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Jay C. Upchurch
5/3/2006, 06:15 PM
NORMAN — The University of Oklahoma announced today that it has
released three men's basketball signees from their letters of intent.
The three are Damion James, Jeremy Mayfield and Scottie Reynolds.

"Naturally, it would have been our preference that all of the signees
stay with OU, and we exerted considerable energy toward that end," said
OU basketball coach Jeff Capel. "The releases have been granted, and,
while we remain hopeful that these three individuals will wind up as
Sooners, we must forge ahead with our program and the young men who
aspire to play and excel here.

"While I firmly believe in honoring commitments, it is also my belief
that no student-athlete can achieve minus a full commitment to the
school and team. At the same time, I appreciate the dedication of the
young men who are here, and I am confident that others who share our
aspirations for excellence will join them to give Oklahoma the kind of
program it wants and deserves."

OU Athletics Director Joe Castiglione spoke to the process of granting
releases.

"When athletics departments are confronted with requests for releases
from national letters of intent, we must judge what is in the best
interest of the university as well as the student-athletes making the
request. We know that we have an athletic and educational experience
here that is second to none. We emphasized those facts to these
individuals.

"The honorable thing to do now is to act based on our genuine regard for
these young people. Our actions in this matter will benefit our program
in the long run.

"Our perspective is long-term. We are building a program on a solid
foundation with student-athletes who are devoted to this university. We
very much believe in Jeff Capel and his ability to lead Sooner
basketball, and we are grateful for the opportunity we have to work side
by side with him in that endeavor. The individuals who choose to play
under his guidance will realize their dreams and one day look back on a
most rewarding experience."

OU SID Report

oumartin
5/3/2006, 06:30 PM
thanks for the update..
damn young kids!

OKC-SLC
5/3/2006, 06:32 PM
I don't want kids here who don't want to be here. If they ultimately decide this is where they want to be, then great. But if they don't, something tells me we'll still go ahead and play the season.

oumartin
5/3/2006, 06:39 PM
i agree, i feel that way about coaches and players. dangit if you don't wanna be here than don't be here..

OKC-SLC
5/3/2006, 07:26 PM
word.

Big Red Ron
5/3/2006, 07:52 PM
Well, at least we didn't get to know and like these guys for a year or two before they transefered. Ala Calvin Simpson. ;)

birddog
5/3/2006, 08:39 PM
Well, at least we didn't get to know and like these guys for a year or two before they transefered. Ala Calvin Simpson. ;)

will the nutbag who negged me for sharing this opinion please stand up, please stand up?

I think if these guys go on to play somewhere else, they will have missed the boat a couple years from now. Capel rules and he will get in some excellent players.

CatfishSooner
5/3/2006, 11:46 PM
I wish we coulda seen what they woulda done...;

Texas
5/4/2006, 02:16 AM
very classy

GreaterState
5/4/2006, 03:49 AM
I think if these guys go on to play somewhere else, they will have missed the boat a couple years from now.

Unless, of course, they board a stronger, faster boat, like at Texas. Which James is now reconsidering ...

GDC
5/4/2006, 07:57 AM
OU grants releases to recruit trio
By GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer
5/4/2006

They had sought to be let go since Kelvin Sampson left.
NORMAN -- The dissolving of the nation's fourth-rated basketball recruiting class continued Wednesday, when Oklahoma announced it had released Scottie Reynolds, Damion James and Jeremy Mayfield from the national letters of intent they signed last November.

With their releases, something the three prospects sought after former OU coach Kelvin Sampson left for Indiana on March 29, the trio may sign with another school while maintaining all four years of their eligibility beginning next season.

"Naturally, it would have been our preference that all of the signees stay with OU, and we exerted considerable energy toward that end," Sooner coach Jeff Capel said. "While we remain hopeful that these three individuals will wind up as Sooners, we must forge ahead with our program."

Capel could have held the signees to their letters, thereby forcing the trio to appeal to the National Letter of Intent Steering Committee had they still wanted out.

"In cases like this, you have to let them go," said Jerry Meyer, national recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. "You can't coach guys that don't want to be there. It's not a healthy situation. You're better off cutting ties."



So that's what Capel, in a decision made jointly with OU athletic director Joe Castiglione, did.

"While I firmly believe in honoring commitments," Capel said, "it is also my belief that no student-athlete can achieve minus a full commitment to the school and team."

Said Castiglione, "We know that we have an athletic and educational experience here that is second to none. We emphasized those facts to (the three signees). The honorable thing to do now is to act based on our genuine regard for these young people."

It is conceivable that Reynolds, James and Mayfield may yet wind up at OU.

