Oklahoma Sooners

NORMAN, Okla. -- Defensive back Kevin Peterson (Wagoner, Okla./Wagoner) had heard about the prestige of Oklahoma. He just needed to see it for himself.

Once he did, it was only a matter of time as Peterson verbally committed to the Sooners on Sunday morning.

"Excited, I don't know what else to say right now," Peterson said. "I talked to my parents before the breakfast this morning to confirm everything, and I knew I was going to commit."

Read the rest of the story here.

Steven Pledger refused to let his team go down without a fight.

Pledger scored 19 of his 31 points in the second half as Oklahoma defeated Houston 79-74 at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Saturday night. The Sooners guard was 10 of 13 from the field as he helped OU rally from a nine-point deficit with 15:41 remaining.

It was a valuable learning experience for the Sooners who held a 40-37 halftime lead but quickly squandered that advantage in the first few minutes of the second half. Seven points from Pledger sparked an OU run which tied the game at 55 with 11:11 remaining.

Then, with the game in doubt, OU outscored Houston 14-7 in the final 5:07 to secure the win.

Player of the Game: Pledger. The junior was 4 of 5 from the 3-point line and 7 of 7 from the foul line as he had 31 points on just 13 field goal attempts. It was the second straight game of deadly efficiency from Pledger, who has scored 53 points on 19 of 25 shooting from the field in OU’s last two games.

Unsung Hero: Sam Grooms. The junior college transfer finished the game with eight assists and zero turnovers. He added 10 points in his 38 minutes of action.

Key Stat: Nine. The Sooners had just nine points off the bench, all from Tyler Neal. The impact of Calvin Newell’s decision to transfer was felt on Saturday despite Neal’s increased aggressiveness.

Key Stat, Part II: 12. The Sooners made 12 more free throws than Houston attempted. OU was 19 of 24 from the foul line while U of H finished 5 of 7.

Quotable: ”Pledge was just terrific all night long. Not only did he score, he rebounded.” --OU coach Lon Kruger on Pledger’s game.

”It was a great night for him. He got great shots in the flow of our offense and found his sweet spots. He made shots tonight and did a lot of things out of the ordinary, which I haven’t seen for a while. ” -- Grooms on Pledger.

”It was very good for us. Adversity tells a lot about teams. At one point in time, I think we were down nine and coach asked us basically, ‘How are you going to respond?’ I think it might have been the best thing for us, it’s not good to win by 20 every night.” -- Grooms on the Sooners having to rally to win.

“You just have to go out there, put things aside and keep playing basketball, don’t let it get to you.” -- Andrew Fitzgerald on hitting two key baskets down the stretch after struggling from the field.

Jake Trotter answers readers' questions about Oklahoma football in his mailbag every Friday. Got a question for Jake? Submit it here.

Kevin Wilson in Bloomington, Ind., writes: Why is Josh Heupel getting a free pass for that brutal game plan in Stillwater, and mediocre offense down the stretch? It seems like I got killed by every armchair quarterback/Sooner fan in sight, despite installing the most prolific scoring offense in NCAA history. Meanwhile “Golden Boy” skates by. What gives?

Jake Trotter: Kevin, I think OU fans have begun to appreciate you a lot more now that you’re no longer here. You’re right, you did get a bum rap (exhibit A, the following question), despite orchestrating a Top 15 offense almost every season you were OU’s coordinator. As for Heupel, I thought he did a solid job for his first season calling plays. But agreed, the Bedlam game plan was bad. Even Bob Stoops halfway threw it under the bus during his postgame press conference. Many more outings like that and Heupel won’t skate by for long.

---

Tanner Smith in Broken Arrow, Okla., writes: Hey Jake, the Sooners have been struggling for several seasons offensively, and it's hard for me to really pinpoint where the problem lies. It's hard to believe it’s a lack-of-talent issue when you look at the success we've had in recruiting. So is it purely coaching? Also, how about a follow-back on Twitter?

