Sooners WR signee Gardner arrested in Reno on obstruction charge
CAMPUS CORNER — The perception is and was that Sooners receiver signee Courtney Gardner has an uphill climb to become eligible to enroll and play at OU. This will not help matters.
The story:
By TRAVIS HANEY
NORMAN – Oklahoma football signee Courtney Gardner was arrested this past weekend on a misdemeanor obstruction charge in his hometown of Reno, Nev., according to the city’s newspaper.
A spokesman for the Washoe County Sherriff’s Office told the Reno Gazette-Journal that Gardner, a late addition to the 2012 class for the Sooners, was arrested about 1 a.m. Sunday after the driver of the car in which Gardner was a passenger was pulled over on suspicion of DUI.
The police spokesman said Gardner “became belligerent” as the driver was being questioned. Armando Avina also said the car had five occupants, and the responding officer noted an immediate smell of alcohol and marijuana.
Someone in the car at one point said to the officer, “Don’t you know who we are? We’re Division I athletes.”
As Gardner continued to become more vocal with the officer, backup units were called.
The newspaper reported Gardner was also arrested in November 2009, for possessing alcohol as a minor.
Gardner, 6 foot 3 and 215 pounds, is still a student at Sierra Community College in Rocklin, Calif., where he needs to pass a handful of classes this semester to be academically eligible to enroll at OU in the summer.
Sooners coach Bob Stoops does not typically comment on arrests of current or future players.
Gardner, whose family was forced to move west after Hurricane Katrina destroyed its home in Louisiana, is one of a half-dozen junior college players that OU signed in the class.
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Big 12 can do some damage
This was supposed to be a down year for Big 12 basketball. No team from the conference was listed in most top 10 preseason polls.
Texas A&M actually was one of the projected NCAA teams. This was a “down” year for Kansas. Missouri wasn’t in the top 25, viewed as a possible bubble team. Iowa State was an NIT team, Kansas State and Oklahoma State maybe NIT or NCAA.
Turns out the Big 12 has a chance to do some damage in the NCAA Tournament.
The ACC likes to pride itself on being an elite basketball conference but the Big 12 usually is deeper in quality teams and produces its share of Final Four teams, although Kansas is the only one to win a title. But considering how wide the gap is in football it’s pretty narrow in basketball.
You could argue strongly the Big 12 is the best combination of the two sports.
As for this year’s NCAA Tournament, I confess I’ve been momentarily disappointed with nearly every Big 12 team at some point.
But now that the bracket has been released — and maybe it’s because I live in Big 12 country and see the upside of teams — I like the conference’s chances of making some noise.
I’m picking all six teams in the first round. Vegas odds say that’s not too outlandish.
Iowa State (Connecticut) and Texas (Cincinnati) are slight underdogs but I like both matchups enough they’re essentially coin-toss games.
The conference’s other four teams are all 6-point favorites or better, including No. 8 Kansas State which might just keep shooting until the Wildcats score against Larry Eustachy’s solid but flawed Southern Miss team.
I have one Big Eight team advancing to the Final Four. I’ll keep you in suspense a few paragraphs but I have Kansas, Missouri and Baylor all reaching the Elite Eight.
There are some lower seeds many believe are capable of first-round wins.
I’m going with eight lower seeds and will rank them in order of confidence: No. 10 Xavier, No. 10 North Carolina State; No. 12 Davidson; No. 11 Texas and No. 12 Long Beach State.
Not quite as confident: No. 13 New Mexico State; No. 12 (play in) California and No. 13 Montana.
Go with all the No. 8’s.
Long shot but not picking it: No. 13 Ohio over Michigan.
Drum roll for Elite Eight matchups….
South — Kentucky over Baylor.
East — Ohio State over Vanderbilt.
Midwest — North Carolina over Kansas.
West — Missouri over Michigan State.
Title game: Kentucky over North Carolina.
If it plays out that way — granted an optimistic bracket — the Big 12 would finish with 13 wins and three Elite Eight teams.
