My gawd, is it almost that time?! Yes, yes it is:
Congrats to our Sooners on being selected as preseason Big 12 favorites.
As per tradition, I will spend the month leading up to the regular season introducing any roster newcomers. We have five freshmen, but no new media guide online yet, so hopefully, I will not have to make up images and SS.com will provide the photos.
Also hopefully, psycho will bless us with his annual Baylor bash, so I do not have to attempt something awful.
Boomer!
Hopefully, in addition to us winning the Big 12, this begins the decline of Hypocrite U!!! We sure can hope!!!
You are stuck with this till I can reach psycho
PS: Yes, the offseason truce is officially off. **** Baylor
YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Originally Posted by badger
You are stuck with this till I can reach psycho
PS: Yes, the offseason truce is officially off. **** Baylor
I need something to take my mind off football... BASKETBALL TO THE RESCUE!
Welcome to preseason preview, where I go through every newcomer I can with photo(s) and video(s) and SS.com makes them available... and they haven't yet, so you're stuck with just one image for today's first installment:
T'ona Edwards #2
Tee-own-ya? Is that how you pronounce it? Until we know for sure, let's call her "Braces"
Braces hails from Spencer, the same place that gave us Sharane Campbell. However, she is not from *STAR* Spencer, so I am not sure whether she will be a star or just a... "northeast academy."
A 5'5" guard, the Oklahoman named her the "Little All-City Basketball Player of the Year." I am not sure if that is because she is only slightly taller than me, or because Spencer is not the size of OKC.
She has two older siblings, which lends itself to great athleticism as your bully older siblings (both a brother AND a sister) torment you daily with their ageness, tallness and old person strength. Yeah, badger's a younger sibling, so?
She spent her senior high school year going 30-0 and winning the state championship. Thus, we can expect the same thing out of her initial Big 12 year. It'll be like CP3 all over again, except we won't have an early NCAA exit!
Welcome to the team, "Braces." I hope you get an awesome mouthguard so I can start calling you "Mouthguard" instead.
They still haven't posted the media guide and I have half a month to make it through 5 freshmen (6 if you include our redshirt freshman Maddie, who sat out with injury last year)...
So, once again, you are stuck with the roster page mugshot:
Derica Wyatt #11
Derrick-ah... I'm pretty sure that's right... again, gonna have to wait till November to find out the real pronunciations.... till then, let's call her Rocky Top! Why?
Rocky Top hails from Tennessee!
She is 5-10, but yet is listed as a guard. I dunno about the rest of you, but being 5-10 and female qualified you as a center at my high school. Maybe we have another Whitney Hand on our hands?
Her parents are named Dayna and Darin, and she has a brother named Devin. In other words, they wanted to name her Erica, but her family D'vetoed that.
Averaged 18.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.2 steals in high school. OK, but will she fit in at OU?
"Named Best 3-Point Shooter by the Nashville City Paper." OK, she's definitely a Sooner!
Seriously, a tall guard that shoots lots of threes. If only she were from the Dallas area, we'd have a Whitney Hand clone here. Welcome to the team, Rocky Top!
Stay tuned the rest of the month as we all forget about football and forge survival skills for football's offseason
Let's go ahead and assume they haven't posted the media guide once again and instead look at the Lindy's preseason top 25:
I've got an idea --- let's rank the teams we've always ranked high!1. Connecticut
2. Duke
Ummm... Berkeleys are smarts?3. California
I've got an idea --- let's rank the teams we've always ranked high!4. Notre Dame
5. Stanford
6. Tennessee
7. Kentucky
They beat Baylor, right? So they have to be good, right?8. Louisville
We'd rank them lower, but Skeletor would kill us.9. Baylor
This is the mid-top 25 lull, where nobody cares except those who are named. Zzz.10. Maryland
11. Dayton
12. Colorado
13. South Carolina
14. Penn State
15. Gonzaga
16. Chattanooga
17. Purdue
They were good at some point, right? Maybe?18. Iowa State
More lulling. Lullaby...lullaby... zzzz19. Georgia
20. Creighton
No longer relevant in a conference that doesn't give a crap outside Rocky Top.21. Texas A&M
This stings... they rank Quinnipiac but not OU. It's like I'm the victim of an April Fool's joke or something, and it's only October! Trick or treat... you only get tricks. Grrrrr.22. Green Bay
23. UCLA
24. LSU
25. Quinnipiac
**** them and their top 25. Have a video and photos from preseason practice to cheer you up. No seriously, check out the awesome SS.com video. Now.
Still no media guide, but there is a Friday tailgate with the team!
In the meantime, we are just under two weeks till our season-ish starts, so let's keep the know-your-new-Sooner thing going:
Shaya Kellogg #22
Sha-YEAH?! That's probably wrong, so let's just call her Frosted Flakes. No, she's from Iowa, so let's call her Corn Flakes, hehe.
