Hello again, everybody! If you’re in the Sooner State, I hope you’re doing your best to stay warm today.

Once the National Signing Day dust settled (there wasn’t much dust), Lincoln Riley caught up with ESPN to talk a little recruiting. He spoke about landing wide receiver Jadon Haselwood and the promising signees the Oklahoma Sooners are welcoming on the defensive side of the ball.

Riley also talked about Alabama grad transfer QB Jalen Hurts choosing to play his final collegiate season in Norman.

Kyler Murray already knows what he wants to do in regards to his future, and apparently his former football coach also knows that answer.

It seems like a broken record at this point, but the future looks awfully bright with Riley in charge at Oklahoma. He handles his position with the utmost professionalism, and he’s passionate about the little things. It’s clear his players trust him and want to follow him. Could season 3 finally be the charm?

Now for the rest of today’s Hot Links! Lincoln Riley has finally surpassed Ol’ Pete, Sooner softball returns in one wake-up, Kevin Durant rants to the media and more!

OU Links

• The Oklahoman’s Ryan Aber has an updated list of Oklahoma’s overall scholarship count. The Sooners have signed 24 in this recruiting cycle thus far, one shy of the yearly NCAA limit.
• The Tulsa World’s Eric Bailey details the significance of this 2019 recruiting class being the most highly-rated group in over a decade.
• I’ve been waiting for this one. Finally, Riley is a bigger hometown celebrity than Ol’ Pete, the large mule statue in Muleshoe, Texas.

• Caleb Freeman, the Sooner fan who was involved in a serious auto-accident while on his way to a basketball game last season, has been on the long road to recovery. This Saturday he will be honored during Oklahoma’s matchup against Texas Tech. Keep on battling, Caleb!

• One more day until Sooner Softball makes its official return. Oklahoma gets things started in Phoenix at the GCU Kickoff Tournament.

• In case you missed it, Bob Stoops is expected to return to the coaching ranks, as well as serve in a GM role, in the XFL’s upcoming resurrection. Yeah, I’m definitely going to watch at least the first game to see what this looks like. An announcement is expected at 1 p.m. CT and can be seen live on Twitter and the XFL’s website.

Around the Sports World

• Okay, so Michigan took the gold medal in most awesome throwback-inspired recruiting wrap-up video. Check out how the Wolverines introduced their 2019 offensive signees using the intro to the hit sitcom ‘Family Matters’ as a template. Very cool, indeed.

• According to SB Nation’s Alex Kirshner, which college football programs performed the best during the 2019 recruiting cycle in each state? The answers may surprise you.

• First year Texas Tech head coach Matt Wells talked about other programs offering Red Raider commits at the eleventh hour, attempting to flip their commitment. That eye roll automatically makes me like this guy and he hasn’t even coached a Big 12 game yet.

• So news that Harrison Barnes was being traded from Dallas to Sacramento was announced while Barnes and the Mavs were in the middle of a game. Cue the spirit of Rodney Dangerfield and something about gettin’ no respect.

• Kevin Durant went on a rant after being questioned about not answering the media members’ questions as of late. I agree with him about taking his statements out of context to an extent, but he has to realize that many media members are just trying to do their jobs, too. Also, a person who uses burner accounts telling people to “grow up” is just rich.

Stick to Sports!

• Actor Chris Pratt has become one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in the last several years, and many of his fans mostly associate him with his character from the sitcom Parks and Recreation. Pratt also starred in the uber-popular Lego Movie, voicing the protagonist Emmett. Recently, he appeared on The Graham Norton Show and combined the two popular franchises by singing the Lego Movie’s “Everything is Awesome” while in character from his role in Parks and Rec.

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