Oklahoma Sooners Hot Links: Recruiting, the 2017 NFL Draft, and More

Good afternoon, Sooner nation!

Considering OU’s recent recruiting success, it comes as bit of a shock to see the luck shift.

Over the weekend, the Sooners didn’t just miss out on Clemson grad transfer Scott Pagano. They missed out on two in-staters — guard Bryce Bray and cornerback Josh Proctor — the former of which chose Oklahoma State over Oklahoma. Additionally, four-star safety Cam’ron Jones out of Mansfield, Texas chose UCLA over the Sooners over the weekend.

It certainly was a tough weekend by Stoops and co. standards, and if this had been another stretch in time for the Sooners, I might be worried. As it stands, the team is flush with both young and experienced talent — and that’s no small thing. Oklahoma will be fine, but recruiting losses like this will drive fans and coaches alike crazy.

OU Links:

• In case you missed it over the weekend: the women’s gymnastics squad took home some hardware! Congrats to the Sooners on their national championship. The men’s gymnastics team will be competing for their third straight national title this weekend.
• The NFL draft is will be here in a little over a week. One NFL analyst has Joe Mixon going in the first round — 29th overall to the Packers. I’ve seen Samaje Perine get mid-round buzz (like in this draft profile). Jeff Essary of Mile High Report recently compared DeDe Westbrook’s big-play ability to DeSean Jackson, predicting he’ll be a mid-to-late round pick. It’ll be interesting to see where all three end up.
• With OU’s recent spat of off-the-field issues, several OU players — former and current — have weighed in on Bob Stoops’ discipline management.
• Despite the football team’s recruiting disappointments, Lon Kruger is still on the hunt for more players. Egor Koulechov would be a huge pickup for Kruger’s squad, a versatile player who I could see being a lynchpin of sorts for the offense. Since he’s a transfer, he’d be eligible to play right away. Quentin Grimes, part of the ‘18 class, is a five-star guard who’s the top-ranked player in Texas:

National Links:

• Remember that time Patrick Beverley ruined a potential Thunder championship run by injuring Russell Westbrook? Steven Adams made things right last night. Although the Thunder got thumped by the Rockets, the memory of this screen — easily one of the best I’ve ever seen — will live forever.

• The camera caught Billy Donovan saying something to assistant Mo Cheeks last night, and after the abysmal pick-and-roll coverage I saw from Enes Kanter, I’ve got to agree:

• The NCAA approved the use of a 10th assistant coach (who, at most schools, will make six figures), but player compensation remains the same. As is often the case with the NCAA, not everything adds up.
• The NFL draft is a difficult thing to navigate, and some franchises (like the Browns) are still reeling from past draft mistakes. Here’s how each NFL team can ace or flunk the draft, depending on who they choose in which round. The author doesn’t seem to have a very high opinion of Mixon, Perine, and Westbrook.

‘STICK TO SPORTS!

• So, Hans Zimmer played the Inception soundtrack with a full band yesterday at Coachella. Absolutely incredible stuff.
• When the news came down that the State Science Fair was being cut from the state budget, I was pretty bummed. A man from Ardmore has made a $50,000 contribution to keep it running. Kudos to you, Mr. Young.