Happy Thursday, friends and fans!

This bit of news has been in the works for a while, and it’s recently been made official. The Oklahoma Sooners are welcoming another talented graduate transfer in UCLA Bruins WR Theo Howard, who announced his decision Wednesday evening. A source has also informed us that Howard is currently enrolled at OU and is pursuing a Master’s in Human Relations.

Standing at 6’0” and 182 pounds, Howard is a man with a serious playmaking background and a knack for pulling off the spectacular catch. This addition gives Lincoln Riley a legitimate, experienced threat in 2020 who — at the very least — will be a nice boost to the depth of the receiving corps. The Westlake Village, California native only participated in one game last season, which coincidentally came against Oklahoma in September. He did not record any stats in the game nor throughout the season due to a wrist and hand injury he sustained in the preseason and the early going, and 2019 would go down as a redshirt year.

Here’s a glimpse of what Howard brings to the Sooners’ offense. In 2018, he hauled in this impressive catch when his Bruins visited Norman.

In three seasons played at UCLA, Howard totaled 119 receptions for 1,359 yards and nine touchdowns. With CeeDee Lamb moving on to the NFL, Oklahoma’s suddenly young receiving corps is highly talented, yet largely inexperienced. Howard’s presence shall give the Sooners a boost in both departments, and should also help bring along the next OU QB (presumably Spencer Rattler).

Now for today’s Hot Links! Seven Sooners (so far) crack ESPN’s top 150 college football players of all time, Trae Young helps out his Atlanta community, Mike Leach is headed to SEC Country and more!

OU Links

• In case you missed it, check out the highlights from Oklahoma’s win over Texas on the hardwood Wednesday night. The Sooners beat the Longhorns in their house for the first time since 2015, and they did it going away. Boomer!

• Speaking of OU Hoops, Sooners Wire’s Kegan Reneau broke down three major reasons why Oklahoma beat Texas in Austin last night. If this type of performance can become consistent going forward, another run towards the NCAA Tournament will be well within reach.
• Oklahoma point guard De’Vion Harmon began his true freshman season in the starting lineup, but over the last few games has come off the bench for Lon Kruger. The Norman Transcript’s Joe Buettner writes how the young PG is adjusting to his new role.
• In a loaded WR class for the 2020 NFL Draft, CeeDee Lamb’s stock is still rising with a chance to cement himself atop the list at the combine next month.
• ESPN is releasing its list of the top 150 players in college football history, and seven Sooners are included between ranks 26 through 150. Lee Roy Selmon checks in at No. 34, Adrian Peterson at 45, Steve Owens at 95, Keith Jackson at 107, Greg Pruitt at 128, Tommy McDonald at 142 and Baker Mayfield rounds out the list at 150. The rest of the top 25 will be released by halftime of the CFP National Championship.
• Former Sooners point guard Trae Young used his earnings from balling with the Atlanta Hawks to donate $10K to a foundation that helped cancel medical debt for 570 people. Well done, Trae.

Around the Sports World

• Welcome back, Russell Westbrook! No, definitely not going to cry tonight. I’ll be fine. I’ll definitely keep it together. Shut up.

• Mike Leach is leaving the Washington State Cougars after eight seasons to become the next head coach for the Mississippi Bulldogs. Leach in the SEC is truly going to be a sight to behold. His pure air raid in the West Division? Now that’ll be worth the price of admission.

• After nine seasons, Rocky Long has retired as the head coach for the San Diego Aztecs. Defensive live coach and former SDSU HC Brady Hoke will take over for Long this year and moving forward.
• Jimmy Butler and TJ Warren got into a heated dispute on the court Wednesday night. Ultimately, the Miami Heat crushed the Indiana Pacers, 122-108, but round two of these guys meeting comes in March, and quite frankly, I can’t wait to see what happens.

• SB Nation’s Michael Pina looked into how the Oklahoma City Thunder’s three guard lineup of Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dennis Schroder has evolved into one of the most formidable groupings in all of the NBA.
• Tiger Woods announced he’ll be teeing-off 2020 in the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines. The tourney is scheduled for Feb. 10-16.

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