Each morning Longhorns Wire will share the top stories from around the Big 12 Conference. For this edition of the Big 12 Morning College Football Talk and 247Sports provide the headlines.
Oklahoma linebacker Caleb Kelly has suffered a knee injury, per report
The Sooners defense lost one of their key players when he went to the NFL through the draft. Now Caleb Kelly was expected to be part of that linebacker group hoping to replace Kenneth Murray’s production. However, Sooners Wire is reporting that Kelly suffered an ACL tear that will cost him his season.
After a step back his sophomore year, former defensive coordinator Mike Stoops moved him to inside linebacker, where he ended up losing his starting role. Kelly suffered an almost season-ending injury in the spring of 2019 and played just four games in the fall.
He seemed prime for a big last year, but Kelly has reportedly been injured again during 2020 fall camp.
Oklahoma quarterback Tanner Mordecai reportedly suffers injury during fall camp
On top of the Kelly news, Sooners Wire also reported that backup quarterback Tanner Mordecai also suffered an injury. Mordecai wasn’t likely to challenge Spencer Rattler for any significant time but back up quarterbacks play a vital role and Moredecai could miss time depending on when the season actually kicks off.
The Sooners were going through a quarterback competition between Tanner Mordecai and presumed starter Spencer Rattler. The competition may have just gotten easier to figure out for unfortunate reasons.
According to a report from SoonerScoop.com, Mordecai suffered an injury during practice that won’t require surgery, but he will miss time.
Lincoln Riley has maintained that Mordecai is in the thick of this quarterback race, but missing time to the heavy favorite is not good for his potential of that.
The Waco, Texas, native came to Oklahoma in the 2018 recruiting class. He was a four-star prospect and one of the best players in Texas.
Baylor sophomore Jared Butler withdraws from draft
ESPN reported that Jared Butler has withdrawn from the NBA Draft and will return to campus for the 2020-21 basketball season.
“This decision was extremely difficult because of the relationships I’ve built in Waco, the tremendous will to win a national championship for Baylor, the unprecedented time of the coronavirus and my ultimate dream of playing in the NBA all in one equation,” Butler said. “But I think through it all I came to have great peace of mind in what I wanted to do and what’s best for me right now.”
Butler, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, was ranked as the No. 46 prospect in the ESPN 100. He averaged 16 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game for Baylor, which was projected as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament when the season was canceled. A deep tournament run would have undoubtedly benefited Butler, who had a breakout season, being named to the Big 12’s all-conference first team and a third-team All-American.