Oklahoma
Oklahoma Delegates React To President Biden's Executive Order On Border Crossings By Asylum Seekers
President Joe Biden‘s new executive order sharply restricting the ability of asylum seekers to enter the country between ports of entry has gone into effect, but it’s too soon to say what its long-term impact will be on illegal border crossings.
It’s not too soon, however, to say what the Oklahoma congressional delegation thinks of the policy.
No Oklahoma member of the delegation has been more intricately involved in the border issue than Senator James Lankford, who helped negotiate the bipartisan deal that his fellow Republicans rejected, but which President Biden borrowed from in implementing his new policy.
“I’ve come here today to do what the Republicans in Congress refused to do: take the necessary steps to secure our border,” said President Biden in prepared remarks at the White House on Tuesday.
Biden signed an executive order that, in effect, closes the border between ports of entry until migrant encounters, which have been hovering between 3,500 to 5,000 a day recently, drop below an average of 1,500 a day over two weeks. That’s a level that hasn’t been seen, Lankford noted on the Senate floor a day later, since Biden first took office.
“This is a border crisis of this administration’s creation,” Lankford stated. “They created this crisis.”
Sen. Lankford is the first to acknowledge that Congress has failed to do its part in reforming the asylum process but he says if Biden were truly serious about addressing the border crisis, he would reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy, restart border wall construction, and so much more than just cherry pick the emergency shutoff valve contained in the bill he worked on.
“The heart of the bill was not what you do after thousands of people are crossing the border,” Lankford said, “the heart of the bill is what you do for the first person that illegally crosses.”
Progressive Democrats have also criticized the order, but for being too restrictive, and the ACLU will reportedly sue the government to halt its enforcement. But moderates, especially in border states, have welcomed it.
“With my Republican colleagues not wanting to take action on this,” said Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, “we’re at this point where the White House is taking some steps that I truly believe is going to make a big difference.”
That remains to be seen, and for now, Oklahoma members are deeply skeptical.
“This action was nothing more than smoke & mirrors,” said Rep. Kevin Hern(R-OK1) in a social media post, “scoring political points with the American people before the election rather than providing a solution.”
Lankford also believes President Biden’s motivation in adopting the policy is political, but then he’s also seen his members of his own party use the issue for political ends.
“Stop playing politics with this on all sides,” Lankford said.
OU baseball coach Skip Johnson, Sooners ‘never stopped believing’ on CWS journey
Skip Johnson’s OU baseball team defeated Georgia 11-4 Wednesday night to advance to the College World Series finals. Freshman pitcher Nick Wesloski allowed only one earned run in 5 ⅔ innings in just his second career start.
NCAA
North Carolina forced a winner-take-all Game 3 at the College World Series after taking down Oklahoma 6-2 on Sunday, June 21, after the Sooners took the opening game, 9-3.
Now, who will win the national championship?
Watch Game 3 of the College World Series finals live with Fubo (free trial)
Tar Heels head coach Scott Forbes said everyone is available to pitch on Monday, June 22, potentially even star reliever Caden Glauber, who tossed five scoreless innings of relief in Game 2 with eight strikeouts to one hit. While North Carolina hasn’t decided on a starting pitcher yet, Oklahoma will turn to true freshman right-hander Nick Wesloski (2-1, 3.63 ERA).
Oklahoma’s bats were silenced by UNC starter Ryan Lynch and Glauber. The Sooners were held to four hits in Game 2 after their 14-hit barrage on June 20. The loss snapped Oklahoma’s 9-game win streak dating back to its first loss against No. 2 Georgia Tech in the Atlanta Regional.
North Carolina, meanwhile, continued its unbeaten streak after a loss, avoiding back-to-back defeats since the Tar Heels’ March 6-7 losses against Virginia to open ACC play.
Here’s how to watch Oklahoma vs. North Carolina for all the marbles on Monday, June 22:
What TV channel is Oklahoma vs North Carolina on today?
Game 3 of Oklahoma-North Carolina will air live on ESPN, with streaming options on the ESPN app or Fubo, which offers a free trial.
Wattch UNC vs OU baseball live with Fubo (free trial)
Oklahoma vs North Carolina time today
- Date: Monday, June 22
- Time: 7 p.m. ET | 6 p.m. CT
- Location: Charles Schwab Field Omaha (Omaha, Nebraska)
Oklahoma vs North Carolina predictions, picks, odds
Odds from BetMGM as of Monday, June 22
- Spread: North Carolina (-1.5)
- Over/under: 10.5 runs
- Moneyline: North Carolina (-160) | Oklahoma (+125)
- Prediction: Oklahoma 7, North Carolina 5
Oklahoma rebounds from its Game 2 loss and takes down North Carolina, with pitchers Nick Wesloski, Jackson Cleveland and LJ Mercurius all appearing. The Tar Heels throw the kitchen sink in Game 3, but ultimately the Sooners come out on top, capping off one of the most impressive runs in recent memory. — Austin Curtright
Height/Weight: 6-foot-3, 215 pounds
Hometown/High School: Washington, OK (Washington H.S.)
