Oklahoma Sooners Hot Links: Cameron Rising Hype, the 2017 NFL Draft, and More!

Good afternoon, Sooner Nation!

Cameron Rising, a commit from the 2018 recruiting class, got some serious hype from ESPN’s Jeremy Crabree today, who called Rising the ‘recruit to watch’ from that class. He’s not the most out-and-out talented player from the class, but ESPN attributes some of OU’s recent recruiting success to the commitment of the pro-style quarterback.

Though it’s hard for me to ascribe a lot of hype to a player who hasn’t even stepped foot on campus yet, a quick glance at the 6’2” QB’s highlight reel confirms the hoopla: Rising — aptly named, by the way — is the real deal. Even though he’s listed as a pro-style QB, Rising is adept at throwing on the run, and he’s got a cannon of a right arm.

Without further ado, today’s edition of Hot Links:

OU Links:

• Lon Kruger’s Sooners missed out on Rice grad transfer Egor Koulechov to Florida. It’s disappointing, really: Koulechov would have been an excellent fit for Lon Kruger’s squad.
• Keep an eye out for our draft profiles! We’ve already done Dede Westbrook and Samaje Perine write-ups, in case you missed them.
• Recent NCAA legislation allows for the position of a 10th full-pay assistant on the sidelines. Bob Stoops is all for it, even if he won’t reveal his plans for the position just yet.
• Not an OU link per se, but this one’s interesting. Oklahoma State had Alamo Bowl rings made, and there’s something, well, strange about them: their record is listed as 11-2, NOT their official record of 10-3. Considering the ending of the Central Michigan game, we’ll let it slide.

National Links:

• The SB Nation team came up with a list of their top five underrated draft prospects. Just for fun, here are mine:

1: Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson

2: Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford

3: O.J. Howard, TE, Alabama

4: Zay Jones, WR, East Carolina

5: Adoree’ Jackson, ATH, USC

• Here’s a fascinating collection of charts and graphs showing where college football players come from. While the Californias, Texases, and Floridas of the nation predictably dominate, there is some surprising info here.
• Shameless plug here: the Thunder take on the Rockets tonight in Houston, so I wrote about three adjustments the Thunder can make to swing the series back in their favor.
• In a bit of serious news: Aaron Hernandez, the former Patriots tight end serving life for murder, committed suicide in his jail cell. Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel, who’s been covering the Hernandez saga for a while now, wrote a very wrenching piece about Hernandez, his fiancée, and his daughter.

‘STICK TO SPORTS!’

• Kendrick Lamar’s DNA video featuring Don Cheadle dropped yesterday, and it’s incredible. Warning — very NSFW language ahead:

• Nintendo released a mini NES earlier over the holiday season, and I never understood it: why would anybody want to play NES games in 2017? Well, Nintendo is reportedly launching a mini Super Nintendo (A.K.A. SNES), and I’m 100% for it. Super Mario World is still the best. The Verge, another website that falls under the Vox umbrella, lists 30 games they’d like to see released for the SNES mini. If Secret of Mana actually releases, I may never leave my house again.