Oklahoma
Bauer Sharp and Jake Roberts’ Presence in Oklahoma’s Locker Room ‘a Refreshing Thing,’ Says Brent Venables
NORMAN — To the casual fan, Bauer Sharp and Jake Roberts are a pair of transfer tight ends looking to make an impact in their first year at Oklahoma. To Brent Venables, they’ve already made a tremendous impact in the Sooners’ locker room.
“They [Sharp and Roberts] love to compete,” Venables said last week. “They’re skilled. They know how to play tight end. They like blocking. They know how to get open. When the ball’s thrown to them they catch it. … They love their teammates. Those two guys have brought a spirit to that, really to the whole offense. Other guys are a part of that too, but those are guys that, they just love it.”
Their talents, and that of others in the position group, have already been utilized in the passing game under offensive coordinator Seth Littrell, who coached tight ends at North Texas, North Carolina and Indiana.
“I love where just the tight end in today’s world is going,” Sharp said. “I feel like in the past, it’s been just a big, heavy guy, you know what I’m saying, but I trust whatever our team has planned for me in the future for these games, we’ll get it done for our team for sure.”
Sharp, a team captain in his first game as a Sooner in last Friday night’s 51-3 win over Temple, was an accomplished pass catcher at Southeastern Louisiana University after making the switch from quarterback in spring of 2022. In his first game in a Sooners uniform, Sharp caught five passes for 47 yards and the season’s first touchdown, a 14-yard connection via Jackson Arnold to complete OU’s first possession as an SEC club.
“Bauer Sharp … he’s been phenomenal. Just a natural leader, done an outstanding job,” Venables said.
Roberts, a Norman North High School alum, didn’t hold an offer from his hometown team as a high school senior in 2020. He signed to play at North Texas (where he played under Littrell) and quickly became a rotation player and eventually a full-time starter. He transferred to Baylor in 2023 and made three starts before transferring to play his fifth year in Norman.
The pair was brought on by tight ends coach and co-offensive coordinator Joe Jon Finley to replenish a depleted position group that graduated Brayden Willis and Austin Stogner in back-to-back seasons. Venables was immediately impressed by the tandem’s work ethic.
“They love to practice. They show up in the building,” Venables said. “They’ve got a really positive attitude that is infectious and contagious. … If you work in an office building, if you work in a locker room, nobody wants to deal with people that are funky, you know, they’ve got a funk to them when they show it. … And those guys are the opposite of funky and they like all of it. When the day’s over, they’re not grabbing their stuff and running out of the building as fast as they can. They really have a locker room that’s like that.”
Sharp is a captain for a reason. His and Roberts’ energy has become infectious. Roberts didn’t have any receptions on Friday night against Temple, but quarterback Jackson Arnold did target him in the first quarter, launching a pass that sailed over Roberts’ head.
Sharp, meanwhile, delivered a steady intermediate target for Arnold who could conceivably, if things break right, be among the team’s leaders in catches and receiving yards this year. He ended his OU debut with five catches (one behind Deion Burks for team high) and 47 yards (tying Jalil Farooq to lead the team) and scored a first-quarter touchdown. Arnold targeted him six times, and the subtle adjustment he made on his route to separate and catch the touchdown shows an innate knowledge of the game.
Why Bauer Sharp’s Dream Oklahoma Debut Left His Family “Speechless”
Transfer Talk: What Oklahoma is Getting in TE Bauer Sharp
Oklahoma Earns Pledge from Transfer Tight End
Returning to Oklahoma Was a Homecoming for TE Jake Roberts
Transfer Talk: What Oklahoma is Getting in TE Jake Roberts
Oklahoma Adds Local TE Out of Transfer Portal
“I thought our tight ends played well, Jake and Bauer and Kade McIntyre, Kaden Helms got in,” Venables said after the game on Friday, “so that was really good to see as well.”
Well beyond their one-game performance, Venables has been sold on the presence of Roberts and Sharp since their arrival last January.
“They’ve made that group a lot better,” Venables said. “They’ve made Kade McIntyre better. They’ve made Kaden Helms better. Those were young guys that, you know, hadn’t been necessarily exposed to that,” Venables said. “Brayden Willis was a lot like that. Austin [Stogner], Austin was a lot like that last year. … That whole group has transformed. And those two guys, they have a genuine deep, deep, genuine appreciation for their coaches, for the resources, for their teammates, for their opportunity to be able to wear an Oklahoma jersey. They’re like, ‘I can’t believe it.’ It’s like a dream to them. And so that’s refreshing. That’s a really refreshing thing.”
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State expected to lose talented EDGE to transfer portal
Oklahoma State EDGE Kyran Duhon plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, On3 has learned. Duhon was a member of the 2024 recruiting class.
Duhon spent one year at Oklahoma State, logged 16 total tackles (eight solo) across nine games. He began his career at UTEP, where he had a productive true freshman season, Duhon finished 2024 with 43 total tackles, including seven sacks and two PBUs.
At UTEP, his one season there resulted in second team All-Conference USA honors. He was also named to the On3 True Freshman All-America Team as well as the the Conference USA All-Freshman team.
However, Duhon’s stay in Stillwater didn’t go as expected. Oklahoma State finished the season with a 1-11 record, which included the Cowboys firing longtime head coach Mike Gundy after a 1-2 start. Doug Meacham was named interim head coach but ended the year 0-9.
