Sooners well represented on NBA summer league teams
Former University of Oklahoma players can be found peppered throughout summer league rosters this year.
Former Sooner Willie Warren will be playing on the Los Angeles Clippers summer leage team. PHOTO BY JOHN CLANTON, THE OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVES
Unfortunately, everyone will have to wait a little longer to see Blake Griffin on the court, though. The former Sooner standout has been working out at 100 percent for the Los Angeles Clippers, but will apparently wait to make his official return to the court.
Here’s a look at the former Sooners on summer league rosters:
* Willie Warren, Los Angeles Clippers (draft pick)
* Tiny Gallon, Milwaukee Bucks (draft pick)
* Tony Crocker, Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets (training camp invitations)
* Taylor Griffin, Phoenix Suns
–Ryan Sharp, Asst. Sports Editor
Sherri Coale presented with Lawton/Fort Sill Cavalry jersey
Oklahoma Sooner Head Women’s Basketball Coach Sherri Coale was the recipient of a personalized jersey from the Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry basketball team at the Lawton-Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet on Friday.
OU women's basketball coach Sherri Coale was presented with a Lawton/Fort Sill Cavalry jersey on Friday. (PHOTO PROVIDED)
“We wanted to share some of our team’s excitement with someone who understands what it takes to be a championship team,” said Cavs co-owner Michael Brown. “We admire Coach Coale for what she does for the sport and wanted to give her something from us that she could take back to Norman.”
Coale a former guard on the Oklahoma Christian University’s women’s basketball team was presented with the jersey before she was introduced to speak at the banquet. The jersey had her number with the Lady Eagles and her last name as well.
Injured Giants draftee Chad Jones a high school teammate of Frank Alexander
By now you’ve probably heard about Chad Jones, the former LSU player and New York Giants draft pick who was involved in a serious car accident Friday in New Orleans.
In this April 30, 2010, file phtoo, New York Giants' Chad Jones looks on during rookie football camp in East Rutherford, N.J. Jones, a two-sport star at LSU who was drafted by the New York Giants, underwent surgery Friday, June 25, 2010, following a dawn accident in which his SUV hit a pole. Jones was admitted to the LSU Public Hospital in New Orleans in guarded condition. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)
Jones was a high school teammate of University of Oklahoma defensive end Frank Alexander.
Jones and Alexander both attended Southern Laboratory School in Baton Rouge, La. where they both were all-state selections. Jones originally attended St. Augustine High School in New Orleans but after Hurricane Katrina he evacuated to the Southern Lab School. Jones played football at LSU and was a relief pitcher on the 2009 LSU baseball team that won the College World Series.
Another former Southern Lab player and former NFL player Chuck Wiley was running a football camp at Alexander and Jones’ alma mater when he heard the news.
“Once you’re part of that Southern Lab family, you’re in there,” Wiley said to The Advocate, a Baton Rouge newspaper. “You’re brothers and sisters. You’re family. Once we leave here, I’m driving to New Orleans. Got to make sure everything is OK.”
How Oklahoma basketball coach Jeff Capel is spending his summer ‘vacation’
USA Basketball gave Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel a nifty way to get away from it all. He’s coaching U.S. under-18 national team that will play in the FIBA Americas U18 Championships for Men starting this weekend in San Antonio.
The team is headlined by Kyrie Irving, the Gatorade National Player of the Year. Irving will play point guard next season at Duke, giving he and Capel, himself a former Blue Devil point guard, a lot to talk about. For Capel, the whole experience is a change of subject after months of being at the center of an imploding basketball program now under NCAA investigation.
University of Oklahoma men's head basketball coach Jeff Capel smiles during a news conference in Norman, Okla., Friday, April 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
“This is great,” Capel told the San Antonio Express-News’ Jerry Briggs. “It’s always great to be able to coach during the summer.”
Who knows whether Capel needed rejuvenating. He’s kept a low-profile in recent months. But Team USA guard Austin Rivers, himself the son of a high-energy coach, has noticed during practices that Capel is “really into it.”
“I expected nothing less from him. He goes hard,” said Rivers, son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers. “You can tell he loves the game. You can tell he knows exactly what he’s talking about.”
Here’s the Team USA roster: Vander Blue (James Madison Memorial H.S. / Madison, Wis.); Trevor Cooney (Sanford H.S. / Wilmington, Del.); Abdul Gaddy (Washington / Tacoma, Wash.); Joshua Hairston (Montrose Christian School (Md.) / Fredericksburg, Va.); Kyrie Irving (St. Patrick’s H.S. / Elizabeth, N.J.); Quincy Miller (Quality Education Academy / Winston-Salem, N.C.); Tony Mitchell (L.G. Pinkston H.S. / Dallas, Texas); LeBryan Nash (Lincoln H.S. / Dallas, Texas); Jereme Richmond (Waukegan H.S. / Waukegan, Ill.); Austin Rivers (Winter Park H.S. / Winter Park, Fla.); Amir Williams (Detroit Country Day / Detroit, Mich.); and Patric Young (Providence School / Jacksonville, Fla.).
“I like the make-up of our team,” Capel told the Express-News. “We have really good talent. We have versatility. We have guys who can really defend. We have good athleticism, guys who can score. I’m excited about coaching this group. I’m excited about seeing what we can become over these next few days.”
Capel’s Team USA opens at 7 p.m. Saturday against the U.S. Virgin Islands. Here’s the team’s schedule.
And here’s the entire San Antonio News-Express article.
Chat Recap: John Helsley on the Sooners in the CWS
OU-Nebraska not in the cards
OU athletic director Joe Castiglione doubted an OU-Nebraska series will continue, now that the two schools will be in different conferences.
When asked about the possibility of playing Nebraska out of conference, Castiglione responded, “Given our current schedule, I don’t see a place for them for 10-12 years.”
That’s because OU already has a marquee non-league opponent lined up each season for the next decade.
OU has scheduled home-and-homes with Florida State (2010-11), Notre Dame (2012-13), Tennessee (2014-15), Ohio State (2016-17) and LSU (2018-19).
-JT
Chat Recap: Jake Trotter
Report: Texas announcement to come Tuesday
The University of Texas will announce its plans to join the Pac-10 after its Board of Regents meet next Tuesday, a source confirmed to Orangebloods.com.
The regents meeting will take place at 11 a.m. in Ashbel Smith Hall in downtown Austin, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
A brief agenda item for the meeting reads: “Discussion and appropriate action regarding athletic conference membership.”
Texas is expected to be joined by Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. Colorado has already accepted an invitation to the Pac-10.
The final school remains up in the air. Texas A&M, which has the final Pac-10 invite, is considering a jump to the SEC. If the Aggies wait too long to decide, the Pac-10 could move on to another school, possibly Kansas.
A Pac-16 could begin competition as soon as 2011.
-JT
Chat Recap: Jake Trotter on conference realignment
OU snatches another commitment
As the world turns in conference realignment, Oklahoma’s football coaches have been adding to their 2011 recruiting class.
The Sooners landed another verbal commitment Thursday in offensive tackle Derek Farniok.
The 6-foot-9, 319-pound native of Sioux Falls South Dakota committed to the Sooners on his way back from OU’s camp, according to SoonerScoop.com.
Rivals.com ranks Farniok, who held offers from Kansas and Minnesota, as the No. 68 offensive tackle in the country.
He joins CB Brandon Carter and Duncan OT Dylan Dismuke as the third player to commit to OU this week.
OU now has 15 players for the Class of 2011.
-JT