"Scottie likes the program and his mom and dad love the university," Gary Hall, Reynolds' Herndon (Va.) High School coach, said recently. "They're all all very comfortable with it, and they've gotten close to some people."

However, Reynolds was closest to Sampson. So were James and Mayfield. With Sampson gone, the odds are stacked against the trio ever stepping inside the Lloyd Noble Center.

"When kids renege like that, if I was the school I wouldn't recruit them anymore," said Clark Francis, editor and publisher of The Hoop Scoop recruiting magazine and Web site. "Ninety-five percent of the time, you're not going to get them. They're either coming or they're not, and if you have any doubt you should tell them, 'We don't want you anymore.' They've already broken their word. Schools that are smart do that. Otherwise, they'll string you along forever."

Reynolds and James are reportedly considering schools closer to their respective homes of Herndon, Va., and Nacogdoches, Texas. Reynolds has expressed an interest in Virginia and Georgetown, as well as schools such as Michigan and LSU. James has been connected with Texas and Texas A&M.

It has been speculated that OU can restrict Reynolds, James and Mayfield from signing with certain schools. However, that becomes an option only when players transfer after enrolling at the school they leave.


Guerin Emig 581-8355
[email protected].

Spray
5/4/2006, 08:50 AM
It is a good decision and I don't believe the players should be faulted for wanting the release. Best of luck to all involved.

Rock Hard Corn Frog
5/4/2006, 08:54 AM
You know at least one of those guys is going to wind up drunk dialing OU in the middle of the night sometime for a booty call.

This sucks but it isn't that suprising. If they go out of conference then so be it but it James winds up a Texas then he is going to be my new Jason Sutherland.

poke4christ
5/4/2006, 11:49 AM
If they go out of conference then so be it but it James winds up a Texas then he is going to be my new Jason Sutherland.

Or OSU, there's talk of that. Don't know how strong a possibility it is though.

Zach

birddog
5/4/2006, 05:09 PM
Unless, of course, they board a stronger, faster boat, like at Texas. Which James is now reconsidering ...
how exactly is texass a bigger and stronger boat? please elaborate.

birddog
5/4/2006, 05:11 PM
Some of you are gutless....you know who you are.

william_brasky
5/4/2006, 05:23 PM
We let 'em go, and what's the first thing Capel does? Signs an in-state kid for next year's class. I like it. He's just not trying to patch the boat from year to year like his predecessor. He's looking to build a program.

birddog
5/4/2006, 05:30 PM
We let 'em go, and what's the first thing Capel does? Signs an in-state kid for next year's class. I like it. He's just not trying to patch the boat from year to year like his predecessor. He's looking to build a program.
I agree. I'm looking forward to seeing how he DEVELOPS talent he brings in. i think he is a pretty sharp guy and he'll get players that fit his style and personality.

GreaterState
5/4/2006, 07:32 PM
how exactly is texass a bigger and stronger boat? please elaborate.

The "boat" is a metaphor for the strength of the "program."

Gandalf_The_Grey
5/4/2006, 07:39 PM
Don't get too big of a head there buddy....Texas has a program in basketball that can be argued as just as bad as ours. Texas has no basketball history and that isn't going to change anytime soon ;) TIA

birddog
5/4/2006, 08:13 PM
The "boat" is a metaphor for the strength of the "program."
brilliant. :rolleyes: i understand it's a metaphor considering i used it first in this thread. i'm asking you to explain why you think your program is so much better than ours. i'm very anxiously awaiting your response.

GreaterState
5/4/2006, 09:00 PM
brilliant. :rolleyes: i understand it's a metaphor considering i used it first in this thread. i'm asking you to explain why you think your program is so much better than ours. i'm very anxiously awaiting your response.

Well, you're basically talking about whether these players are going to regret leaving. I say, not if they head to a program that is on the rise, like James might. This is a "now" discussion rather than a historical one. Capel may become the best thing to have happened to OU basketball, but a coaching change like this causes upheaval for a good while, and while OU was good, they didn't exactly wow people nationally this year.

Texas was/is strong and had great recruits coming in, whether or not James falls back onto our side of the river. Plus, I just learned in another thread that the collective wisdom of ESPN has UT as a #2 seed and OU as one of the last at-larges in for 2007. So it's very, very far from crazy talk that in two years, UT will be a stronger, faster boat, in which case James wouldn't lose much sleep over missing the crimson one. Unfortunate for OU, but this is what comes with a coaching change like that.