Eric Morris has since been named as the program’s next head coach. He comes from North Texas, which finished with an 11-2 record and a trip to the American Conference championship game this past season. However, it doesn’t appear that Duhon will be sticking around during the changing of the guard at Oklahoma State this offseason.
Before college, Duhon was the No. 1,706 overall player in the class, and was recruited as the the No. 165 linebacker during the cycle, per the Rivals Industry Rankings, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He was ranked as the No. 242 overall player out of Texas.
Once the NCAA transfer portal opens on Jan. 2, players can officially enter their names in the NCAA transfer portal and go on to initiate contact with their preferred schools. The portal will be open for 15 days and close on Jan. 16.
Notably, players who are on teams competing in the national championship game are allowed five extra days to make their portal decision. The College Football Playoff championship game will be played on Jan. 19, so the players on those teams will be allowed until Jan. 24 to enter the portal and choose their next school.
To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma man doing target practice in back yard charged in fatal shooting of neighbor
A man in Oklahoma is facing a manslaughter charge after he allegedly shot a woman several blocks from his home while firing a gun he got himself for Christmas at an energy drink can in his back yard.
As told in court documents reviewed by NBC News, the death of Sandra Phelps at the hands of Cody Wayne Adams illustrates how deadly the consequences can be when those engaging in the US’s prevalent gun culture do so unsafely. Adams’s back yard was not equipped to stop bullets from leaving the property and striking unsuspecting people in the surrounding area, according to authorities.
Phelps was sitting under a covered porch with family on Christmas and holding a child in her arms when they heard gunshots north of the house, said an affidavit laying out the circumstances of Adams’s arrest.
“Sandra commented that someone got a new gun for Christmas and then shortly after Sandra said ‘ouch’ and collapsed,” the affidavit said. It said there were no more gunshots after that.
Emergency personnel were dispatched to Phelps’s address at about 3.15pm Thursday, the Stephens county sheriff’s office said in a statement.
“We later received a call stating an individual had just received a gun for Christmas and was target practicing in his backyard and that they believed it would be pointing in the direction of the scene,” the sheriff’s office statement added.
“Investigators went to the reported address and spoke with an individual [who] confirmed he was shooting a target in his back yard and that he had heard that someone has died from a gunshot wound a couple of roads over.”
That individual was Adams, 33, who showed deputies a Red Bull can in his back yard that he had been shooting with his handgun, according to the affidavit justifying his arrest.
Authorities allegedly concluded that the vantage point from where Adams was shooting aligned with the angle of the bullet that killed Phelps. They also determined the home lacked a suitable shooting backstop meant to protect those in the surrounding area from being struck by stray bullets.
“Adams became visibly upset and began to cry” when he learned of Phelps, the affidavit added. He was arrested on a count of first-degree manslaughter and later released on a $100,000 bond.
In the US, unintentional deaths from firearms are a small percentage of gun deaths in the country. But they occur four times more often in the US than in comparable countries – and most involve a handgun.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma man accused of shooting neighbor dead during Christmas target practice
What began as Christmas Day target practice in an Oklahoma neighborhood ended in tragedy when a stray bullet fatally struck an elderly woman as she sat on her front porch holding a baby.
Cody Wayne Adams, 33, has been charged with first-degree manslaughter after firing the fatal shot, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by ABC News.
The woman, whose identity was not disclosed, was sitting on the front porch with family members at a home on County Road 1800 on Thursday afternoon when she was shot from several blocks away, the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.
According to the affidavit, the victim was seated on a love seat and holding a baby in her left arm when she was struck in her right upper arm. The bullet then entered her chest cavity.
Family members told the responding deputy that they had heard someone firing five to seven gunshots and that the victim had “commented that someone got a new gun for Christmas” and shortly afterward “said ‘ouch’ and collapsed,” the affidavit stated.
As investigators canvassed nearby properties north of the shooting, deputies found that all but one home had “suitable shooting backstops or firing locations,” according to the affidavit. The only exception was Adams’s home.
Adams allegedly told deputies that he had been shooting a Glock 45 he recently bought for himself for Christmas, using a Red Bull can as a target in his backyard, according to the affidavit.
When a deputy told Adams he suspected the shooting may have caused the woman’s death, Adams “became visibly upset and began to cry,” the affidavit stated.
Adams made his first court appearance Friday. A judge set his bond at $100,000, according to online court records. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for February 26, 2026.
-
Entertainment1 week agoHow the Grinch went from a Yuletide bit player to a Christmas A-lister
-
Connecticut1 week agoSnow Accumulation Estimates Increase For CT: Here Are The County-By-County Projections
-
Entertainment1 week agoPat Finn, comedy actor known for roles in ‘The Middle’ and ‘Seinfeld,’ dies at 60
-
World6 days agoHamas builds new terror regime in Gaza, recruiting teens amid problematic election
-
Indianapolis, IN1 week agoIndianapolis Colts playoffs: Updated elimination scenario, AFC standings, playoff picture for Week 17
-
Southeast1 week agoTwo attorneys vanish during Florida fishing trip as ‘heartbroken’ wife pleads for help finding them
-
World1 week agoSnoop Dogg, Lainey Wilson, Huntr/x and Andrea Bocelli Deliver Christmas-Themed Halftime Show for Netflix’s NFL Lions-Vikings Telecast
-
World1 week agoBest of 2025: Top five defining moments in the European Parliament