oupride
2/26/2009, 01:05 PM
Each has turned out to be THE guy :)
http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/9259402/Sooners-stars-Griffin,-Bradford-on-verge-of-history
by Jeff Goodman, FOX sports
NORMAN, Okla. - Whether it was Blake Griffin driving his 1993 gold Ford Explorer or Sam Bradford behind the wheel of a white 1997 Ford Expedition, the carpooling rides to AAU practice at Midwest City High would rarely deviate.
Two high school kids roaring with laughter at the expense of their buddies and Athletes First basketball teammates with one impersonation after another.
"We were always cracking jokes," Griffin recalled.
"We'd rag on people the whole ride," Bradford added. "Everyone."
Oklahoma State junior forward Obi Muonelo, who has known Bradford since the third grade and Griffin prior to high school, was often the target.
"I still can't believe those two guys are going to be the Heisman Trophy winner and the Player of the Year," Muonelo said. "Who would have ever thought?"
No one.
Griffin and Bradford grew up about 20 miles apart in Oklahoma. Bradford entered college with little to no fanfare while Griffin was the cornerstone of Jeff Capel's rebuilding project in Norman, but few anticipated he'd turn into this.
Each has turned into The Guy in their respective sports and when Griffin's honor becomes official in early April, it'll mark the first time that a school has produced the Heisman and National Player of the Year winner in the same year.
Bradford has already claimed college football's most prestigious honor, winning the Heisman this past season after throwing for 4,720 yards and 50 touchdowns while quarterbacking the Sooners to the national championship game, where they lost to Florida.
The 6-foot-10 Griffin has a clear lead over the rest of the pack to become college basketball's top player and sweep just about every award — despite the fact that he played just 11 minutes in a loss at Texas and sat out Monday night's home setback to Kansas while recovering from a concussion. He's averaging 22 points, leads the nation in rebounding (13.8) and has single-handedly turned the Sooners into legitimate national title contenders.
"I haven't really thought about it," Griffin said. "But it's kinda crazy that it could happen."
Those around Norman have given it some thought, though.
"It's a remarkable occurrence," said Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione, who is also quick to point out that women's basketball star Courtney Paris has a chance to win National Player of the Year honors as well.
"But what makes it special is that they aren't just exceptional talents," added Castiglione. "They are terrific role models."
A year ago, Griffin would have been a sure-fire lottery pick but opted to return to Norman for his sophomore season in an effort to win a national title, while avoiding sitting on the bench his rookie season in the NBA.
"I just didn't think I was ready," Griffin said.
Now he's on the verge of doing something that even Wayman Tisdale was unable to accomplish in his storied OU career — win the coveted National Player of the Year.
Bradford chose to return for his junior season despite the fact that just about every NFL draft guru had him as the top quarterback on the board and likely even the No. 1 pick in the entire draft.
"The first time we talked about that was a couple weeks ago," Bradford said. "We just talked about what went into making our decisions."
Now they have something else to talk about. Griffin's concussion over the weekend came at a time when the Sooners were on the verge of becoming No. 1 in the country for the first time in nearly two decades.
"We're hoping to have him back this weekend," Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said of Griffin's status.
Bradford also suffered a concussion back in November of 2007 against Texas Tech and had that same glassy look in his eye on the sidelines. However, he was cleared to play the following week against Oklahoma State.
Griffin knew all about Bradford — and vice versa — from their pre-teen days while playing in the same Tri-City basketball league when Griffin was on the Warriors and Bradford played on the Sooners.
Bradford was already a multi-sport star in football, basketball and golf.
Griffin was already a stud on the court.
"You could always tell how good he was going to be because he was always playing up with the older guys," Bradford said.
Bradford got some letters from college basketball programs, but realized that football was his calling following his sophomore year in high school.
"There's no question he could have played Division I basketball," said former Oklahoma basketball player and current Lamar University coach Kermit Holmes, who coached Griffin and Bradford with Athletes First. "He was 6-foot-5 and could score — and he was tough."
Despite putting more focus on his future on the football field, Bradford continued to play AAU ball in the summers.
"I was pretty much a shooter," Bradford said. "I stayed on the perimeter, hustled and got some rebounds."
"He wasn't one of those guys that stuck out, but he did whatever the team needed," Griffin said of his former teammate. "He was sneaky athletic."
Holmes recalls Bradford was the last player to leave the hotel room in Las Vegas in the July of 2005 after losing on a last-second shot to the Houston Hoops.
"He was so upset because it was the last time he'd play with guys like Blake and Obi," Holmes said.
"We lost on a bad call," Bradford recalled.
These days, Bradford and Griffin run into one another a few times a week on campus, usually at the cafeteria, but their conflicting schedules have made it difficult to stay close.
Bradford attends as many of Griffin's games as possible and Griffin does the same in the fall.
"He's amazing," Bradford said. "I saw it back when we played together in AAU. He had the potential to be one of the best — if not the best."
Five years ago, though, they were just a pair of knuckleheads doing impressions en route to basketball practice.
"We still talk about old times," Griffin said.
"We go back to those car rides," Bradford added.
Griffin even does an impression of Bradford.
"We always used to make fun of him because his voice was squeaky. Blake did a great one of him — until this year," Muonelo said. "Now his voice is deep."
That's not all that's changed since those car rides.
http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/9259402/Sooners-stars-Griffin,-Bradford-on-verge-of-history
by Jeff Goodman, FOX sports
NORMAN, Okla. - Whether it was Blake Griffin driving his 1993 gold Ford Explorer or Sam Bradford behind the wheel of a white 1997 Ford Expedition, the carpooling rides to AAU practice at Midwest City High would rarely deviate.
Two high school kids roaring with laughter at the expense of their buddies and Athletes First basketball teammates with one impersonation after another.
"We were always cracking jokes," Griffin recalled.
"We'd rag on people the whole ride," Bradford added. "Everyone."
Oklahoma State junior forward Obi Muonelo, who has known Bradford since the third grade and Griffin prior to high school, was often the target.
"I still can't believe those two guys are going to be the Heisman Trophy winner and the Player of the Year," Muonelo said. "Who would have ever thought?"
No one.
Griffin and Bradford grew up about 20 miles apart in Oklahoma. Bradford entered college with little to no fanfare while Griffin was the cornerstone of Jeff Capel's rebuilding project in Norman, but few anticipated he'd turn into this.
Each has turned into The Guy in their respective sports and when Griffin's honor becomes official in early April, it'll mark the first time that a school has produced the Heisman and National Player of the Year winner in the same year.
Bradford has already claimed college football's most prestigious honor, winning the Heisman this past season after throwing for 4,720 yards and 50 touchdowns while quarterbacking the Sooners to the national championship game, where they lost to Florida.
The 6-foot-10 Griffin has a clear lead over the rest of the pack to become college basketball's top player and sweep just about every award — despite the fact that he played just 11 minutes in a loss at Texas and sat out Monday night's home setback to Kansas while recovering from a concussion. He's averaging 22 points, leads the nation in rebounding (13.8) and has single-handedly turned the Sooners into legitimate national title contenders.
"I haven't really thought about it," Griffin said. "But it's kinda crazy that it could happen."
Those around Norman have given it some thought, though.
"It's a remarkable occurrence," said Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione, who is also quick to point out that women's basketball star Courtney Paris has a chance to win National Player of the Year honors as well.
"But what makes it special is that they aren't just exceptional talents," added Castiglione. "They are terrific role models."
A year ago, Griffin would have been a sure-fire lottery pick but opted to return to Norman for his sophomore season in an effort to win a national title, while avoiding sitting on the bench his rookie season in the NBA.
"I just didn't think I was ready," Griffin said.
Now he's on the verge of doing something that even Wayman Tisdale was unable to accomplish in his storied OU career — win the coveted National Player of the Year.
Bradford chose to return for his junior season despite the fact that just about every NFL draft guru had him as the top quarterback on the board and likely even the No. 1 pick in the entire draft.
"The first time we talked about that was a couple weeks ago," Bradford said. "We just talked about what went into making our decisions."
Now they have something else to talk about. Griffin's concussion over the weekend came at a time when the Sooners were on the verge of becoming No. 1 in the country for the first time in nearly two decades.
"We're hoping to have him back this weekend," Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said of Griffin's status.
Bradford also suffered a concussion back in November of 2007 against Texas Tech and had that same glassy look in his eye on the sidelines. However, he was cleared to play the following week against Oklahoma State.
Griffin knew all about Bradford — and vice versa — from their pre-teen days while playing in the same Tri-City basketball league when Griffin was on the Warriors and Bradford played on the Sooners.
Bradford was already a multi-sport star in football, basketball and golf.
Griffin was already a stud on the court.
"You could always tell how good he was going to be because he was always playing up with the older guys," Bradford said.
Bradford got some letters from college basketball programs, but realized that football was his calling following his sophomore year in high school.
"There's no question he could have played Division I basketball," said former Oklahoma basketball player and current Lamar University coach Kermit Holmes, who coached Griffin and Bradford with Athletes First. "He was 6-foot-5 and could score — and he was tough."
Despite putting more focus on his future on the football field, Bradford continued to play AAU ball in the summers.
"I was pretty much a shooter," Bradford said. "I stayed on the perimeter, hustled and got some rebounds."
"He wasn't one of those guys that stuck out, but he did whatever the team needed," Griffin said of his former teammate. "He was sneaky athletic."
Holmes recalls Bradford was the last player to leave the hotel room in Las Vegas in the July of 2005 after losing on a last-second shot to the Houston Hoops.
"He was so upset because it was the last time he'd play with guys like Blake and Obi," Holmes said.
"We lost on a bad call," Bradford recalled.
These days, Bradford and Griffin run into one another a few times a week on campus, usually at the cafeteria, but their conflicting schedules have made it difficult to stay close.
Bradford attends as many of Griffin's games as possible and Griffin does the same in the fall.
"He's amazing," Bradford said. "I saw it back when we played together in AAU. He had the potential to be one of the best — if not the best."
Five years ago, though, they were just a pair of knuckleheads doing impressions en route to basketball practice.
"We still talk about old times," Griffin said.
"We go back to those car rides," Bradford added.
Griffin even does an impression of Bradford.
"We always used to make fun of him because his voice was squeaky. Blake did a great one of him — until this year," Muonelo said. "Now his voice is deep."
That's not all that's changed since those car rides.