Jake Trotter: Struggling? The last four seasons, OU has ranked fourth, 10th, 24th (even after Sam Bradford got hurt) and third nationally in total offense. In ’08, the Sooners set a modern FBS record for points scored in a season. Yes, OU struggled down the stretch this year, but that tends to happen when a team loses its leading receiver and leading rusher to season-ending injuries. As for the Twitter follow, what’s in it for me?

---

Chris in Tahlequah, Okla., writes: Why are the Sooners not getting the elite talent like Florida State, Alabama and Texas?

Jake Trotter: You must not be reading the SoonerNation recruiting updates. OU is scheduled to possibly host the ESPNU Nos. 1, 3, 10 and 41 overall prospects in the country for official visits this weekend. Even if the Sooners sign none of those players this will still probably end up being a Top 10 class.

---

A.J. in Los Angeles writes: What happened to R.J. Washington late in the year? I hardly saw him, even after Ronnell Lewis got hurt. And what’s with all the defensive ends they're looking at? I heard such good things about Geneo Grissom and Chuka Ndulue coming into the season –I thought end was going to be one of OU's strongest positions.

Jake Trotter: A.J., I hadn’t thought about this until you mentioned it, but you’re right, Washington did disappear at the end of the season. He didn’t even appear on the defensive box score in OU’s final two games, when Lewis was sidelined. I do know Washington didn’t see the field much against Iowa State because the Sooners only played one end, Frank Alexander, that game. Frankly, though, it wasn’t a good ending for anyone on the defensive line. Through the first eight games of the season, OU registered 34 sacks. In the last four, the Sooners had just three. That said, end was still the strongest position of the entire team. Alexander was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, Lewis was all-conference caliber, and for most of the year King and Washington were solid backups. Grissom and Ndulue have talent and I expect them to be factors in the rotation next season.

---

Joshua in Houston writes: Jake, who knew 3 losses could spell so much gloom and doom around the Oklahoma football program? Please, give us some positives heading into the offseason and looking toward 2012.

Jake Trotter: The Sooners have a ton of talent back next season, and they are hosting their biggest recruiting weekend in years this weekend. Remember, there was a lot of negativity around the program at the end of 2007. OU lost 48-28 in the Fiesta Bowl, then Reggie Smith, Curtis Lofton and Malcolm Kelly added to the doom and gloom by declaring for the draft. And what happened the next year? OU played for the national championship.

Todd McShay breaks down his top 5 quarterbacks for the 2012 NFL Draft.

SoonerNation has released the latest edition of the Sooner Intel, a sneak peek inside Oklahoma Sooners football recruiting for SoonerNation subscribers only.

As with any good piece of intelligence, everything that is reported in Sooner Intel stays on the There’s Only One forum. Sometimes some of the information is so sensitive and for Sooner fans’ eyes only, that it simply doesn’t need to be passed on beyond this thread.

Some things discussed:

• Is this the Sooners' biggest recruiting weekend ever?
• More on two of the nation's top prospects, Mario Edwards and Dorial Green-Beckham.
• Does OU have a shot at Nelson Agholor?
• Who's the most likely to commit this weekend?
• Tight end Taylor McNamara talks about OU's depth.
• The Cali Connection is back.
• What's going on at running back?

Check out the Sooner Intel here.

After three losses this season, it's seems there has been a backlash against Oklahoma players using social media. Should the Sooners ban Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites? What do you think? Leave your comments below.

I believe in the First Amendment. Even on football teams. So no, Stoops shouldn’t ban social media.

The use of Twitter by OU players has created a stir among the fans and the media lately. But really, that’s only because the Sooners lost two of their three final games to finish 9-3. As Tony Jefferson pointed out this week (on Twitter) would anyone be talking about social media if OU was playing in the national championship? I doubt it.

