Tag: Norman

Recruits react on social media to time spent in Norman with the Sooners

How did recruits react on social media to their time spent with the Oklahoma Sooners?

The Oklahoma Sooners hosted a number of prospects across the next few recruiting cycles. This week’s recruiting events have already yielded a commitment with the pledge from Jeremiah Newcombe to the Sooners 2024 class.

These weekends are about furthering recruiting pitches for prospects the Sooners have been recruiting for some time. Additionally, the recruiting events help build relationships with prospects they’re just beginning to recruit as well.

While much of the focus was on the 2024 and 2025 classes, the Sooners looked deep into the future and welcomed 2026 and 2027 prospects as well.

As we do after each of these major recruiting weekends, here’s a look at what some of the prospects had to say after their time in Norman.

4 Oklahoma signees take part in the All-American Bowl

Oklahoma’s 2023 recruiting class continued their All-Star appearances with four more Sooners playing in the All-American Bowl.

While we saw almost a third of Oklahoma’s 2023 recruiting class down in Orlando for the Under Armour All-American game, four additional 2023 signees were in San Antonio, Texas preparing for their All-American bowl.

Joshua Bates, Makari Vickers, Jasiah Wagoner, and Samuel Omosigho all participated in the All-American bowl Saturday in San Antonio. Omosigho, a four-star linebacker made multiple tackles as a starter for the West squad.

Joshua Bates, another offensive line recruit for Bill Bedenbaugh spent time at center all week and played in that spot during the game. He’ll be playing center in college as well. Bates strength and IQ were noted during the week.

Four-star defensive back Jasiah Wagoner had some nice practices during the week. He capped that off with a nice showing during the game. He also showed some athleticism returning punts for the West squad.

Last but not least, the lone Sooner on the East squad was Makari Vickers. One of Oklahoma’s signees from the state of Florida, Vickers is a unique and competitive cornerback that is known for sticky coverage.

The East dominated the game from the very beginning but it was encouraging to see more contributions from future Sooners.

Oklahoma’s 2023 class has officially concluded their high school careers and over half of their signees will now prepare and pack for Norman as they enroll mid-year.

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Norman a top-20 college town in the South according to reader vote in Southern Living

The city of Norman landed inside the top 20 in Southern Living’s best college town reader vote.

College towns are unique places that hold a special place in the hearts of those that attend the universities that make up the most significant presence in that particular city. Norman, Oklahoma, is a special place to those who’ve called it home during their time as students at the University of Oklahoma.

It’s why Norman finished inside the top 20 in Southern Living’s reader vote for best college towns in the South.

When it comes down to it, there’s only one thing that all these towns seem to share—and that’s your devotion to them. Inviting streets and cool music venues be darned, these are the best college towns in the South because they’re your college towns. You know that each time you step foot on campus, whether it’s every football season or once in a blue moon, it’ll still feel like home. And that certainly earns a place the distinction of being the best. Here are the South’s 20 Best College Towns as voted by you, our readers. – Betsy Cribb, Southern Living

And here’s what she had to say about Norman, which came in at No. 20 on the list in the Southern Living reader vote.

The University of Oklahoma’s campus offers two of the area’s main attractions: the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, the nation’s largest university-based museum, and the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, where visitors can see works by Ansel Adams, Edward Hopper and Georgia O’Keefe. There’s fun to be had off campus, too; picnic or camp at Lake Thunderbird State Park or explore Historic Campus Corner, where dozens of shops, restaurants and bars fuel community between OU students and Norman residents – Betsy Cribb, Southern Living

While a few towns in Texas rank ahead of Norman, fear not, there is no sight of Austin, the home of the Texas Longhorns. San Marcos and College Station were the only Texas cities to come out ahead of Norman. San Marcos is the home of Texas State, and College Station is the home of Texas A&M.

It’s easy to see why anyone would love to visit Norman. There are so many different restaurants, you’d be hard-pressed to NOT find something you didn’t like.

Campus Corner always comes alive on the weekend and now that the campus is coming out of the pandemic, live is finally starting to feel normal once again.

I’ve never regretted my decision to attend the University of Oklahoma for a moment. Norman feels much more like a home than other college towns I visited when looking at schools.

The way you can see the imposing Gaylord Memorial Stadium while walking around campus always makes it feel as if the ghosts of OU Football are watching over the campus.

Being able to just drive anywhere on any day and find somewhere to be is so easy in Norman. Just yesterday morning, I had brunch at Neighborhood Jam with some friends. It was excellent. Just stuff like that where you can be with friends and have a nice time is why Norman feels like home.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today. 

Notre Dame beats Massachusetts in first round of NCAA Tournament

The Irish have past their first tournament test.

If Notre Dame had lost to Massachusetts in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, no one would have been surprised. After all, two No. 5 seeds already had fallen, so it would have been forgivable not to bat an eye at seeing it happen again. But it didn’t happen this time, and the Irish are into the second round after an 89-78 win in Norman, Oklahoma.

The Irish (23-8) got off to a fast start, going up by as much as 17 in the first half. The Minutewomen (26-7) cut that lead by more than half going into the break when Sam Breen hit a buzzer-beating half-court shot. When the lead was whittled down to six in the third quarter, another No. 12 seed looked like it was on its way to victory. Instead, the Irish went on an 11-0 run, and that was all she wrote for the Minutewomen.

It was a historic game for Olivia Miles, who achieved the second triple-double of her collegiate career: 12 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists. She joins Skylar Diggins and Jackie Young as the only players in program history with two triple-doubles. While she also had six turnovers, no one will remember that.