Not just Iowa, but Ames, Iowa. She had to come to OU since, you know, they don't have any quality college programs to play at around those parts. Zing!
She is 6'2" tall forward. Now if she is a smarty scientist, we might have another Joanna on our hands. Alas, SS.com says "plans to study for a career in education." But, what type of education? One that put the BIO in front of chemistry, perhaps???
Seriously, her near-double double stats suggest she's going to focus on rebounding (7-8 her junior-senior years). Will be interesting to see how her stats and skills translate from high school to college, Iowa to Oklahoma, farmageddon land to God's country...
Anyways, that's about all for now. Seriously, SS.com. Post your media guide. People expect photos here, not HS stats!
I'm in love with Nicole Kornet.
Just for you:
Last month, the coaches voted for some tournament changes. They will be passed onto the NCAA for consideration. Here they are:
I attended every OU womens postseason 2001-2005. There is absolutely no comparison between a home early round site and an away one. If you want fans to show up, go to a home site. If you want an empty arena with maybe 100 fans, along with the support groups (band and cheer... and mascot too I guess), send OU to Tempe in 2004. It was a lot of fun getting to sit in a fancy hotel by the pool and such, but it didn't compare to our awesome home crowd for the early rounds of 2001 and 2002. We lost to George Washington in 2002, but we still had a big crowd for that loss.Return to having top-16 seeds host the early rounds. It was changed to predetermined sites in 2003. (This was in an eight-team "pod" system for the early rounds from 2005-07; it was discontinued.)
There might be some momentum from the mens game left for this, but it doesn't change the fact that there's a day between games in basketball. You're going to have diminished interest with that much spacing regardless. At least when weaving with the mens games (Friday-Sunday for men, Saturday-Monday for women), there's a game every day that weekend.Move the Women's Final Four to the weekend after the men's event.
Meh.Go back to a Friday-Sunday setup for the Women's Final Four, rather than Sunday-Tuesday. The latter has been utilized since 2003.
I like this a lot. We already have a ton of teams attending their conference tournaments anyway, why not make it a big ol' get together site for postseason teams?Have two super-regionals instead of the current four regionals, and award them on a multi-year basis to build up community interest, support and infrastructure.
The biggest thing to keep in mind is what they're doing to promote their game and also do right by the athletes, who miss a ton of school for basketball's postseason. There's a week for spring break of course, but there's tons of travel, tons of games, etc. Home sites will minimize travel times for at least some of the teams, while fewer later sites may allow teams to have more advanced planning for travel.
In any event, it majorly kicked arse to see so many Oklahoma state (little s, not big S) teams in last year's tourney.
SS.com likes to torture me by continuing to not post the media guide. October ends in a week, SS.com and basketball season starts shortly after. They're just never going to post it are they?
Well, eff waiting around. Time for another freshman!
Maddie Manning #23
Wait, doesn't that name sound familiar? It should, because she's a redshirt freshman. She started with the Sooners last year, and literally started... until a season ending injury ended her season. Horrid details here in this espn archive article.
Last season early-on was just the epitomy of misery related to injuries and Maddie was one of several. Kay Kay Williams had just gone out with an ACL, and we would later lose Whitney Hand for the third and final time.
*sigh* it is times like this that I wonder if only we kept healthy if we could have had as successful of a postseason as Baylor.
I should probably talk about Maddie, who doesn't need a nickname, because we've actually already heard her name last year.
MADDIE is on twitter. She is taller than Allen Iverson at 6'2" but yet is still classified as a guard. No wonder we were looking to start her early-on pre-injury!
She was a three-sport start back in the land of Corn (aka Iowa) in high school before deciding that God's country was better than... ethanol? The first presidential caucus? The place where The Music Man musical takes place? Wow, no wonder we get so many girls to leave Iowa and play here.
Iowa sucking aside, I am really excited for Maddie's return. I think she has immediate starter potential and based on how quickly she broke into our pretty solid starting 5 last year, All-Big 12 potential.
Did I mentions she still just a (redshirt) freshmen? Someone give her the Heisman!
Anyways, I'll be back next week with our final two (true) freshmen.
Boomer!
IOWA (Idiots Out Walking Around).
Thanks for doing this badg. I'm keeping up with it.
yes thanks...I do follow the team, I coached HS girls and my sis played at KSU.
but I'll take Maddie over Nicole...I'm a sucker for brunettes...lol. *This is MERELY stating she's a cute girl...both are. I'm old enough to be their dad...so it's just an observation.
How do you know if you get there, if you don't know where you are going?..oh and I had 1,713 post on the "other board"..I hate being a rookie again!
Badge, who is our newest verbal? just a name is good. It's on ouinsider.
How do you know if you get there, if you don't know where you are going?..oh and I had 1,713 post on the "other board"..I hate being a rookie again!
http://ouhoops.com/forum/showthread.php?p=404409
Scroll down for a few highlights from VPL.
Also, I didn't see it mentioned here yet, but Maddie's out again. ACL tear.
Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb.
no $hit...ugh Trey M now her. I tore my acl in April...no ball for 8 months but I'm old...lol Hope for a speedy recovery
How do you know if you get there, if you don't know where you are going?..oh and I had 1,713 post on the "other board"..I hate being a rookie again!
oh, THanks SCS
How do you know if you get there, if you don't know where you are going?..oh and I had 1,713 post on the "other board"..I hate being a rookie again!
Yeah, the Norman Transcript reported it yesterday as a potential season ending knee injury so maybe there's good news to be had later on that... or we're looking at yet another redshirt freshman year NEXT year! How do you feel about getting a masters degree paid for, Maddie?
In the minor injury category, Morgon Hook sounds like she twinged her thumb, but timetable for recovery is days, not weeks, according to that linked article.
I admittedly do not follow recruiting as much as some in any OU sports, unless they're Tulsa area. Can you all see this ESPN page? If not, here's the 2014 OU girls on the top 100 list:Badge, who is our newest verbal? just a name is good. It's on ouinsider.
14 Gabrielle Ortiz
98
Oklahoma PG 5-6 The Prairie H.S. (WI)If I had to take a wild and crazy guess, the one ouhoops is talking about is Vionise Pierre-Louis.83 Vionise Pierre-Louis
94
Oklahoma P 6-3 Grandview Prep (FL)
The first number (14 for Gabrielle, 83 for VPL) is their ranking in the class overall, according to ESPN's Hoopgurls. The second number (98 for Gabrielle, 94 for VPL) is their grade out of 100, giving Gabrielle five stars and VPL four stars.
I highly recommend visiting ouhoops.com throughout basketball season. Very good and passionate Sooner basketball fans on both the mens and womens side. A few of them love Baylor women a little bit too much, but that's about it.
PS: "no $hit...ugh Trey M now her." Ummmm... jeepster dude? I don't think Trey is out for the season with an ACL, nor do I think Maddie Manning is out for the season on... those charges. However, run to the hills run for your lives if you hear Sherri utter the following statement:
I'm death staring anyone out there with dirty thoughts right now.She’s going through some things right now...she’s trying to get her hands around it. And so we just wish her the best as she works her way through that.”
PPS: Did I seriously just confused Metoyer with Millard. Holy sh!t. It must be Monday morning. Gah. I'm leaving my post up in great humility and shame for making that mistake
Last edited by badger; 10/28/2013 at 08:42 AM.
I'm still embarrassed for mixing up my Trey Ms
But, SS.com is not equally embarrassed for being less than a week from the Sooner womens season and not having their media guide online yet. Geez, no Big 12 media days for womens basketball, we lose our (likely) starting tall guard during an exhibition aaaaagain to an ACL, another possible starting guard gets a finger injury in that same exhibition... EFF EERRRRRRRYTHING! Here's your next freshman:
#25 Gioya Carter
Please don't make me try to pronounce her name. Please don't make me try to pronounce her name. Please don't
Guy-oh-ya... Gee-oh-ya... eff it.
Toyota Car(ter) is our latest in attempts to dissuade in-state talent from going out of state for their college experience. A 5'9" guard from Midwest City (Carl Albert), she received many state honors from media, including the Oklahoman's Big All-City and Super Five, as well as being a member of the All-State and All-Tournament teams for two consecutive years!
She is also an inspiration to younger siblings everywhere, as yet another star athlete who likely had to endure being bullied by the older brothers and sister for ages before finally growing up to being the greatest. I don't know why, but whenever I picture a younger sibling athlete from the OKC area, I picture all of the torturous tales of Wes Welker and his older brother and friends.
There is no mention of her three-point shooting percentage/number/etc., so when they list 18.3 ppg, I have to assume that it's non-three. Dear oh dear, will she fit in our offense?
She also has 7.4 rpg listed, not sure if that's due to being a center in spirit, or because she's going up again high schoolers my height (full disclosure: "height" in no way describes how tall I am, nor does the word "tall").
The last guard that we had that really have a three-point focus was none other than D-Rob Danielle Robinson, but she was also one that had a very good assist/dribble drive focus. What we had here is a scorer/rebounder. Is Sherri going away from her three-point focus? Or am I just reading waaaay into info that's not listed. Hell, for all I know, her 18.3 ppg were all threes (6ish per game!).
In which case, I might as well be confusing Trey Millard for Trey Metoyer again. Gag.
In any events, welcome Gioya. I promise to either come up with a better nickname or an accurate pronunciation of your name by season's end.
Our final freshmen later this week, before the season starts. Maybe SS.com will also bless us with a media guide (aka tons of photos)
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