Sources Say Sampson Near Deal To Be Next Hoosier Coach

ESPN is reporting that Kelvin Sampson, Oklahoma’s head basketball coach, is expected to sign a deal to be the next head coach at Indiana.

ESPN also is reporting that a news conference is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Bloomington to announce the hire.

I know there are a lot of Kelvin Sampson haters in Oklahoma, but can’t deny the fact that he took OU to 11 NCAA tournament appearances. In those appearances he took OU to one final four, and a number of Elite 8 and Sweet 16 showings. He won a few Big 12 Championships during that run also.

I always liked Sampson and his approach to playing defense. I was frustrated many times by the lack of offense by many OU teams. You could probably blame Sampson for that. However, it was their great defense that kept them in many games. I wish Sampson tremendous luck at Indiana.

Now, lets see what Joe Castiglione, Oklahoma’s athletic director, can come up with to replace Sampson. Has anyone heard who might be on OU’s short list?

Soonerred84 

1 comment March 28th, 2006

OU Football Starts Second Week of Spring Practice

 Now that Basketball season is over Oklahoman’s can focus on what is truly important in this state and that is Football. And, as quietly as springtime rolled into the Sooner State, so has OU spring practices. I hadn’t heard much out of camp last week so I decided to take a look and find out what Coach Stoops was saying about this years team. And of course, in typical Coach Stoops verbage, said “It was a really good practice”, speaking of practice on March 27.

Coach went further this time and pointed out some individual players who were glowing on the field. Let it be noted here, if you land on Coach’s radar screen in a positive way, then your activity in the field must be something special. He noted that Ryan Reynolds, the 230 pound sophmore linebacker out of Las Vegas, Nevada, was doing well stating that he (Reynolds) ”can run, he’s physical, and understands the game.” He must be something special if Stoops is saying he “understands the game.”  Being a linebacker at OU takes tremendous skill and knowledge since OU’s defensive schemes can be complicated.

Another notable on Stoop’s radar was Quentin Chaney, the 6-5, 200 pound wide out from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Coach said that he has “been very good the last couple of days.” Which probably means that OU recievers are catching the ball better this year. Lets hope!

And finally, on the defensive side, Stoops commented on red-shirt freshman DeMarcus Granger, 6-3, 305 pounds, out of Dallas, Texas (Kimball High School); and Junior Steven Coleman, 6-4, 291 pounds, from Dallas, Texas, (Skyline High School). Both play defensive tackle, a position that OU has to really shine at if they are going to be successful this year.

If you are in Norman, or if you have been wondering what has been going on with the team as of late, practices are on Wednesday and Friday this week beginning around 3:45 pm. Most of the practices are held just south of the Stadium. However, if the weather is bad they will go indoors. In that case, practices are closed to the public.

The spring game is slated for Saturday, April 8 and will be televised to the nation by ESPN. Tickets are on sell now at the OU Athletics Ticket Office. If someone is going down to practice let us know and we will give you a whole page to write about it. Let us know on this Weblog or e-mail us at localokads@sbcglobal.net

Soonerred84

858 comments March 28th, 2006

OU Basketball: What is wrong with this team?

I didn’t have a chance to watch this game on Friday night so I don’t have the right to really rip this team. I went to the boxscore to see who did what. Taj Gray only 9 points and 6 rebounds in 34 mins. Why does Taj Gray disappear? And Michael Neal, back in February he couldn’t miss the three-pointer. However, lately, he seems to have lost his game. It seems to me that this team is flat and out of sync. I think they are one and done versus a good Milwaukee team.

Soonerred84 

850 comments March 13th, 2006