Maddy Westbeld led the Irish with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field. The Irish also got 18 points apiece from Dara Mabrey and Maya Dodson.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Where does Lincoln Riley rank among college football’s highest-paid coaches?

Where does Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley rank among the highest-paid coaches in college football? A quick look at the names above him and below him:

Oklahoma knows what it takes to keep great coaches in Norman. For starters,  money is at the top of the list. Current Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley is no stranger to the compensation that comes with being Oklahoma’s head coach. In a recent look at college football’s highest-paid coaches from USA TODAY Sports, Riley ranks in the top five.

 

Nick Saban is at the top of the list and with good reason. He’s the best coach of the best program over the last 10 years. The success speaks for itself, and for Alabama, none of their other sports programs bring in the revenue or success that football does, so Saban being compensated as such makes a lot of sense.

Ed Orgeron, coach of the LSU Tigers, ranks second. Orgeron’s Tigers decimated Oklahoma a few years ago in the Peach Bowl on their way to the program’s fourth national title. It’s been a struggle since that point, as LSU finished with five wins last year and have just three in 2021. Rumors continue to swirl about the security of Orgeron’s job despite his large salary.

David Shaw of Stanford and Dabo Swinney of Clemson are the last two coaches above Riley, and both make eight million dollars apiece. Riley slots in at number five with a salary of 7.6 million dollars. He recently signed a six-year deal with Oklahoma in 2020 worth 45.2 million dollars, and his staff also received extensions and raises as well courtesy of the Oklahoma Board of Regents.

Riley will earn up to eight million dollars because of stay bonuses this season unless he decides to bolt for the NFL, which is considered unlikely. The major NFL franchises he was attached to have seemingly stabilized and found their head coaches for the foreseeable future.

With the exception of David Shaw, Riley is the only coach in the top five in salary to not have won a national title. It’s the only trophy in Riley’s cabinet that is missing and the only thing he probably cares about.

Oklahoma is in the midst of an undefeated season and also a midseason quarterback battle. Riley will have to settle that first, but with how the college football landscape looks, this year may be the best window of opportunity for Oklahoma to break through and get Riley’s first national title and Oklahoma’s eighth.

 

 

 

Running Back Eric Gray on OU to SEC, new teammates, adjusting to OU

Speaking to the media, Eric Gray discussed a variety of things from his decision to come to Norman and acclimating to OU and the offense.

As the 2021 season inches closer, there isn’t a more anticipated debut than that of Eric Gray’s for the Oklahoma Sooners. After putting on an impressive display of athleticism and big-play ability at Tennessee and in the Oklahoma Sooners’ spring game, the buzz around Eric Gray has crescendoed over the last six months.

Soon, all of the hype will give way to what he does on the field. In a loaded backfield with Kennedy Brooks, Marcus Major and Tre Bradford, Gray and the Sooners will have opportunities for big plays out of the running back position.

Ahead of fall camp, Eric Gray was one of 10 players to meet with the media via Zoom, and he was asked about a host of things including his time in the SEC and the players he faced that are now teammates.

Girls HS basketball team that had racial slur directed at them wins state championship

The Norman Tigers received a standing ovation in their title game.

The Norman girls high school basketball team that had a racial slur directed at them by an announcer has won the Oklahoma state championship.

Norman beat Bixby 48-37 to take the Oklahoma 6A state title on Saturday. A standing ovation for the team started with over a minute remaining in the game, according to the Oklahoman.

Earlier this week a live microphone caught announcer Matt Rowan using a racial slur to describe the team after they took a knee during the national anthem before a playoff game.

“They’re kneeling? (Expletive) (racial slur). I hope Norman get their ass kicked. (Expletive) them. I hope they lose…” he said.

Rowan would later blame the incident on a blood sugar spike that came as a result of his diabetes. That actually happened.

The Norman Tigers’ title win capped off a perfect season. The team went 19-0.

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Mayor of Norman concerned about game day atmosphere for Oklahoma football games

How and what college football looks like remains a never-ending conversation. Norman’s mayor is concerned about game day atmosphere.

How and what college football looks like remains a never-ending conversation.

University presidents, athletic departments and administrators continue to talk about bringing fans in the stands after the prevailing thought was that sports would go on without fans in the United States until a vaccine for COVID-19 was found.

Bringing 25 percent capacity of a stadium like Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium would be around 20,000 to 25,000 people. Thousands more typically tailgate outside of Oklahoma’s stadium and not go into games. Fans in attendance and the game day atmosphere has the mayor of Norman, Oklahoma, concerned.

“Having 80,000 people right next to each other is a terrifying concept to me at this time,” Breea Clark said in a recent interview. “And if you didn’t let them in the stadium, what would they do? Tailgate? Then it becomes the city’s problem and that also terrifies me. So if we take away tailgating, what are they going to do, hang out in bars and be in close quarters?”

The Sooners’ home stadium is right in the middle of Oklahoma’s campus. A couple blocks south of the stadium is Campus Corner—a historical district in Norman, Oklahoma, known for its bars and food. Areas south of the stadium up to Campus Corner are filled with fans on game days tailgating ahead of Oklahoma’s football game.

There is still no official announcement on when Oklahoma football players will return to campus to get prepared for the 2020 season. Athletic director Joe Castiglione and head football coach Lincoln Riley have exuded extreme optimism that a season will happen.

How game days will be orchestrated appears to be a potential problem Oklahoma will have to figure out with its city’s mayor.

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