After OU loses a game, fans and us in the media, often look for abstract reasons as an explanation. This time around, social media seems to be taking the brunt of it. But does anyone truly believe OU’s record would have been any different had Twitter been banned? The Sooners lost games because they couldn’t cover the pass on defense and catch the pass on offense. They lost games because they turned the ball over too many times and forced too few of them. They lost because key players like Ryan Broyles got hurt. Not because of Twitter.

The banning of Twitter could potentially lead to a backlash in recruiting, too. Virtually every blue-chip prospect in the country owns a vibrant Twitter account. I know. I follow many of them. Telling those recruits their Twitter accounts would be deleted the moment they stepped on campus would prove to be disastrous.

Twitter has also given fans unprecedented insight into what’s it like being an OU football player, and the chance for the players to interact with fans on a daily basis.

Now, do players on this team require better judgment on Twitter? No question. Their tweets are a direct reflection on themselves, Stoops and the university. If a player goes over the line, as Jaz Reynolds did last year, there should be consequences. But banning Twitter is not the answer.
- Jake Trotter

---

No way. It baffles me that people think social media is a big enough problem that it should be banned. Why?

Social media is way, way below the actual problems which led to a 9-3 record. There are so many other issues that deserve attention that social media shouldn’t even be in the conversation.

Several Sooners are active on Twitter and people take shots at them because of it. But, quite frankly, a bunch of the players who are active on social media are just as active -- and productive -- on the football field.

For whatever reason, when OU players express themselves on social media, some people think they should be focused on football as if they have nothing else in their lives but OU football. They are human beings with active lives and there’s nothing wrong with that.

They can be productive on the field and active on social media. Either a player has the drive to be great or he doesn’t and that’s not impacted by 140 characters.

Oklahoma has plenty of issues; social media isn’t one of them.
- Brandon Chatmon

---

It is puzzling to me that this is a legitimate concern from Oklahoma fans. No, Stoops shouldn’t ban social media. I don’t believe it’s making nearly as big of an impact as what some others are thinking.

When things went bad late in the season, some fans have pointed to the players tweeting on Twitter too much. OK, so when things go good, is it because they’re on Twitter too much as well?

There are a lot of reasons for why not everything turned out the way OU was hoping in 2011, but you’d have to go pretty far down that list to find social media.

It’s not just an avenue for players to engage with fans, but it’s also really helped players get to know each other. And on the recruiting trail, it’s been huge for the commits to tweet with each other and for commits to tweet with other prospective targets.

Stoops said before the season he realizes what Twitter and Facebook mean when it comes to recruiting. Not every player does it; it’s a choice. But you shouldn’t penalize players for wanting to interact with each other and the fans.
- Bob Przybylo

---

Should Bob Stoops ban social media for the Sooners? No, it's too valuable for all of the reasons listed above. Most of the Sooners use Twitter in a great way (as Stoops likes to say), interacting with fans and having mindless fun.

There are times when some players have been inanely offensive -- Reynolds' "Austin" tweet in 2010 and Casey Walker's tirade against the fans after the Baylor loss come to mind -- but those are few and far between. With 85 scholarship players, I understand that it's hard to police every athlete 24 hours a day.

But most fans, I think, have to embrace how social media has changed the interaction between themselves and players. Never before can you ask your favorite athlete what their favorite type of ice cream is and have them respond in an instant. Twitter is actually pretty cool, if you have an open mind and don't mind the misspellings.

I think the players' use of social media is intensified because their downtime is under the microscope like never before. Most fans want to believe that their favorite athletes are working out or watching film and trying to improve as a player all day, every day. But that simply isn't the case. With social media, you now know that athletes take time between classes and workouts to do ordinary things.

So get used to social media and embrace it. Heck, maybe even go ask Tony Jefferson for a "retweet." Because it's not going away.
- Dane Beavers

Oklahoma walk-on James Fraschilla -- son of ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla -- seems like the classic coach's kid. He's clearly spent much of his young life in the gym, and along the way he appears to have picked up the ability to put the ball in the basket from just about anywhere in the gym.

