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One Player No. 2 Florida Gators Must Stop to Beat Oklahoma Sooners

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One Player No. 2 Florida Gators Must Stop to Beat Oklahoma Sooners


The Florida Gators take on the Oklahoma Sooners tonight at 7 p.m. EST in Gainesville. They can place another brick in the wall of success that 2024-25 brought to campus. With a win, the Gators notch their fifth season of 10 or more conference wins since 2016. That milestone in the loaded SEC means a great deal.

Standing in their way? The Sooners. Specifically, standout freshman guard Jeremiah Fears. Containing him is the key to securing the victory. Now, how should UF go about that?

Let Him Shoot in Front of the Arc

While Fears does score 15.2 points per game, possessing a reliable jumper is not a part of the plan. Now, that doesn’t mean he will not shoot. With 28 shots over the last two games, you can see the absolute last of reticence in that aspect of his game. 

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However, connecting on 28.5% from the floor in those two games, means that Fears currently sits in a shooting funk. For a good shooter, that becomes an issue. Worse, for a high-volume shooter that already struggled with consistency, no light exists at the end of the metaphorical tunnel. 

Yet, making 42% of his threes over the last five games means Florida should attack the arc but take their chances with the mid-range game.

Force Bad Decisions

Make no mistake, Fears loves to shoot the ball. At the same time he is the Sooners’ best facilitator, averaging 3.8 assists per contest. Now, here is where his aggressiveness comes back to bite him. Film shows bad/late/forced passes. 

Fears tries to push the ball through smaller openings that even the most skilled passer would attempt to avoid. Florida, with their length all over the court, can clog passing lanes leading to transition baskets. The freshman Sooner will give opponents the ball 3.7 times a night. 

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Yes, Fears’ assist-to-turnover ratio is virtually 1:1, which absolutely makes him susceptible to giveaways.

Overview

Jeremiah Fears can score without a doubt. Yet the Gators will find the Sooners in a desperate time and space. OU dropped nine of their last twelve, and any hopes for a decent NCAA tournament seed continue to slip away. 

Florida should easily emerge from the game as the clear winner, but they need to exercise caution because teams with nothing to lose can play out of their minds.

Stop Jeremiah Fears, and the Gators should pick up their 10th SEC win of the season.

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Oklahoma

Did Oklahoma Stay Atop the Polls After Tumultuous Week?

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Did Oklahoma Stay Atop the Polls After Tumultuous Week?


NORMAN — After an up-and down week that saw Oklahoma drop the lone Bedlam match of the season, and then split two tight games with Arkansas before blowing out the Razorbacks on Sunday, the Sooners remained No. 1 in the NFCA/Go Rout coaches’ poll released Tuesday.

But there’s far from a consensus.

Oklahoma received 12 first-place votes — the same total they had last week — but five other teams received first-place votes.

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Texas Tech remained No. 2 with four four-place votes and Alabama No. 3 with seven. Nebraska moved up two spots to No. 4 with four first-place votes, followed by Florida with two and UCLA with two.

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Texas is No. 7, followed by Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida State.

Texas A&M, the Sooners’ opponent for the final regular-season weekend in two weeks, comes in at No. 11.

Other SEC teams include Georgia at No. 15, Mississippi State at No. 17 and LSU at No. 20.

OU hosts the Georgia Bulldogs in a three-game series beginning Friday.

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Other Sooners’ opponents this season in the polls include No. 14 Duke, No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 19 Arizona, No. 24 Arizona State and No. 25 Washington.

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Oklahoma also remained in the top spot in the D1Softball poll, with Alabama No. 2 there followed by Texas Tech, Nebraska at Texas.

The Sooners dropped a spot in the Softball America poll, with Nebraska elevating to No. 1 behind the two-way stardom of former OU standout Jordy Frahm (formerly Jordy Bahl).

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Frahm is 13-4 with a 1.36 ERA and 157 strikeouts in 118 2/3 innings in the circle and hitting .440 with 16 home runs and 42 RBIs. Another former Sooners player, Hannah Coor, is among the Cornhuskers’ regulars as well.

