Happy Tuesday, friends and fans!

Yesterday afternoon, the Oklahoma Sooners announced the dates for the start of spring practice and OU’s annual Pro Day. On March 9, Lincoln Riley will field a press conference before camp kicks off on March 10. Then on March 11, NFL scouts will be in Norman to evaluate all draft eligible participants. The OU Daily’s Caleb McCourry has more details.

The OU Pro Day is a great opportunity for all of Oklahoma’s draft hopefuls, but it’s especially vital for players like CB Parnell Motley or OT R.J. Proctor, namely because they did not receive an invite to this year’s NFL Combine. Fortunately they’ll have their chance to work themselves on a draft board somewhere with a strong showing. Last year’s Pro Day helped LB Curtis Bolton show what he can do, and he was ultimately given a chance to suit up for the Green Bay Packers through free agency.

Don’t look now folks, but we’ve almost made it to arguably the most exciting time of the offseason. With the arrival of spring training comes a renewed sense of hope and energy for all college football programs, including Oklahoma. For nearly six weeks, all eyes will be on the Sooners’ QB derby (insert eye roll emoji), the early enrollees, and the new coaching hires. All things considered, it’s shaping up to be quite an interesting road to the 2020 season.

Now onto today’s Hot Links! The Sooners are going to battle against the Red Raiders in OKC, Cedarian Lamb is ready to run yesterday, Tua is (almost) back and more!

OU Links

• With Texas Tech on deck, OU will try to pick itself off the mat after dropping its last three games. Tonight’s game will be played in Oklahoma City inside Chesapeake Energy Arena instead of the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. Perhaps a change of venue will do the team some good. Either way, the Sooners need to find a way to win or else this season could very well end much earlier than once believed. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

• When you see senior forward Kristian Doolittle on the floor in OKC tonight, you’ll notice he’s wearing a protective face mask. That’s because he reportedly suffered a broken nose in the second half of the Oklahoma State game on Saturday, writes The Oklahoman’s Abby Bitterman.
• Jalen Hurts met with the media on Tuesday in Indy, and he was asked about his thoughts on possibly switching positions as a pro. As always, he was pretty straightforward and concise with his response. Man, whatever happened to good ole rat poison?

• CeeDee Lamb is a complete wide receiver. He has good size and strength, great speed, and of course, he has excellent hands. In fact, Good Morning Football’s Nate Burleson actually ranks Lamb above all other wideouts in this draft class when it comes to his pass-catching mitts.

• Speaking of Lamb, he’s been pretty vocal about how excited he is to showcase his entire arsenal as a player, including his speed. If he’s able to clock a sub 4.4 in the 40-yard dash, I wouldn’t expect him to make it past the top 10 before hearing his name called on draft night.

• Lamb also touched on his unique experience of playing with two Heisman Trophy winners and another finalist during his three-year Oklahoma career. Clearly those different styles of quarterback play helped him develop his own game in return.

• After helping his team go 5-1, Oklahoma junior outfielder Tanner Tredaway was named Big 12 Player of the Week. Among several other impressive stat lines, he batted .500 from the plate in 24 appearances. With an already stout pitching staff to work with, it’s nice to see some relatively unheralded players stepping up in the box as well. Boomer!

• Spring ball is in full swing, and on Monday former Oklahoma QB and baseball player Cody Thomas knocked the stitches off this pitch for a homer against the Chicago White Sox. Then later he followed it up with an outstanding grab at the wall for an out. The game would end in a 2-2 tie, but it’s nice this dual-sport Sooner making a little noise in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.

Around the Sports World

• On Monday, Oregon Ducks hoops star Sabrina Ionescu became the first D-I player, male or female, to record 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists in a career. That’s big time stuff, especially when considering that she had just spoke at Kobe and Gianna Bryant’s celebration of life just hours earlier.

• Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal became the first NBA player to score 50+ points in back-to-back nights since Kobe Bryant did so in 2007. Unfortunately for his team, both of those career-high performances resulted in losses, but it’s still impressive nonetheless.

• New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner has been granted a protective order against a so-called fan who has reportedly been harassing him and his family. Yikes.
• The Michigan Wolverines football team will not be traveling abroad this spring as they’ve done under Jim Harbaugh for the past few offseasons due to coronavirus concerns.
• On Tuesday, QB Tua Tagovailoa said he’ll be cleared by his doctors and “ready to go” after March 9. Last November, the former Alabama Crimson Tide signal caller was lost for the remainder of the 2019 season after suffering a severe hip injury.

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