I'm not saying that hyperbolically, either. As Fraschilla's trick-shot video (filmed "when I had some extra time after finals," according to the YouTube link) shows, he really can make it from just about anywhere in the gym. Or on a treadmill. Or in the long-snap position. Or -- well, you'll see:



Of course, we've seen this sort of trick-shot video before, most notably from former Duke star Kyle Singler. But Fraschilla's video is special in its own way. Why? It was made to help raise awareness for Hayden's Hope, the charitable organization founded by ESPN anchor (and Oklahoma alum) Dari Nowkhah and his wife Jenn, who lost their baby Hayden in September after just 39 days.

Hayden Nowkhah was born healthy, but was back in the hospital after just six days when a virus attacked his heart. Hayden couldn't receive a heart transplant in time and his parents made the excruciating decision to take him out of his pain. One can't imagine what that must feel like, the sheer heartbreak of losing a child so young. But the Nowkhahs have pushed forward with positive action anyway. From their website's mission statement:

We have started "Hayden's Hope" to raise awareness for pediatric organ donation. In addition, Hayden's Hope, working in conjunction with the Children's Organ Transplant Association (COTA), is raising money to cover transplant-related expenses in honor of children awaiting life-saving transplants. Medical bills, travel costs to and from transplant centers, lengthy stays away from home and in many cases, job loss affects transplant families and crushes them financially. COTA families receive 100% of the money raised through Hayden's Hope. It is our hope that Hayden's story inspires others to help children achieve the successful transplants they deserve so that they can live the life they were meant to live.

Good for James Fraschilla for using his unique trick-shot skills to raise awareness for a worthy cause. As you watch Fraschilla execute a perfectly placed bank shot from the 200 level, please also consider making a donation to Hayden's Hope. Tragedies like the one that befell Hayden and the Nowkhahs shouldn't have to happen. Perhaps -- with a little help from you, me, and Fraschilla's trick shots -- someday, they won't.

The Sooners have been hitting the junior college recruiting trail the last few weeks, snagging defensive end Chaz Nelson (Columbus, Ohio/Garden City CC) and tight end Brannon Green (Altamont, Kan./Fort Scott CC). The Sooners are in on cornerback Kass Everett and safety Gerald Bowman, as well as a few other top jucos.

But junior-college transfers don’t always pan out. Here are five that didn’t in the Bob Stoops era:

Mike Reed, linebacker
Reed was the Sooners' highest-rated recruit from the Class of 2007, which also included Frank Alexander, Ryan Broyles and Jamell Fleming. But Reed, out of Yuba College in Marysville, Calif., never stepped on the field. Reed also had a family that moved with him to Norman, and he had a difficult time supporting them with only scholarship checks. Reed eventually transferred to Central Oklahoma.

Mike Balogun, linebacker
After starting the 2008 national championship game, Balogun was primed for a big season in 2009. But a couple of weeks before the opener, Balogun was ruled ineligible for participating in semi-pro games in Maryland, and Balogun lost his appeal with the NCAA. He stayed on with the Sooners until the end of the season and has tried to make it in the NFL. Balogun was signed as an undrafted free agent by the 49ers and bounced around several teams since.

J.R. Bryant, linebacker
Out of Garden City (Kan.) Community College, Bryant was actually more heavily recruited than Balogun and had offers from Arkansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma State. But Bryant never became a factor and was relegated to special teams duty.

Chris Patterson, linebacker/defensive end
The 6-foot-5 defensive end/outside linebacker signed with OU of high school but had to go to junior college at Northeastern (Miami, Okla.). He signed with OU again but never stuck and ended up at Kansas State.

Brandon Keith, offensive tackle
Like Patterson, Keith signed with the Sooners out of NEO in ’05. But he didn’t play his first year and elected to transfer to Northern Iowa, where he had a stellar career. Keith is now the starting right tackle for the Arizona Cardinals.

(Read Bob Przybylo's take on the top five junior college players that played well for Bob Stoops and the Sooners.)