Collect 10 wins and produce two Elite Eight teams would be more, much more, than anyone anticipated five months ago when practice started.
OU Power Lunch Chat with Travis Haney
Frustrated Sooners look forward to next season
In his post-game press conference following a season-ending loss to Texas A&M Wednesday night in the Big 12 Tournament Oklahoma men’s basketball coach Lon Kruger offered his standard comment:
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Kruger said. “And we look forward to getting started on that right away.”
The Sooners finished 15-16 in Kruger’s inaugural season. It’s close to what many projected but was a disappointment following a 10-2 non-conference record. It was OU’s third consecutive losing season.
There were some positives but each was offset by shortcomings.
Romero Osby, a Mississippi State transfer, was among the conference’s top rebounders and averaged nearly 15 points the final two months.
Guard Steven Pledger, a sharpshooter, was among the conference’s top scorers but limited off-the-dribble skills make him one dimensional.
Andrew Fitzgerald averaged a dozen points but must provide more rebounding and play better defensively.
Point guard Sam Grooms led the league in assists-to-turnover ratio but lacks an outside shot which led to defenses sagging off him, doubling defensively on Fitzgerald, Osby and Pledger.
The difference between being a post-season team rather than a team that finished 5-14 against league foes was the Sooners lacked mental toughness, something players said will motivate them in the off-season.
“I feel it can’t get worse,” Osby said. “Playing in the Big 12 you can’t do anything but get better. All these tough battles we had this year should help us to learn how to win games next year and put it all together.”
Fitzgerald said a full year under Kruger gives players a foundation moving forward.
“Now we know what we need to do,” Fitzgerald said. “Now we know coach’s offensive game and his defensive mindset. It comes down to us taking advantage of it, go from there and learn from our experiences, for me the past three seasons.”
Grooms repeatedly said coaches have done their job that it’s up to players to take the next step to develop into an NCAA Tournament caliber team next season when OU returns all five starters.
“I’m almost certain next year will be better than 15-16,” Grooms said. “We could have easily been 25-9 if we had played better as a team. Our team chemistry has to get better. We have to work hard in the off season to change a lot of things.”
Jarion Henry to go Juco route
Jarion Henry, son of former Oklahoma standout Skeeter Henry, will not be be playing for the Sooners next season.
OU coach Lon Kruger said after a season-ending 62-53 loss to Texas A&M Wednesday night at the Big 12 Tournament that Henry will be attending junior college next season.
Henry originally committed to New Mexico but didn’t qualify academically. Henry, playing at LaJolla Prep in San Diego, signed with OU in late November.
A 6-foot-9 left-hander Henry averaged 14.8 points, 13.1 rebounds and 8.6 assists to lead Dallas Kimball to the Class 4A state title two years ago.
Bob Stoops talks golf
Finishing fourth last month at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops won the Jack Lemmon award which goes to the amateur that helps their pro the most.
Playing with a 14 handicap, Stoops helped Hunter Haas, his pro partner, by 31 strokes. Stoops relived the experience Monday on the first day of spring practice. The highlight was a birdie on No. 17 the final day of the tournament.
“All the guys are reading (tip sheets) what they want to hit, the slope of the green,” Stoops said. “I said, ‘I don’t have to do that. My caddy tells me what I’ve got to do.’ He tells me to hit it to the middle of the green and hit my seven-medal (wood). That’s about 190 (yards) carry over the bunkers.
“I hit it in the dead middle of the green. People are cheering. I tip my hat, laughing every time I do that. Then people (near) the green start going crazy. My caddy is yelling at me, ‘It’s going in, it’s going in.’ The ball was literally was six inches from going in the hole.”
Once the group arrived at the green, Rocco Mediate gave the legendary football coach a hard time.
“Rocco was like, ‘Really, coach, you’re going to show us up on 17,’” Stoops said. “It was pretty funny. It’s a beautiful hole and 18, going up that coast line is pretty special, too.”