:texan:

Gandalf_The_Grey
5/4/2006, 09:09 PM
You guys are one Lamarcus Aldridge(it seems not that unlikely) injury from being really average. We are one competent point guard from being a very solid team. Doesn't sound like we are as far apart as the horns. Let's face it though, everyone is a 2 seed right now btw, we are just as likely to win the Big 12 as Texas :P

birddog
5/4/2006, 09:13 PM
Well, you're basically talking about whether these players are going to regret leaving. I say, not if they head to a program that is on the rise, like James might. This is a "now" discussion rather than a historical one. Capel may become the best thing to have happened to OU basketball, but a coaching change like this causes upheaval for a good while, and while OU was good, they didn't exactly wow people nationally this year.

Texas was/is strong and had great recruits coming in, whether or not James falls back onto our side of the river. Plus, I just learned in another thread that the collective wisdom of ESPN has UT as a #2 seed and OU as one of the last at-larges in for 2007. So it's very, very far from crazy talk that in two years, UT will be a stronger, faster boat, in which case James wouldn't lose much sleep over missing the crimson one. Unfortunate for OU, but this is what comes with a coaching change like that.

:texan:
basketball is crazy. look at george mason. there will be up and down years and i'm saying i'll give capel the benefit of the doubt that he will be able to build on what kelvin did. if capel can get a good class or 2 we know how schizophrenic the big 12 is. who the hell knows what can happen? also, after this years tournament, are you really going to put any stock into the '07 brackets? your other points are well taken though.

william_brasky
5/4/2006, 10:12 PM
GreaterState sure does like to talk about boats.

Therefore, he must be into sailors. :twinkies:

GreaterState
5/4/2006, 11:52 PM
You guys are one Lamarcus Aldridge(it seems not that unlikely) injury from being really average. We are one competent point guard from being a very solid team. Doesn't sound like we are as far apart as the horns. Let's face it though, everyone is a 2 seed right now btw, we are just as likely to win the Big 12 as Texas :P

You do know that Aldridge is already gone to the NBA? But we already had another strong big recruit coming in in Durant, and another McDonald's All-American in Augustin coming, even before the prospect of losing Aldridge (who had a good year, but still can get better). Now if both Gibson and P.J. Tucker follow Aldridge to the NBA we'll have to revisit it, but I think the teams are fairly far apart right now.

It's true that it's too hard to look ahead. At least Bracketology '07 isn't quite as ridiculous as the 2007 mock NFL drafts floating around ... too many variables to make them look stupid, and mock drafts look stupid even the day before the draft.

GreaterState
5/4/2006, 11:55 PM
GreaterState sure does like to talk about boats.

Therefore, he must be into sailors. :twinkies:

Nah, it's just because you're swimmin' in our wake.

OKC-SLC
5/5/2006, 12:40 AM
GreaterState sure does like to talk about boats.

Therefore, he must be into sailors. :twinkies:
Most whorns do like seamen.

SoonerShark
5/5/2006, 07:34 AM
Nah, it's just because you're swimmin' in our wake.

Actually, the three premier players who failed to honor their commitments to OU have not actually qualified for admittance to the University of Oklahoma, have they?

The U of T is obviously a lot easier place to qualify for admittance. Case in point: after four years on campus, football player Vince Young is an inarticulate boob, at least from what I have witnessed in interviews. Of course, he must have come from a wealthy family since, while still a student, he spoke about attending pro sports events, which are quite costly and not something the average student can afford without special help. And he must have inherited the family jewels, which he was wearing in some photographs. As to academics, there is no way he was admitted into college without "special consideration," perhaps taking remedial classes his first six semesters in Austin. Young's high school in Houston probably graduated any person who breathes.

OSU also takes the more questionable kids. In football, Gundy signed the alleged rapist from Texas to join the “drugists” the school has admitted in football and basketball.

soonerspiff
5/5/2006, 11:48 AM
Nah, it's just because you're swimmin' in our wake.


Dumbest.

Comeback.

Ever.

Soonerwolf
5/5/2006, 12:39 PM
We let 'em go, and what's the first thing Capel does? Signs an in-state kid for next year's class. I like it. He's just not trying to patch the boat from year to year like his predecessor. He's looking to build a program.

This is an excellent point. Even though coach Capel is losing out on "talent" this year,he is not going out and bringing in band-aids for a quick fix. He is looking to the future of the program.

What did KS say when he went to IU - something like "here we don't need JUCO players . . ." then his intial signings for IU are from the JUCO ranks. Capel has shown more class and maturity this last month than KS ever did during his tenure here at OU.

OU b-ball may not be the elite of the the Big XII this upcoming season, but it seems that coach Capel will have OU back among the nation's elite teams sooner than later (evidence being his signing a top 5 Oklahoma talent one month into his new job)- even though he is at a "football school".

Just as Bob Stoops returned OU to a national powerhouse with a couple of years of being here, so too will Jeff Capel.
:cool: