Video: What to expect from the Sooners
Stoops: ‘Who knows what’s in store?’
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops did a Q&A with Rivals.com writer Tom Dienhart, and if you haven’t checked it out, you should. Stoops is more frank than his usual self, and he touches on, among other things, the Sooners’ injury-plagued season, Landry Jones and possibly leaving Oklahoma in the future.
A couple highlights:
Has this been your most difficult year?
Oh, absolutely. With all of the different players being gone at different times, sure. No doubt about it.Is this your last coaching stop?
Oh, who knows? I’m not that old, I guess. I haven’t reached 50 yet. So, who knows what’s in store, you know?
See the full interview here.
Murray: ‘Pretty sure I’ll be back’
When DeMarco Murray dazzled fans in the spring game before his freshman season, plenty in attendance wondered how long they’d get to watch the Las Vegas native run over and around opposing defenders.
Injuries have kept Murray from playing in several of the Sooners’ biggest games since, including last year’s national title game, and they’ve no doubt played a role in his draft stock as well.
With at least three members of his offense destined to hear their name called on draft day next April, Murray said on Tuesday he likely won’t make it four.
“It’s something my family and I will look into, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be back here next year,” he said.
Non-committal, perhaps, but Murray likely didn’t expect the questions about his future to come so soon. He’s played the entire season without suffering a major injury, sitting out just one game, and making it through a second injury-free season could only help his stock.
As he showed on Saturday, there’s been little doubt about his performance when he’s on the field.
The only worries are making sure he stays there.
More on Jeff Capel
Lots of leftovers from today’s story about Jeff Capel. Capel said his most important job is getting his players to believe in him and trust him, but I was struck by just how much that’s the case within his program.
From Willie Warren, on why he came to OU:
“You get a chance to play with a first-round draft pick, which Blake was, and you come to play for, who I think, sometime later on, will be one of the greatest coaches of all-time.”
Call it hyperbole. Call it bias. Whatever. For Capel, when one of the nation’s best players says something that complimentary about him, it gives him leverage for further recruits. That speaks to just how much Capel has accomplished what he wanted to at Oklahoma, i.e., getting players to believe in him.
Just a bit, I’d say.
Warren also said that though he doesn’t suit up against his team as much as he used to, everyone on the squad knows very well what Capel did at Duke, and that he’s still got plenty of game, even at 34.
I alluded to this in the story, but another thing Tiny Gallon mentioned is that when he first met Capel, he had no idea he was a coach, let alone a head coach. It’s not true of all his recruits, but Capel went from a non-factor and a guy Gallon knew nothing about to his college coach in only a few months. Obviously, he’s new. He hasn’t known these players since they were in the 8th grade. Few coaches could pull that off, and I think it’s the biggest reason why Capel is establishing himself as one of, if not already the best, recruiter in the conference.
Lastly, Gallon and Mason-Griffin mentioned this specifically, but one of the big reasons why they came was because Capel told them he knew they would make mistakes as freshmen, but he wanted them to learn from it by playing through those mistakes, rather than being yanked to the bench by the collar and being chained to a film projector until the next game. That doesn’t mean he’ll let mistakes go unnoticed, but his players response to those mistakes circles back around to the relationships he fosters with them.
“You can get on someone when they know you care about them. And you can help impact them when they know you care about them as a person,” Capel said. “If I had known when I was in school that I was going to coach, I would have majored in something different than history. Probably psychology. Actual coaching is only about 10 percent of the job, to be honest. Especially at this level, there’s so much other stuff involved.”
OU hoops recruit to announce on Nov. 13
Harrison Barnes, a 6-6 forward some consider the nation’s top recruit, says he plans to announce his college choice next Friday, Nov. 13.
Barnes visited Norman the first weekend in October, and is also considering North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, UCLA and Iowa State, the school in his hometown of Ames, Iowa.
School officials told the Des Moines Register that ESPN had expressed interest in broadcasting the press conference, but no plans had been finalized.
Sooners name starters
Oklahoma released its projected starters on Monday for Tuesday’s exhibition opener against British Columbia.
G: Tommy Mason-Griffin, freshman
G: Willie Warren, sophomore
G: Tony Crocker, senior
F: Ryan Wright, senior
F: Tiny Gallon, freshman
Though coach Jeff Capel has been publicly non-committal about how much impact Mason-Griffin and Gallon could have right away, for them to be starting this early in the season says plenty.
Capel said junior forward Orlando Allen’s conditioning was not where he wanted it, but expect him to get some quality minutes spelling Gallon and Wright. Against British Columbia, a lot of players could get a lot of minutes, but anyone who shows up to the Lloyd Noble Center on Tuesday night should get a good, long look at Oklahoma’s new pair of McDonald’s All-Americans.
British Columbia has seen another memorable Sooner debut. In his first game, former Sooner Blake Griffin scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against the Thunderbirds in 2007.
Chat: David Ubben (11.2.09)
Anthony Kim talks golf, basketball, Blake Griffin
Former Oklahoma golfer Anthony Kim spoke to PGATOUR.com this week, and talked about his experiences with Blake Griffin, the OU basketball team and Charles Barkley. Not all at once, of course. Here’s a few snippets:
PGATOUR.COM: Not a Clippers fan?
AK: No way, man. Even though my boy B.G. (Blake Griffin) plays for them now, I’m still a Lakers fan. Blake and I both went to Oklahoma, and my strength and conditioning coach, Darby Rich, used to be the strength and conditioning coach for the men’s basketball team and trained Blake when he was there.
PGATOUR.COM: You ever play against Blake?
AK: I don’t even fool around with Blake. How am I going to mess with him on the court? That would be like him trying to mess with me on the golf course. But I always played with other guys from the OU team, and I was probably the only guy from the golf team to do that. It was good because it was competitive, and it’s good to try stuff you don’t always practice. And I love to talk trash.
Bradford’s surgery a success
Sam Bradford underwent successful surgery on his throwing shoulder on Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala.
The 35-minute procedure was finished at 10:45 this morning, and Bradford, though still experiencing soreness, was resting comfortably.
“It all looked great in the end and everyone seems to feel very good about it,” said Kent Bradford, Sam Bradford’s father, in a release.
Kent Bradford was able to watch some of the surgery, performed by Dr. James Andrews, and said the reigning Heisman winner would go through a limited exercise session on Wednesday before returning home in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Obama reaches out to…Sam Bradford?
President Barack Obama named University of Oklahoma president David Boren co-chairman of his Intelligence Advisory Board today.
But at the tail end of his speech announcing the decision, Obama had this to say:
“I thank David for agreeing to serve in this capacity, even as he continues to lead the University of Oklahoma.”
Obama added: “And we are sorry about (Sam) Bradford’s shoulder.”
Bradford was scheduled to undergo surgery in Birmingham, Ala. today, and while Obama’s words likely won’t speed his recovery, Oklahoma’s own Sammy B can’t hate to hear that.
