Oklahoma used up its final basketball scholarship on JUCO All-American Juan Pattillo in what has turned out to be a stellar recruiting class for Jeff Capel. Pattillo plays the forward position and will give even more added depth behind the Griffin brothers and Ryan Wright. In fact, I'm not convinced that Taylor Griffin will be a starter with the dept in the post. I guess it depends on if Jeff Capel continues use a three guard lineup or not. Regardless this team will have to work really hard to not improve from this past season.

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Oklahoma has had five players win the Outland Trophy in its rich football history. This year there are three Sooners on the preseason watch list as an indication of how good OU should be in the trenches this season.

With all five returning starters from last season's offensive line returning Oklahoma could have the best line in the conference. Phil Loadholt and Duke Robinson are both going to play crucial roles in keeping OU's running game strong and protecting Sam Bradford. Both guys have the dreaded word "potential" attached to their names and everyone remembers how the o-line underachieved in the Fiesta Bowl. Improvement is crucial to either one of these guys winning any post-season awards but more importantly it is crucial for the team to experience even more success.

On the defensive line DeMarcus Granger is finally making headlines for the right reasons again. He has paid his dues and earned a spot back on the team and is on the watch list as well. Oklahoma is going to be very solid along the defensive line with NFL caliber athletes at every position but Granger could turn out to be the best of the group.  

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To say that OU's baseball team is struggling would be gentle. The Sooners are 3-8-1 in conference going into this weekend's series with Missouri. It is way beyond rally time for Oklahoma. This weekend is huge and another sweep could find the Sooners in last place.

On a side note - Remember the time when Missouri thought they were better than Oklahoma in football? Yeah, that's a fun night to relive.

Update #1: Sooners drop first game to Missouri 9-4.
Update #2: Sooners lose 2nd in a row to Missouri (6-5) and will try to avoid the sweep tomorrow.
Update #3: Sooners avoid getting swept by pounding Missouri 22-4.

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Oklahoma's 2009 recruiting class continues to get deeper. The Sooners have received a commitment from hard hitting New Braunfels (Texas) linebacker Tom Wort who also had offers from LSU and Texas A&M.

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Oklahoma's 2009 recruiting class is stacking up nicely, particularly on defense. Three defenders committed to play football at OU over the weekend including Justin Chaisson who is ranked as the nation's 27th overall player by Rivals.com.  Chaisson (who is from the same high school as current Sooner standouts Ryan Reynolds and DeMarco Murray) also had offers from California, LSU, Florida and UCLA.

The other two commitments for OU over the weekend were linebacker Brandon Mahoney and cornerback Steve Williams. In all OU has a total of 9 verbal commitments for the 2009 class.

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A little snafu in the system prevented this post from going up until today but you know what they say, better late than never. The SBN blogs have been asked to try some new software that allows you to record posts from your cell phone for posting from live events. Well, here's my attempt at it from Oklahoma's Red/White Game.

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Dominique Franks put on a show Saturday at the Red/White Game.

Before you jump off the deep end thinking that Oklahoma's offense is suddenly going to stink after getting dominated by the defense all spring let me remind you that last year after the spring we had no idea who the quarterback would be because they all looked so bad. As it turns out Sam Bradford was alright after all. So what are we supposed to think after OU's quarterbacks tossed a combined 6 interceptions, 3 of which were returned for scores?

First of all we need to realize what Bob Stoops has stated over and again throughout the spring drills - that the defense has a sizable advantage. After Saturday's Red/White Game the coach addressed the issue one last time.

"The offense is incredibly disadvantaged in these situations by the way we practice. We go against them in pass skel and in scrimmages so the defense anticipates them pretty well. I felt good about the offense. There were a lot fewer penalties today and no fumbles. I know we had the interceptions, but a lot of that goes back to what I said about the offense being disadvantaged."

So based on that let's look at what we've learned this spring.

The offense is actually going to be fine! How do we know that? Keep in mind that DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown weren't participating which hurt the running game a little. Also, the coaches praised the efforts of the offensive line in the areas of cutting down penalties and improved blocking as well as the running backs and receivers for a lack of turnovers.

The other interesting think to watch with the offense was their move to the no huddle attack. It really is quicker and will result in more offensive plays which hopefully will result in more points.  

Dominique Franks is going to be really good! Strike that. He is really good. Franks dominated the spring game with three interceptions, one of which he returned 57 yards for a score, and two tackles.

Frank Alexander needs to be on the field! I know the Sooners are deep at the defensive end position but Alexander is a playmaker. He was all over the field Saturday making tackles, sacking the quarterback and intercepting passes.

Coaches should consider changing positions for Mossis Madu! The kid has talent but will experience the same problem he had last season trying to overcome the depth Oklahoma has at running back. DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown are the most experienced while freshman Justin Johnson ran strong in the spring and Jermie Calhoun will be joining the team this summer adding even more depth to the position.  

Madu has the hands and speed to be a very good slot receiver (led the team in receptions during the Red/White Game, 6-74) and would give the offense yet another weapon to toy around with.

