Happy Hump Day, friends and fans!

The Oklahoman’s Jacob Unruh wrote a telling article revealing why class of 2020 three-star linebacker Brynden Walker flipped his verbal commitment from Oklahoma State to the Oklahoma Sooners.

For a recruit to make the hard decision to switch up his commitment, one of two things is typically at the heart of the move. Either they lost faith in their original choice, or they discovered promise at another. For Walker, the latter appears to be the case, and the Alex Grinch effect is officially taking shape.

There is still a lot of time between now and either of the signing periods, and there’s still that thing called the football season to be played, but one thing can be certain — the Sooners’ relationship with defense will look different under Grinch, and it’s beginning on the recruiting trail. Hopefully for OU and its fans that means the results on the field will translate accordingly.

Now let’s dive into today’s Hot Links! Limited football season tickets are going on sale next week, vote for Kyler and Brenna on Friday, the USWNT jerseys are flying off the cyber shelves and more!

OU Links

• Are you looking for a hot, new wallpaper for your smart phone or device? Are you also a fan of the Oklahoma Sooners? If you answered yes to both of those questions, then you definitely need to check out CeeDee Lamb doing his football version of the Jordan Brand ‘Jumpman’ logo. Courtesy of OU Athletics graphic design assistant director Alex Eisbrener.

• A limited number of season tickets are going on sale Tuesday, July 9 at 10 am CT. Do what you have to do to experience the Palace on the Prairie in its greatest state — on game day.

• The Tulsa World’s Guerin Emig thinks highly of Texas starting QB Sam Ehlinger and what he has done to restore some of the luster the Longhorns have lost over the last decade, but that’s not enough for him to be considered the best in the Big 12. For Emig, Jalen Hurts is still the favorite.
• The football team has been taking updated headshots and photos, and true freshman QB Spencer Rattler is looking fly in the all-whites. Also, check out that No. 7. It just feels special.

• Many of the top uncommitted high school prospects at The Opening are strongly considering Oklahoma. A couple of those recruits are four-star WR Gary Bryant and four-star OT Marcus Dumervil, and they each had glowing remarks for the Sooners. Kegan Reneau from USA Today’s Sooners Wire has more.
• OU is known for producing some of the very best athletes across all major collegiate sports, and quarterback Kyler Murray and gymnast Brenna Dowell are two of the latest prime examples. Starting on Friday, you can vote for each of them to win Big 12 Athlete of the Year.

Around the Sports World

• On Tuesday, the USWNT held on to defeat England, 2-1, and it couldn’t have been possible without the heroics of goalie Alyssa Naeher. Next up, they’ll face the winner between the Netherlands and Sweden for all the marbles.

• The Brits are furious about Alex Morgan’s tea-sipping celebration, but tea companies are obviously loving it.

• Speaking of the USWNT, the team jerseys are selling like hot cakes on the officially licensed markets of Nike and Fanatics. All-time sales records have already been set, and there’s still one very important match left to play.
• The Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers held a moment of silence in memory of Tyler Skaggs, L.A.’s 27-year-old pitcher who was found deceased in his hotel on Monday.

• Unseeded American Reilly Opelka bested England’s Stan Wawrinka (ranked 22nd) in five sets to advance to the third round at Wimbledon. This marks the furthest stage the 21-year-old has reached in a Grand Slam tournament.

• Check out how Joey ‘Jaws’ Chestnut trains for his competitive eating contests. It honestly looks kind of painful. Also, he wasn’t kidding when he said he was gulping down that air. Good gosh.

Stick to Sports!

• For any of you who consider yourselves bourbon connoisseurs, you may want to look away now. Or don’t, because that’s a little overdramatic. Speaking of which, a Jim Beam aging facility in Kentucky went up in flames and an estimated 45,000 barrels of the iconic whiskey were caught inside the blaze. Fortunately for the business itself and customers alike, it appears the batch was relatively new, so the losses shouldn’t affect sales too much.

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