Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops wants to make sure teams are rewarded for scheduling tough games.

Oklahoma basketball lost its only Class of 2014 commit Monday afternoon when three-star power forward Jacob Hammond (Bel Aire, Kan./Sunrise Christian) said he has decommitted from the program.

Hammond, who is 6-foot-10 and 235 pounds, had been pledged to the Sooners since August and has been pursued by Lon Kruger and rest of the OU coaches since before his sophomore season.

Now other schools from across the country are starting to enter the mix, and Hammond said he wants to make sure he is making the right decision.

“I still like OU, but as of recently, I have had a lot of interest from schools in the Big 12, Pac-12, Big Ten and schools on the West Coast so I want to make sure that I am making the right choices,” Hammond said in a text message.

Hammond maintained a solid relationship with the OU coaches this last season despite transferring from playing in nearby Oklahoma City to Sunrise Christian, just outside of Wichita, Kan.

NORMAN, Okla. -- In Bob Stoops’ first season in 1999, Oklahoma spread everyone out and threw it around.

In 2004, the Sooners put Jason White under center and handed off to Adrian Peterson.

As Stoops pointed out last week, the Sooners have often "played to their personnel." That includes last season, when, after it became abundantly clear the Sooners’ fourth-best receiver was better than any tight end, OU went almost exclusively with four-wide formations.

“We had some young [tight ends], a new guy from junior college,” Stoops said. “We weren’t the same with them on the field. Our best grouping was with wide receivers, which was quite obvious to anybody who watched us.”

In recent weeks, the Sooners have taken criticism from ESPN analysts Trent Dilfer and Jon Gruden for not using tight ends. They say it put too much pressure on quarterback Landry Jones to throw the ball downfield.

In several OU victories, Jones’ arm was good enough to overcome the limitations of not having a tight end checking off a route underneath the coverage, streaking down the middle of the field or helping to block in the run game.

But in the Sooners’ three 2012 losses, not having a tight end came back to haunt them, as OU was unable to maintain balance with the run or attack the Kansas State, Notre Dame and Texas A&M defenses off play-action.

The OU coaching staff recognized this liability and tried to lure another junior-college tight end to Norman before signing day. But after losing out on Beau Sandland and Emmanuel Bibbs -- the two juco tight ends they thought could provide an immediate impact -- the Sooners were forced to go with what they have.

Only this time, they won’t have Jones’ arm to fall back on. To be successful in 2013, the Sooners will have to run the ball with better efficiency. And they’ll have to also be lethal with play-action. Which means Sam Grant, Taylor McNamara and Brannon Green, whom the Sooners deemed weren’t ready last year, had better be ready to play this time around.

“I feel much better about it,” Stoops said. “The two freshmen [Grant and McNamara] have come along, are stronger blockers, have a stronger presence about what they’re trying to do. Same thing with Brannon Green, more experience in what we want him to do.

“I believe they’ll have more opportunities.”

Despite losing Kenny Stills and Justin Brown, the Sooners figure to be strong at wideout again. Jalen Saunders and Sterling Shepard should be prolific, and Trey Metoyer, Durron Neal, Dannon Cavil, Jaz Reynolds and others have big-play ability. But as OU transitions to an offense more reliant on the ground game -- as well as the running ability of its inexperienced quarterbacks -- tight end play will be paramount.

It’s no coincidence that when the Sooners have run the ball best, they’ve had stellar tight end play.

Quentin Griffin had Trent Smith.

Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray had Brody Eldridge and Jermaine Gresham.

Even Adrian Peterson had James "Bubba" Moses and Joe Jon Finley.

Stoops says he likes what he saw from the tight ends in the spring. After redshirting last year, Grant showed promise as a blocking specialist. McNamara has put on weight and is finally healthy after undergoing shoulder surgery last season, then tweaking a hamstring after being cleared for spring ball. Green has come along, too.

They’ll never be confused with the 2007 tight end grouping of Gresham, Eldridge and Finley. But if they can be just solid enough to be used, that might be adequate.

The Sooners are always going to play to their personnel. But OU has always been better when the tight ends are included.

Cedar Hill (Texas) High cornerback Marcus Green was smiling from ear to ear when he picked up an Oklahoma offer last Monday.

He thought about committing but held off. The plan was to take an unofficial visit to campus May 31 and commit then. But when you know in your heart, why wait? Green committed to OU on Sunday afternoon.

“Me and my parents felt very comfortable making this decision,” Green said. “There was something in my heart telling me to do this.”

Green had developed a quick bond with OU defensive coordinator Mike Stoops, but the OU offer was only the start of the week for the 6-foot-1, 176-pound corner.

In the 48 hours after the OU offer, Nebraska, Texas Tech, Houston and North Carolina all entered the mix. But he still felt strongly about OU. More importantly, his parents felt strongly about the Sooners, and his mom had no issue with Green making the decision on Mother’s Day.

“When I got the offer, my parents were like ‘Go to OU,’ " Green said. “It’s still close to home, and they feel really good about what OU offers with football and academics.”

Green called Mike Stoops on Sunday and said Stoops told him the commitment made his day. As of early Sunday evening, Green said he hadn’t talked with OU head coach Bob Stoops yet.

Even though Green has yet to see the campus, he feels 100 percent solid with his commitment.

“When you know, you know,” Green said. “I had no reason to be hesitant about committing. I’m not taking any more visits. I’m done.”

Green is OU’s fifth overall commitment for the Class of 2014 and second on defense, joining strong safety Vontre McQuinnie (Lancaster, Texas/Lancaster).

