Happy Friday, friends and fans!

Per a source confirmed by Stadium’s Jeff Goodman, Oklahoma Sooners guard Jamal Bieniemy is electing to transfer after two years in the program. Although his scoring production and efficiency took a slight dip as a sophomore compared to his freshman season, his defensive intensity was present throughout his time with OU.

Despite his struggles in year two, Bieniemy was seemingly starting to find his footing on the floor again for the Sooners down the stretch before the college basketball season was shut down for good. After starting 30 of 31 games in the 2019-20 campaign, he won’t be an easy player to replace for Lon Kruger and crew.

Going forward, a player like rising senior guard Alondes Williams could presumably step into the starting lineup on the court next to PG De’Vion Harmon, or Oklahoma could insert a do-it-all kind of talent like rising sophomore forward Jalen Hill into the spot for added size while maintaining a similar amount of scoring production. Needless to say, the news of Bieniemy’s transferring makes OU ultra-thin at the guard position as currently constructed, meaning the grad transfer market is a highly likely route for the coaching staff to venture in the coming weeks or months.

Now on to this week’s Friday edition of Hot Links! The list of virtual draft attendees is out, Kyler Murray donates to a noble cause, Katie Nolan’s posse flexes their celebrity connections and more!

OU Links

• The Pride of Oklahoma may not be able to come together on Owen Field for now, but that won’t stop them from delivering the best virtual fight song performance you’ve ever witnessed. Stay home, stay safe, and Boomer Sooner!

• Four former Sooners plan on participating in the NFL’s virtual draft later this month. In alphabetical order, those players are DT Neville Gallimore, QB Jalen Hurts, WR CeeDee Lamb and LB Kenneth Murray. Details on how the prospects will participate in the draft are expected to be revealed at a later date.
• By the numbers, it would appear OU offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh is pretty good at his job, and by pretty good I mean easily the top OL developer at the collegiate level. If anybody on the staff deserves an annual raise, it’s this man.

• Kyler Murray has pledged $25K to the COVID-19 Emergency School Nutrition Fund, and he’s challenging you to make a pledge of your own. No student’s education should be compromised because of improper nutrition, especially now. Follow K1’s lead by raising your hand and supporting the kids!

• Healthcare workers around the world are doing yeoman’s work in an effort to save lives during this unprecedented time. In fact, this issue touches me on a particularly close level with both my mother and sister both making a living as professionals in the healthcare field. An extra-special shout out to all the doctors, nurses, technicians and volunteers who are spending hours upon hours healing and caring for all those who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic or any ailment inside our hospitals and health facilities. We light it blue in honor of you. Thank you.

Around the Sports World

• The Houston Texans have added another viable receiving threat to QB Deshaun Watson’s arsenal by trading a second round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to the Los Angeles Rams for WR Brandin Cooks.
• CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee put together his list of college football head coaches with the hottest seats entering the 2020 season. Several high-profile jobs could be on the line this fall, including Tom Herman’s with the Texas Longhorns.
• Living boxing legend Floyd Mayweather says he plans to follow in his father and late uncle’s footsteps by becoming a trainer. For an athlete who never lost in the ring as a pro, it’ll be cool to see him extend his knowledge of the sport down to the next generation of fighters.
• When it comes to determining which college football program is the real (insert position here) U, the debates about what parameters should be measured and how each scale is weighted are practically endless. Well allow Banner Society’s Jason Kirk to add one more criterion to the conversation. Check out his ‘Draft Points’ method that calculates nearly 50 years of NFL Draft data into a points system. It’s not full-proof by any means, but it provides another way of looking at schools who claim to be the real QBU, RBU, DBU, etc.
• Sports talk personality Katie Nolan found a pretty cool way to generate some entertainment during this extended time away from actual sports. With the help of some noteworthy friends, she recently organized a contest to see which one of her pals could successfully invite the most famous person to join their massive zoom group call. I’m still not entirely sure who won, but the results were as random and awesome as you might expect.

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