Stoops played well the final two days. When asked if he grew to appreciate PGA touring pros that walk the course Stoops said it helped his game.
“I found it easier than having music from your buddy blaring in your ear,” Stoops said. “When you walk you’re thinking about your next shot so you play better. It sure worked for me the last couple of days…
“It was an awesome experience, a lot of fun. I’m proud of Hunter Haas. He continues to do well. Hopefully he’ll keep moving up the money list.”
If the ball had rolled in the hole would that shot stack up some of his top coaching thrills?
“No I don’t know if that would have replaced any of my experiences on the football field,” Stoops said. “But it would have been pretty cool. That would have been my first hole in one.”
Sooners signee Brooks suffers knee injury
CAMPUS CORNER — Oklahoma signee Daniel Brooks tore his anterior cruciate ligament this past weekend, SoonerScoop.com reported today.
Brooks, listed as an “athlete” from Rockdale, Texas, injured his leg in a track meet. His dad told the website he was long jumping – even though he was not scheduled to compete in the event.
He will have surgery March 13 in Norman. Brooks was possibly headed for a redshirt, anyhow, but this now makes that a guarantee. He’ll rehab and ready himself for the 2013 season.
Link: http://oklahoma.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1340225
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Sooners pick up first commitment for 2013
CAMPUS CORNER — Those fretting that Oklahoma did not yet have a commitment for 2013 can again function without irritation.
Houston-area running back Keith Ford became the first on Saturday during the Sooners’ Junior Day, as first reported by OU’s Rivals website.
Ford, from Cypress, Texas, is 5 foot 11 and 195 pounds. He has myriad offers, including ones from Alabama, Florida State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State and Wisconsin. He us currently listed as a Rivals 4-star and the site’s No. 113 overall prospect – though those things could change in the months ahead to February’s National Signing Day.
Texas had 11 commits, at last check on its Rivals website. That left some OU fans wondering what was taking the Sooners so long to land No. 1. They started, it turned out, with a Texan.
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Sooners Power Lunch Chat with OU writer Mike Baldwin
Previewing OU-Texas
Texas, pardon the pun, has a lot on the line Wednesday night when the Longhorns host Oklahoma. If the rematch is anything like the first meeting in Norman the difference could be determined at the line.
Considered a NCAA Tournament bubble team by most national analysts, Texas probably needs to sweep the season series. A home loss to the Sooners (14-14 overall, 4-12 in league play) would severely damage the Longhorns’ NCAA hopes.
In the first meeting earlier this month, a 69-58 Texas win, the two most glaring stats were the Longhorns edge in points off a turnovers and an overwhelming 19-point edge at the free throw line.
That’s been the trend for both teams all season.
Texas leads the conference in free throw attempts (729), a staggering 210 more attempts than the Sooners.
“We’re trying to be aggressive,” said Texas coach Rick Barnes. “But I want to see us be better with details, whether that’s screens or other areas we’re not where we need to be.”
In the first meeting Texas was 24-of-29 at the line. The Sooners were 5-of-8.
“We turned the ball over early in the second half and fouled a few times in transition after we turned the ball over,” said OU coach Lon Kruger. “Some of it was a result of (mistakes) on our end which resulted in them having an advantage in transition.
“Texas is a good basketball team. They have a lot of guys that can attack you, good size and experience on the inside. (J’Covan) Brown, of course, can make tough shots, big shots at critical times.”
OU’s defense played well in the first meeting, limiting the Longhorns to 38 percent shooting which will bolstered by 10 fast-break points and a 21-5 edge in points off turnovers.
The Sooners owned an eight-point lead late in the first half but Texas dominated the first 10 minutes of the second half to build a double digit lead.
“(Steven) Pledger can be as explosive as any player in the league,” Barnes said. “Their front-line players (Romero Osby and Andrew Fitzgerald) do some really neat things. They can step away from the basket or score inside. They show you some things you don’t see a lot out of post players.”