It has been a disturbing trend with OU and the loaded Texas high school defensive backs class with OU not playing a big factor, but Green could be the start of some positive momentum.

“An OU offer is the top of the line,” Green said. “You can’t beat that. I’m so motivated right now, and I’m just going to keep working hard.”

Green said academics played a big part, too. He is looking to major in health science and physical therapy and said OU has one of the best programs in that department.

During a Sooner Caravan Stop in Tulsa a week ago, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops had quite a bit to say when asked about the gap between the SEC and the Big 12.

Among Stoops' comments, published in the Tulsa World were

“Well, it depends on what gap you’re talking about. What are the bottom six doing?”

“"So they've had the best team in college football. They haven't had the whole conference. Because, again, half of 'em haven't done much at all.”

Stoops’ main point was that from top to bottom, the SEC was not better than the Big 12.

Edward Aschoff did a thorough evaluation of the SEC's dominance. Here's another perspective:

In order to evaluate this claim, it is necessary to eliminate the “propaganda” that Stoops was referring to. The BCS Computer Rankings do just that by basing its rankings purely on numbers.

Looking at the six computers that comprise the BCS rankings, Stoops’ claim has some validity (though it is important to note that the SEC has four more teams in its conference).

The SEC’s average computer rank was 35.1 (out of 124) and 10 of its 14 teams ranked in the top 50 in the nation.

The Big 12’s average computer rank was 36.9 and eight of its 10 teams ranked in the top 50 in the nation.

The Big 12 beat up on itself in conference play, but in non-conference games its teams went 30-9 (.769 win percentage), which ranked second in FBS behind the SEC which was 55-12 (.821 win pct).

Entering bowl season, the Big 12 was 26-4 against non-conference opponents, which was the best record of any conference in FBS.

This is not necessarily to say that the Big 12 was a better conference than the SEC. Our final conference rankings show that they are not.

But if anyone is looking for a way to back his claim, the unbiased computers are a great place to look.

Inspired by Florida's "#ComePlayWRFortheJoker" campaign, our recruiting writers looked at other ways schools can sell themselves on the trail. Here's a look at recruiting pitches for the Big 12:

Baylor Bears
What they’re selling: The new 45,000-seat, $250-million on-campus stadium that will open in 2014. Recruiting is an arms race, and players like fancy stadiums and locker rooms, and Baylor’s upgrade puts them finally on the same level playing field as everybody else in the Big 12.
What they're missing: Help on defense -- specifically at defensive line and defensive back.

Iowa State Cyclones
What they’re selling: Paul Rhoads. He grew up miles from the campus and has helped turn around Iowa State with a physical and fundamentally sound style of football.
What they're missing: A true home-run threat at receiver.

Kansas Jayhawks
What they’re selling: Charlie Weis. He’s taken risks (juco infusion), repaired relationships with area high school coaches and widened KU’s recruiting pool.
What they're missing: Wins. When you’ve won only one conference game in three years, a little bit of everything is missing.

Kansas State Wildcats
What they’re selling: Bill Synder. The plan has worked for years in Manhattan. K-State doesn’t care how many stars a player has attached to his name, a player only earns an offer from K-State unless Snyder personally signs off on it after a lengthy review. It’s a plan that produced a No. 1 BCS ranking and a Big 12 championship in 2012.
What’s missing: I’ve been told by coaches for years that the most difficult position to recruit is defensive tackle. That’s why you often see even average defensive tackles rack up double-digit offers, and finding good depth at defensive tackle has been very difficult to do at K-State.

Oklahoma Sooners
What they’re selling: Oklahoma is proud of its football tradition, and few schools can match the Sooners’ track record for success, facilities and ability to prepare you for the next level.
What they're missing: A renewed focus on evaluating players. It’s what differentiated Bob Stoops’ staff when they started, and it’s how they found players like Sam Bradford, Josh Heupel, Juaquin Iglesias and Donald Stephenson. All at the time were considered to be three-star recruits but wound up being impact players for the Sooners.

Oklahoma State Cowboys
What they’re selling: Their ability to evaluate and develop offensive talent.
What they're missing: Elite players in the Lone Star State. With the best facilities in the conference, it might be just enough to get kids to visit.

Texas Longhorns
What they’re selling: Few in the nation can offer up the type of atmosphere, fan base, tradition and total student-athlete package like Texas can.
What they're missing: A true a difference-maker at quarterback. The last two Heisman Trophy winners have come from Texas high schools, and the Longhorns didn’t recruit one heavily and recruited the other as an athlete.

TCU Horned Frogs
What they’re selling: The Horned Frogs recruit to their style of smash-mouth play on both sides of the ball and don’t care how many stars a recruit has. It hurts them some in the recruiting rankings, but it helps them win a lot of ball games.
What they're missing: BCS conference depth. Heading into their second season in the Big 12 after a 7-6 season, the biggest thing the Horned Frogs need to do is to build the roster to be able to compete year in and year out in the BCS conference.

Texas Tech Red Raiders
What they’re selling: The Red Raiders went through a transition that brought Kliff Kingsbury to Lubbock, and the early reception has been nothing short of positive.
What they're missing: The Red Raiders have never had issues putting up points on people, but under Tommy Tuberville and Mike Leach there was little defense being played.

West Virginia Mountaineers
What they’re selling: WVU is a force in the Atlantic region, can recruit well in Pennsylvania and is arguably one of the best schools at identifying offensive talent in the JC ranks.
What they're missing: The 2014 class will have to be all about rebuilding in Morgantown, as the needs are mounting while several impact players have moved on.