Oklahoma

How Sam Godwin ‘just dialed in’ to power OU basketball past OSU in Bedlam beatdown

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1 year ago

December 15, 2024

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How Sam Godwin ‘just dialed in’ to power OU basketball past OSU in Bedlam beatdown

Sam Godwin walked into the Paycom Center postgame interview room with the Bedlam trophy in hand.

Following last season’s overtime thriller win in Stillwater, the Ada native stole the hardware, thinking it’d be the final meeting between the two in-state rivals. Godwin was forced to return the trophy, which he’d been displaying by his fireplace throughout the year, this past week.

“Obviously, we play them once this year, so we had one shot to secure the trophy,” Godwin said. “I’m glad we got it done.”

Not only did Godwin get his centerpiece back, he dropped a career-high 20 points on 10 of 14 shooting in a renewed neutral-site Bedlam matchup. Godwin’s career-best performance came inside the arena he frequented as a child watching Oklahoma City Thunder games and in front of 10,300 fans.

Led by Godwin, No. 13 Oklahoma defeated Oklahoma State 80-65 Saturday night at Paycom Center in the 250th all-time meeting between the two programs. With their win, the Sooners moved to 3-0 in their last three Bedlam contests and improved to 10-0 for the second time in as many seasons.

“We practiced here two days ago, it was kind of surreal,” Godwin said. “I’ve been watching Thunder games my whole life, sitting up in the bleachers so just to be on the court playing, it was really special to me so I gave it all I had.”

In addition to his career-high in scoring, Godwin added 14 rebounds for a double-double. He also finished with two blocks and three steals.

Two of Godwin’s points came off an assist from fellow Oklahoman Dayton Forsythe, who found a crashing Godwin for an easy dunk.

When he exited the floor for the final time with over a minute remaining, he was met with a standing ovation and a hug from head coach Porter Moser.

“I’m just happy for him,” Moser said postgame. “In this venue, this rivalry, being an in-state kid. He was just dialed in and it was great to see from him. It was huge for him to see it go in early.”

Now, Godwin can keep his decor. At least until the next Bedlam matchup.

Sooners’ guards shine

Moser wasn’t even aware Kobe Elvis drilled five 3s until his postgame interview.

Elvis couldn’t miss as he finished with 15 points on 5 for 8 shooting from the field.

“Those are huge shots,” Moser said. “And I thought between Duke, Kobe and Fears, those three offensively, you’ve got weapons, because they all can put it on the deck, and they all can knock down a shot.”

Elvis added: “I was able to relax after the first 3. My confidence was up. I was prepared. I felt very confident.”

Fears continued his consistency with 17 points and five assists.

The Sooners’ consistent guard play from Elvis and Fears, as well as Duke Miles and Brycen Goodine on any given night has been a significant reason for their 10-0 start to the season.

“We’ve got some of the most unselfish guards in the country,” Godwin said. “They’re willing to give themselves up and hit the open player. All three of our point guards are capable of scoring in many different ways, so they open up the game and make it so much easier for everybody.”

Suffocating defense limits Cowboys

OU continues to play high-level defense.

The Sooners held the Cowboys to 39% shooting from the field and 28% from 3. They also forced 16 turnovers, finished with four blocks and held OSU to an over eight-minute stretch without a basket.

“They did a great job in transition,” Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz said postgame. “You’ve got to give them credit, they scored and then they got back and got their defense set. They turned us over 11 times in the first half.”

Oklahoma scored 21 points off turnovers and ranks 49th nationally in KenPom’s defensive rating.

“We had a ton of respect watching them on tape,” Moser said. “And for us, the biggest thing, we were just really trying to not let them get going in transition.”

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz: Mar. 1, 2026

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1 hour ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz: Mar. 1, 2026

Big night in downtown OKC as the Oklahoma City Thunder welcome the Denver Nugget and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is back on the floor.

Steve McGehee reports live from Paycom Center with the latest on SGA’s return after missing nine games, the Thunder’s push to hold the top spot in the Western Conference, and what getting healthy means for OKC’s title hopes.

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Oklahoma

How Oklahoma GM Jim Nagy ‘Put More Around’ John Mateer During Offseason

Published

13 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

How Oklahoma GM Jim Nagy ‘Put More Around’ John Mateer During Offseason

Oklahoma general manager Jim Nagy experienced great success during his first year in Norman.

Nagy, who joined OU’s staff in February 2025, oversaw the Sooners’ scouting staff as Oklahoma reached the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019. He also helped OU sign a top-15 2026 recruiting class and land several key transfer portal players after the 2025 season.