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The Sooners have 158 home runs, just three away from tying their own season record in the category, but UCLA has closed the gap in a major way, sitting just four behind Oklahoma.

OU freshman sensation Kendall Wells leads the nation with 34 home runs, three ahead of UCLA’s Megan Grant. Wells tied Jocelyn Alo‘s program record for home runs in a season with her home run in Sunday’s win.

The Sooners host Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 6 p.m. Tuesday in their final non-conference game of the season before opening the series against Georgia at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Love’s FIeld.

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Putnam City West moves to virtual learning after student incident

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Putnam City West moves to virtual learning after student incident


PUTNAM CITY, Okla. –

Putnam City West High School will shift to virtual learning on Tuesday after an incident involving two students prompted an investigation by the district and Oklahoma City police, according to Putnam City Schools.

District officials said administrators were alerted near the end of the school day Monday to an altercation involving two students in the school’s arena area.

Officials said the students left campus, and the case was turned over to Putnam City Campus Police and the Oklahoma City Police Department for investigation.

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District officials said no students or staff were harmed and there is no ongoing safety threat related to the incident.

What we know

Putnam City West sent the following email to all families and staff at the school:

All PCW students and staff will transition to virtual learning for Tuesday, April 21st.

Today, an isolated serious incident involving two students occurred on school grounds. Near the end of the school day, administrators were alerted to an altercation between two students in the arena area. The individuals involved quickly left campus, prompting an initial fact-finding response by school administrators before the matter was turned over to Putnam City Campus Police and the Oklahoma City Police Department for further investigation. Because this is an active investigation involving students, no further information will be released at this time.

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We understand this information may be concerning to students, staff, and families. Please know we are committed to maintaining a safe, secure, and positive learning environment for all students. At Putnam City Schools, student and staff safety remains our highest priority. Therefore, out of an abundance of caution and to allow for a thorough investigation, all PCW students and staff will transition to virtual learning for Tuesday, April 21st. Students will need to check Google Classroom for updates from teachers.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support of PC West.

Putnam City Schools

All students and staff at Putnam City West will transition to virtual learning on Tuesday, April 21, while investigators continue their work, according to the district.

Students were told to check Google Classroom for instructions from teachers.

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The district said it is withholding additional details because the case involves students and remains under investigation.

School officials have not said what triggered the incident or whether any arrests have been made.

This is a developing story. Updates will be added as more information becomes available.





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Oklahoma launches program letting adults use past credits, test scores to earn diplomas

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Oklahoma launches program letting adults use past credits, test scores to earn diplomas


A new program in Oklahoma is giving adults another way to finish high school by allowing them to use past credits and test scores to earn a diploma, an option officials say could help thousands of people and strengthen the state’s workforce.

For years, adults in Oklahoma who did not finish high school largely had one main option: earning a GED. Now, Oklahoma CareerTech is rolling out the Career Readiness Diploma, a pathway designed to build on what students have already completed rather than requiring them to start over.

“So in Oklahoma right now, if you look at the demographics, we have about 279,000 people in our state without a high school diploma. So it’s almost 10% of our population doesn’t have a high school diploma,” said Lance Allee, an adult education and family literacy specialist with Oklahoma CareerTech.

Allee said the program allows adults to apply previously earned high school credit and combine different assessment scores into a single record to qualify for a diploma.

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“It allows the student to use previously earned high school credit. So, it’s kind of like a portfolio where you can take multiple assessment scores and put them into one portfolio to get your high school diploma,” Allee said.

The program is open to adults 21 and older. In some cases, officials said, participants can finish in just weeks, depending on how many credits they already have.

CareerTech officials say the program is also aimed at improving job prospects for individuals while helping Oklahoma remain competitive when attracting employers.

“When you’re a company and you’re looking at moving into Oklahoma, you look at the demographics and say, is there a workforce there that we can employ? And you say, well, about 10% of the population doesn’t have a diploma, they may start looking at states that surround us. So, we definitely want to get as many diplomas out there as we can,” Allee said.

The program started issuing diplomas in recent weeks, and officials said dozens more people are already in the process. For more information or to sign up click here.

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