Oklahoma
Brent Venables said Oklahoma Will ‘Take Responsibility’ for Recruiting Violations
On Wednesday Oklahoma coach Brent Venables spoke publicly for the first time since the NCAA announced the Sooners had self reported recruiting violations.
“In situations like these despite the nuances and the particulars we have to take responsibility and move on,” Venables said on the weekly SEC Coaches Teleconference. “And that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
OU running backs coach DeMarco Murray was suspended for a game after he had impermissible contact with 17 recruits over a 16-month period.
“I won’t really comment on whether or not this is the week or not,” Venables said of the timing of the suspension on Wednesday, though a source told Sooners on SI that Murray would serve his suspension this Friday in Oklahoma’s 2024 season opener against the Temple Owls.
The contact included 65 impermissible phone calls and 36 impermissible text messages, the NCAA said in a press release, and that Murray indicated he was “unaware that a COVID-19 waiver of recruiting rules had expired”.
Per the release, Oklahoma maintained that there was proper training that the COVID-19 waiver had expired.
Despite the Sooners putting the coaching staff through the training, Venables said the entire program can still learn from the situation.
“It’s affirmation for despite all the education that you do, the constant monitoring and reinforcement of, ‘Hey man just follow the rules. These are what they are.’ People can still make mistakes,” Venables said. “And there’s no doubt that I’m incredibly disappointed in what took place. And I do know our staff works to be mindful of the rules and we have perimeters, very clear and strong perimeters that are in place.”
The program’s acceptance of the violation extended to Murray, as the running back coach accepted full responsibility for the mistake.
“DeMarco knows,” Venables said. “He knows all of that and he’s accepted responsibility like I said. I know who he is but you’ve got to continue — things will still happen despite strong measures in place that try to protect you.”
The Sooners have already served a large portion of the penalties for the mistake after self-reporting and self-imposing violations.
In addition to Murray’s one-game suspension, Oklahoma will be unable to host recruits on unofficial visits for the Temple contest and there will be a three-week ban on “recruiting phone and electronic correspondence for the football program from Dec. 8, 2024 to March 31, 2025,” the NCAA said in the release.
There will be plenty of change for OU’s offense on full display come Friday.
The No. 16-ranked Sooners will have an entirely new offensive line, it will mark the first home start for quarterback Jackson Arnold and it will be just the second game with co-offensive coordinators Seth Littrell and Joe Jon Finley at the helm, but there are known quantities to help smooth over the adversity at running back.
Gavin Sawchuk and Jovantae Barnes were listed as co-starters on Oklahoma’s first depth chart of the year.
Sawchuk took over down the stretch last year, closing the 2023 season with five straight games where he rushed for more than 100 yards, and by all accounts Barnes is ready to bounce back after injuries hampered him last year.
Barnes and Sawchuk both rushed for 100 yards in the 2022 Cheez-It Bowl against Florida State, and have enough experience to keep the running game churning even without Murray on the sideline against Temple.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are taking on the Phoenix Suns in Game 2 of their opening-round series. The OKC Thunder are hoping that they can repeat their Sunday afternoon performance in this contest. Game 2 will be an interesting test with the Suns having more time to prepare.
Phoenix was up against a rock and a hard place in the series opener. The Oklahoma City Thunder not only have the talent advantage but the rest advantage as well. Phoenix punched their ticket to the NBA Playoffs on Friday night by staving off the Golden State Warriors on Friday night before landing in Oklahoma City on Saturday and playing on Saturday afternoon to the tune of a 119-84 blowout Thunder victory.
The NBA has seen plenty of upsets already. The Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers have all stolen games from the higher seed. The Thunder know they have to keep the foot on the gas in this contest.
“These series are unpredictable. No 2 games are the same. The minute you make an assumption, you are overconfident, or the minute you go down and you’re overly urgent, that can impact your ability to be present in the next game,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said pregame on Wednesday night.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are seeing the Suns make an adjustment with their starting lineup by inserting Collin Gillespie to give Phoenix a trio of ball handling scoring options alongside Devin Booker and Jalen Green. This gives the Suns hope to be able to find better shot quality against this stifling Thunder defensive unit.
Oklahoma City is healthier now than they have been all season. The Thunder only are missing rookie Thomas Sorber (ACL) who is out for the year. This allows the Bricktown Ballers to roll out their traditional first five in this contest.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Phoenix Suns, Game 2 Starting Lineup
Oklahoma City Thunder Starting Lineup
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, G
- Lu Dort, G
- Jalen Williams, F
- Chet Holmgren, F
- Isaiah Hartenstein, C
Phoenix Suns Starting Lineup
- Devin Booker, G
- Jalen Green, G
- Collin Gillespie, G
- Dillon Brooks, F
- Oso Ighodaro, C
The series will shift to Phoenix this weekend as the Oklahoma City Thunder hope to head into Saturday afternoon’s Game 3 with a 2-0 advantage in the series.
Stay tuned to Thunder on SI for complete coverage of the NBA Playoff run for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA (KOKH) — The Oklahoma City Fire Department responded to a home fire late Tuesday evening, around 10:42 p.m.
According to OKCFD, fire could be seen from a window of the home located in the 4200 block of N. Phillips Avenue.
Firefighters were able to rescue an adult female from inside the home. No injuries were reported in connection with the fire.
Investigators believe that the fire may have originated from an outlet near the refrigerator that had a power strip plugged in that was supplying multiple appliances.
There was also no smoke detector present within the home.
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NORMAN — The Sooners were behind the eight ball for much of Tuesday’s game against Oral Roberts.
But one swing of the bat got them in a more favorable position.
Shortstop Jaxon Willits blasted a grand slam in the sixth inning to give No. 14 Oklahoma its first lead before eventually winning 7-6.
The Sooners trailed by as many as five runs before they rallied late.
In the first inning, Oral Roberts’ Cooper Combs hit a two-out grand slam to give the Golden Eagles a comfortable cushion. OU infielder Deiten Lachance got the Sooners on the board in the second inning with a solo home run, but ORU responded with a solo shot of its own in the next frame.
The Golden Eagles made it a 6-1 run game in the top of the fourth, and they appeared to be on cruise control. But in the bottom of that frame, OU’s rally began.
Dasan Harris made it a four-run game again with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth before Camden Johnson hit a sacrifice fly of his own in the fifth.
Then, in the sixth, the Sooners took their first lead of the game.
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Harris singled before Kyle Branch and Connor Larkin walked to load the bases. Willits then swung at the first pitch he saw, sending it well over the right-center field fence.
Neither team scored after Willits’ home run, as OU relief pitcher Xander Mercurius retired nine ORU batters in a row to seal the Sooners’ one-run win.
Michael Catalano started on the mound for Oklahoma, but his outing was short-lived — he gave up four earned runs on two hits and five walks in 1 ⅓ innings.
After coach Skip Johnson relieved Catalano in the second inning, six different OU arms entered the game. Reid Hensley collected the win, while Mercurius got the save.
OU improved to 28-12 overall with the win, while Oral Roberts dropped to 23-15. The Sooners are 7-3 in midweek games this season, and they clinched the season sweep of the Golden Eagles on Tuesday.
Next, the Sooners will hit the road for a three-game series against Auburn. The Tigers, ranked No. 11 by D1Baseball, are 10-8 in SEC play and took two of three games against Florida over the weekend.
The series will open on Friday, and first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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