Several days after Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma to become USC’s head coach, junior wide receiver Theo Wease put his name into the transfer portal. At the time, there was a fear that the Sooners might be in store for an exodus of mass proportions and it appeared as though Wease would be part of that.
Instead, Wease removed his name from the transfer portal several weeks later and announced his “unfinished business” with Oklahoma. What nobody knew at the time was where Wease was considering.
“I entered the portal because…it was actually, I was going to hit the portal before the coaching staff change happened, if I’m being honest. And then, it’s crazy, so I’m going to take you up through my process. I was interested in going to Ole Miss and playing for [Jeff] Lebby. So, like we talked about me going out there. Come to find out, he gets a job at Oklahoma. Of course, I never wanted to leave Oklahoma, but you know just how certain stuff plays out, stuff happens.
Once I heard about Linc getting the new job, blah blah blah. I’m like, okay, maybe the new coach, maybe this is just my blessing in disguise. Come to find out, I see Lebby gets the job. I’m like, I was just talking to this guy. Why would I leave now? In Lebby we trust. In BV, trust me. They’re cooking up something special and they’re not wasting their time with it. It’s fast changes happening and I’m loving it. I’m excited for it all,” Wease said in an appearance on “The Podcast on the Prairie” with hosts Brayden Willis and Jeremiah Hall.
Given that he was prepared to perhaps join the Ole Miss Rebels, it’s obvious the impression that new OU offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby made on Wease. Brent Venables is drawing rave reviews from Wease as well.
“Man, I’ve been enjoying it a 100 percent. BV, it’s just his whole mentality, just the swagger behind him that he brings to the team. The energy is just like, it’s contagious literally. We really feed off that energy,” Wease said.
It’s not just a new look at head coach and offensive coordinator. Oklahoma will have a new starting quarterback in 2022. The 6-foot-2, 200 pound receiver discussed what transfer quarterback Dillon Gabriel has already added to the program.
“DG’s a great leader. He’s like a people person. He’s just fun to be around. You can’t dislike him. Friendly to everybody, pretty sure he’s cool with everybody. Texts everybody on the team every day, and that’s just him. It’s not fake at all. His arm talent is… trust me. Dime time. That first one not going to come out soft, it’s going to come out hot,” Wease said.
Of course, Wease missed this past season due to injury. Before his podcast appearance, it was unclear what exactly the ailment was. Based on his comments, it was some sort of foot injury.
“It was different, because I’ve never really had a foot injury before. It was just different, you know, just the certain types of ways I’ve got to retrain my body, retrain these muscles how to balance. Like at one point, I was picking up marbles and putting them in cups with my toes. It was crazy just thinking of doing stuff like that. It was I wouldn’t say easy. There was definitely some setbacks, but I had a good recovery,” Wease said.
Sooner fans are more than familiar with the type of playmaker Wease is when healthy. As a sophomore, Wease tied for the team lead with 37 receptions and finished as Oklahoma’s second-leading receiving yardage leader with 530 yards. He had four touchdowns that season.
“Always, always want more. I didn’t really go into the season expecting nothing. I just wanted to do, just go out there and do my thing, play my game, try not to think too much of it. I definitely would say I don’t think I had the season that I’m capable of. We’re going to save that for another. We got the 2022 season coming up, so you know how excited we is, you know how ready we are for that,” Wease said.
Wease joins a group of returning Oklahoma wide receivers that features Marvin Mims, Drake Stoops, Brian Darby, Trevon West, Jalil Farooq and Cody Jackson. OU also signed Nic Anderson and Jayden Gibson in its 2022 class. He has a message for those that wonder how Oklahoma will handle the defections of Mario Williams, Mike Woods and Jadon Haselwood from the wide receivers room at OU.
“Yeah, I definitely think it’s a special group for sure. I don’t think everybody realized how deep we actually were. Losing the guys, it hurt, but we got young guys, we got more guys. It’s OU. We’re just going to reload and we’re just going to go play ball,” Wease said.
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