Though the wins outweighed the losses in Nagy’s first year, the Sooners’ general manager knew that there was much to fortify during the offseason.

Oklahoma’s offense sputtered late in the season, as the Sooners scored fewer than 25 points in each of their last four games.

For Nagy, a major focus was surrounding OU quarterback John Mateer with quality talent.

“(We wanted to) just really put more around John Mateer,” Nagy said on The Dari Nowkhah Show on KREF on Friday.

Nagy and his scouting team added plenty of pieces from the portal that should elevate Oklahoma’s offense.

The Sooners signed three portal wideouts — Trell Harris (Virginia), Parker Livingstone (Texas) and Mackenzie Alleyne (Washington State) — after the 2025 season to join returning receivers Isaiah Sategna, Jer’Michael Carter and Jacob Jordan.

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Sategna, who transferred to OU from Arkansas after the 2024 season, served as Mateer’s safety net in 2025. The receiver finished the year with 965 yards and eight touchdowns on 67 catches.

Harris and Livingstone are both proven producers at the Power Four level, and Nagy believes that those two will make OU’s receiving corps stronger in 2026.

“Those two, we’re very excited about both of those guys,” Nagy said.

Nagy also did plenty of work to ensure that OU’s run game improves in 2026.

The Sooners added three tight ends — Hayden Hansen (Florida), Rocky Beers (Colorado State) and Jack Van Dorselaer (Tennessee) — from the portal. They also added three transfer offensive linemen: Caleb Nitta (Western Kentucky), E’Marion Harris (Arkansas) and Peyton Joseph (Georgia Tech).

OU will have its two top running backs from the 2025 squad, Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock, back in 2026.

For those two to reach their full potential, the Sooners’ blockers will have to regularly open up running lanes — and Nagy is confident that they will.

“We have to run the ball better, there’s no way around that,” Nagy said. “Our job is to create more competition in every room in the offseason. I feel like we’ve done that.”

On the show, Nagy revealed that the Sooners added nearly 9,000 collegiate snaps to their roster during the offseason.

The general manager believes that both sides of the ball will be stronger as a result of his scouting team’s offseason efforts and their collaboration with OU’s coaching staff.

“I’ve tried to be really intentional with our communication,” Nagy said. “There’s a common goal: We’re trying to win a national championship. This is a true partnership, and we all have the same goal in mind. It’s going to continue to evolve and get better.”

Oklahoma will open its 2026 season against UTEP on Sept. 5.

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Elgin’s Ritson Meyer becomes four-time Oklahoma high school wrestling state champion

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Elgin’s Ritson Meyer becomes four-time Oklahoma high school wrestling state champion

The loss was on Ritson Meyer’s mind all week as he prepared for his final state wrestling tournament.

A senior 215-pounder at Elgin, Meyer isn’t used to getting beaten, but he got a wake-up call when he lost against Coweta senior Aiven Robbins by five points in their regional championship match.

For Meyer, it set in that winning his fourth state championship wouldn’t be an easy task.

“I lost to him last week and I’m not a loser, so it was eating on me all week in practice,” Meyer said. “So (in) practice, I really leveled up everything. Everything about it.”

Meyer and Robbins met again on Saturday, this time with the Class 5A state championship on the line.

Intensely focused from the start, Meyer came out aggressive. And although it was another great match, Meyer did just enough to etch his name in the state history books.

Meyer held on to beat Robbins in an 8-7 decision in the new OG&E Coliseum as he claimed his fourth state championship, while Coweta won the team title.

An Abilene Christian football signee, Meyer’s wrestling days are over, but he leaves the sport with satisfaction.

“I came out here — even though it hurt, even though I was tired — I got it done,” Meyer said. “I’m so happy. I got to celebrate with my parents, my family, my friends. It’s a crazy feeling.”

A standout running back and linebacker on the gridiron, Meyer helped his team win the Class 4A state title in football as a junior before Elgin lost to Tuttle 23-20 in the 2025 championship game in December.

It’s a different sport, but that loss fueled Meyer’s wrestling season in a way.

“I like to tell people that wrestling is like offseason football,” Meyer said. “I can’t go out, lose. Everybody wanted me to win this. I won it for the whole entire community. First four-timer at Elgin. And that football (loss) really did eat me alive. It didn’t feel good at all, and I didn’t want that same feeling again.”

Meyer had a great start against Robbins on Saturday and never trailed, but Robbins battled to set up a great finish and both were gassed when it was over.

“I just gave it my all,” Meyer said, “and I got it done.”

This article will be updated.

Nick Sardis covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Nick? He can be reached at nsardis@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at@nicksardis. Sign up forThe Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Nick’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing adigital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

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