma you have that leadership role. It’s branding in you somewhere, you just got to bring it out of you when the time is needed. Now is kind of my time. But Gerald is still there if I need to call him. Adrian is there in practice.”
The key for OU is getting either Stacy McGee and/or Casey Walker to step up at tackle. Justin Chaisson, who just moved to DT from DE, is still learning the position and may need time to develop. But McGee and Walker are third-year players.
“All those guys lacking the snaps, they still have the potential,” McFarland said. “They’re bringing the same ability, it’s just getting that chance. We’re not lacking any potential with McGee, Walker, Chaisson.”
* Ronnell Lewis is one of OU’s many budding stars on the defensive side of the ball. But despite being the star of the Sun Bowl, Lewis said he has kept a level head.
“I’ve kept a level head my whole high school recruiting process,” said Lewis, who noted he goes home to Dewar often on weekends to help him remain grounded. “Kept let things get to my head.”
As a freshman, Lewis was a heavy hitter, but on defense and on special teams. He commented his favorite hit last year was knocking out Kansas’ Dezmon Briscoe on a kickoff return.
“I’m real physical on the field,” Lewis said. “I’m going to give it everything I have, hitting, running, do whatever they want me to do. I give 100 percent at all times.”
On a lighter note, Lewis recalled being hypnotized a couple days before the Sun Bowl, which caused Stoops to demand the hypnotist take special care in getting Lewis out of the trance.
“Someone woke me up, I was sweating, like where am I at?” he said. “I’ll never do that again.”
* The Sooners are off for spring break until March 22. Here’s OU’s remaining spring practice schedule:
March 22: Practice 3
March 24: Practice 4
March 26: Practice 5
March 27: Practice 6
March 30: Practice 7
April 1: Practice 8
April 5: Practice 9
April 7: Practice 10
April 9: Practice 11
April 10: Practice 12
April 13: Practice 13
April 15: Practice 14
April 17: Red-White Spring Game
-JT
Follow Jake Trotter on Twitter: @Jake_Trotter.
