Happy Friday, friends and fans!

It’s official. QB Austin Kendall is headed to West Virginia and will be immediately eligible for the 2019 college football season and have two years remaining.

Kendall began his career with the Oklahoma Sooners in 2016 as Baker Mayfield’s backup. The following season, he was able to redshirt as Kyler Murray was eligible to participate in the backup role. Finally, Kendall once again served as the next man up behind another eventual Heisman Trophy winner in 2018.

Besides publicly calling Ohio State’s defense “basic” in 2016, Kendall did all the right things in Norman and handled his business in the classroom. Now a graduate, he’s hitting the country roads to become a Mountaineer under first-year head coach Neal Brown. Tulsa World’s Eric Bailey has more on this process and decision from Kendall.

West Virginia visits Norman on Oct. 19, the week after the Red River Shootout (Showdown, Rivalry, whatever). Oklahoma is 7-0 versus the Mountaineers since 2012, the year they joined the Big 12. It figures to be an exciting build-up with this storyline at the forefront of it all. I certainly wish him well — outside of his matchups with OU, that is.

Now to this week’s Friday edition of Hot Links! Kyler Murray wins the Manning Award, Kristian Doolittle is coming into his own, Noah Westbrook is gearing up for the 2036 NBA Draft and more!

OU Links

• Kyler Murray picked up yet another trophy with the Manning Award. This honor is the only QB award that factors in a player’s postseason performance. Baker Mayfield won the Manning the year prior, so Murray makes it back-to-back winners for Oklahoma.

• ESPN and SEC Network’s Laura Rutledge spoke on Jalen Hurts’ move to Oklahoma and what joining forces with Lincoln Riley could mean for his storied college career.

• Cornerbacks coach Roy Manning hasn’t been a member of Oklahoma’s coaching staff for a full week yet, but he’s already providing an energy to the group that is contagious to those around him.
• Kristian Doolittle has been a surprise on the basketball court for Oklahoma so far this season. His potential as an offensive threat and defensive presence is starting to shine through on a nightly basis.

• In case you missed it, Oklahoma picked up another class of 2019 commitment from DE David Ugwoegbu. The Katy, TX product certainly has the frame to develop into a beast on the edge with time and dedication. Boomer!

Around the Sports World

• Russell Westbrook must be a proud papa getting to spend time with his son Noah on the court. Check out the little guy showing off some natural ability during pregame warm-ups.

• The referees for the Thunder-Lakers game have retroactively admitted they made an incorrect call in favor of OKC towards the end of regulation. In the end, L.A. won in OT.
• If you happened to miss the entire 2018 college football season, don’t worry, the best moments were captured on Twitter. Here are literally over 100 tweets that’ll catch you up on all the shenanigans you may have missed.
• UCONN Football just isn’t getting it done from a competitive or a financial standpoint, but dropping down from the FBS to the FCS level could potentially remedy everything.
• LaVar Ball is charging anybody who wants to film his son LaMelo Ball this weekend at a basketball event $3,500. Yeah, even if he was no doubt the next LeBron James, or better, that figure is just ridiculous.

Stick to Sports!

• By now, most have heard of ‘Coinstar’ if not used one at some point. Soon, those very same machines originally designed to turn your unwanted jar of change into cold, hard cash will start selling Bitcoin. In a partnership with ‘Coinme’, you can soon invest in your own share of Bitcoin in the same place you buy milk and eggs. Pretty neat, if I say so myself, though I’d be careful. Like anything connected with stocks and such, it could all end up being worth next to nothing at the drop of a hat, so keep an eye out for that if you’re looking to take the leap.

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