RED/WHITE GAME STATS

RUSHING
Player, Attempts-Yards
J. Johnson, 20-44
Madu, 11-31
Clapp, 7-49
Bradford, 5-(-16)
Iglesias, 1-27
Nichol, 1-4
Jones, 1-(-5)
Halzle, 1-(-11)
TOTAL, 47-123

PASSING
Bradford 12-25-191, 1 TD, 3 INT
Halzle 1-13-4, 1 INT
Nichol 7-15-58, 1 TD, 2 INT
Jones 1-5-50, 1 TD

RECEIVING
Madu 6-74
Gresham 2-60, 1 TD (51)
Iglesias 2-28
Eldridge 2-26
J. Johnson 2-9
Hutchins 1-50, 1 TD
Mensik 1-15
Chaney 1-12
Whitson 1-12
Clapp 1-8, 1 TD
Stratford 1-5
Ratterree 1-4

TACKLES
Holmes, 10
Proctor, 9
Beal, 8
Fleming, 8
Reynolds, 8
Lewis, 7
Davis, 5
McCoy, 5
Bennett, 4
Clayton, 4
B. Jackson, 4
D. Jackson, 4
Robinson, 4
Bowers, 3
Granger, 3
Nelson, 3
Alexander, 2
Crow, 2
Franks, 2
Macon, 2
Taylor, 1
Troup, 1

TFL-YARDS
Beal, 2-6
Davis, 1-1
Granger, 1-2
Proctor, 1-2

SACKS-YARDS
Alexander, 1-11
Bennett, 1-10
Clayton, 1-7
Beal, 1-6
McCoy, 1-6
Taylor, 1-5

INT-YARDS
Franks, 3-91 (TD)
Nelson, 1-81 (TD)
Alexander, 1-31
Davis, 1-10

PBU
B. Jackson, 2
Proctor, 2
Crow, 1
Fleming, 1
Holmes, 1
Macon, 1

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"Yeah, it was my idea to fire Sean on April
Fool's Day. That way everyonr would wonder
if it was a joke. Speaking of jokes let's talk
about the search for a new basketball coach!"

In five seasons as the head basketball coach for the Kansas Jayhawks Bill Self has won games, four Big 12 titles and a national championship. Let's face it, he's the kind of guy just about any school would love to have coach their basketball team but only few would be qualified to employ him. Among the hundreds of schools that rank among the unqualified you'll find Bill Self's alma mater, the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

I'm not one to get into the great debate of where O-State's basketball program ranks nationally but I can say with all confidence that they aren't in the same class as the Kansas Jayhawks. In fact, the only other schools you'll find in that class are Duke, North Carolina and Indiana. Those are the jobs that any coach would leave their current position for without thinking twice.

Oklahoma State thought that they could play the "home" card and park a dump truck load of cash in front of Bill Self's house with a love note from Mike Holder and T. Boone saying, "there's more where this came from!" and Self would leave basketball Mecca for Stillwater.

Turns out that Self didn't have to leave Lawrence to become one of the highest coaches in the NCAA which sends OSU back to the drawing board but now with a slightly bigger problem. Self was their guy and they were prepared to pay an astronomical amount of money to get him. Now, unless they are going after Duke's Coach K, UNC's Roy Williams or Texas' Rick Barnes, they're not going to get a top tier coach like Self but they will have to explain to the candidates from the lower tier why they suddenly aren't willing to pay as much as was rumored.  

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Malcolm Kelly shocked over 30 NFL scouts and the entire Sooner Nation yesterday with a 40 time that some had clocked as low as 4.75. Afterwards Kelly voiced his displeasure with the OU coaching staff and the location of the workouts.

The thing that Kelly is failing to understand is that it was the NFL scouts, and not OU strength/conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt, who requested that the players run on the softer surface because "this is the surface that they run on" and that scouts could add fractions of a second to a 40-yard dash time if they perceive a track to be too fast.  

"I told Malcolm it's up to him, wherever he wants to run," Schmidt said.

Now Malcolm Kelly must overcome the perception that he's lost a step as a result of his injury and the he's going to be a high maintenance type player who blames all his woes on someone else. He'll have a few private workouts with the Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins before the draft to try to make up some ground.

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A news conference has been called for 1:00 this afternoon for Blake Griffin to announce if he'll be returning for a sophomore season or entering the NBA draft where he is expected to be a top 10 pick. Honestly I think it is about 50/50 right now that he'll return. He could go now and make a lot of money or he could return to OU for one more season improving his free throw shooting and midrange jump shots along with taking the Sooners deeper into the tournament next year. The second option would bring him more attention next season along with more money.

As soon as the announcement is made we'll be here with thoughts and opinions.

UPDATE: Blake Griffin is staying so we can all take a collective sigh of relief. This was the better choice for Griffin. Sure, he’s passing up on a huge payday but in return he’ll get an even bigger one in the future. This also means that OU only has one more scholarship to offer for this signing period. They are actively pursuing Juan Pattillo (See post below) who is scheduled for an on campus visit later next week.

Here are a couple of stabs at the starting lineup for the Sooners next season. Let me know where you thing they’ll go with it.

G Austin Johnson
G Tony Crocker
G Willie Warren
F Blake Griffin
F Ryan Wright

G Austin Johnson
G Willie Warren
F Taylor Griffin
F Blake Griffin
F Ryan Wright

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The absence of a head coach is starting to cost Oklahoma State basketball recruits and one of them could be heading to Norman. Juan Pattillo, a 6' 7" swingman from College of Southern Idaho is turning away from Oklahoma State and has now narrowed his choices down to Oklahoma or South Florida.

At this point Oklahoma has one scholarship to give and while there is speculation that Keith Clark could return to the team this fall it appears that Jeff Capel is persuing other options to add frontcourt depth and Pattillo could be the answer. He averaged 17.4 points, 6.7 rebounds for a College of Southern Idaho team that averaged 110.4 points per game last season.

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We'd like to send out a big congratulation to the Kansas Jayhawks for their 75-68 overtime victory over the Memphis Tigers in the NCAA basketball championship game. Thank for stepping up and bringing another national championship to the Big 12 conference and please, please, please don't let Bill Self leave Lawrence for Stillwater.

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