Ranking: ★★★★ (92 Rivals — No. 123 player overall)
Notable Offers: Kansas State, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and Utah
Not very often Penn State goes into Oklahoma and gets a prospect, let alone one that is a four-star that the Sooners very much wanted. Fortunately for Matt Campbell and the Nittany Lions here, the familial relationship paid off, as Case’s brother, Cooper, is a rising redshirt sophomore tight end at Penn State. Doesn’t take a lot of dot connecting to imagine how much that played a part in Case deciding on the Nittany Lions. Still, given the ebbs and flows of the recruiting cycle, not sure you can take any recruitment for granted. So despite the connections Penn State had here, getting a top 10 kid from Oklahoma that the Sooners wanted is a big victory for the new staff in recruiting cycle #1.
Beyond on who his brother is, there’s a reason Case was maybe *the* top linebacker target for Penn State this cycle. This kid is an absolute beast. Tremendous linebacker frame at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds that will allow him to play up to 240 pounds easy, Alexander is what you think of when you imagine the modern day middle linebacker. He has the speed and fluidity to drop back into coverage, but has the physicality and bruteness to win in tight. The first play on his highlight film is his giving a Spinebuster to a poor opponent that rivals that of Arn Anderson’s Spinebuster on The Undertaker at WrestleMania 18.
Kamden Mantooth caps wild week by leading Mustang to 6A baseball title
It was a wild week for Kamden Mantooth, who helped Mustang beat Edmond Santa Fe 5-4 for the 6A baseball title. After being forced to sit in the semifinals due to an ejection in the quarterfinals, he pitched 5 2/3 innings Saturday.
Joe Patterson was hoping it would be different this time.
The Mustang baseball coach is no stranger to state championship games.
But as Mustang headed into its Class 6A title matchup against Edmond Santa Fe in May, a state championship victory remained a goal that hadn’t been fulfilled for Patterson as a player or head coach.
“That was all together — playing and coaching — my (sixth) state championship game, and I was 0-5,” Patterson said.
Patterson can now revise that record to 1-5 as the Broncos beat defending champion Edmond Santa Fe 5-4 at ONEOK Field in Tulsa.
An unforgettable day for Patterson.
An unforgettable season.
After leading Mustang to its third title and a 39-6 record while playing a brutally difficult schedule, Patterson is The Oklahoman’s 2026 All-State Coach of the Year.
“It was one of those years where it felt like I wasn’t working the whole year,” Patterson said. “Just a special group and everybody involved did such an amazing job and the players got along and the senior leadership was just unbelievable.”
A year after going 19-16 and falling at regionals, this season was vastly different for Patterson as Mustang dominated from beginning to end.
The Broncos won 11 of their first 12 games and ended the season the exact same way, claiming victories in 11 of their last 12 matchups.
They thrived in tight games, going 12-3 in matchups decided by two or fewer runs.
“We lost a bunch of close games last year,” Patterson said. “We didn’t have as great a season as we wanted, so we talked about trying to change the team morale and change the culture just a little bit in the fall, and we really focused on that. Just trying to make the place a more positive place for the kids and emphasize them having a little bit more fun but still working.”
Born and raised in Duncan, Patterson’s love of baseball and sports in general go back to those days.
His dad, Bill, was Duncan’s head football coach from 1997-2003 before accepting an assistant position at Owasso and serving as the Rams’ head coach from 2007-2016.
A standout in football and baseball in high school, Joe Patterson was at Duncan as a freshman and sophomore before spending his final two years at Owasso and then playing college baseball from 2007-2010. He went to Oral Roberts for one year, Seminole State for a season and Texas A&M for his final two.
Patterson was named the national junior college player of the year at Seminole State and had a successful stint at Texas A&M, hitting .362 with 21 homers and 100 RBIs with the Aggies.
He’s been at Mustang since the summer of 2019 after coaching at Westmoore.
Former OU shortstop Brandon Zaragoza played for Patterson during his senior year at Westmoore and was a Mustang assistant for the last four seasons before recently being named Westmoore’s new head coach.
Patterson has had a huge impact on Zaragoza, who will take what he’s learned from his former coach into his new gig.
“He just brought pure joy to the game for me, especially with just his ability to, one, obviously coach the game, but two, to allow his players to go out there and perform,” Zaragoza said. “The coolest thing about Pat was his ability to just pick up on player knowledge. Just kind of knowing what he has in terms of personnel and then of course his ability to just game plan, strategize, just get his guys ready to play.”
Patterson always wanted to coach at a one-high school town like Mustang.
He has his wish now, and Zaragoza says it’s a well-oiled machine.
“That’s kind of how I describe it a lot to people,” Zaragoza said. “Just a well-oiled machine in terms of just the coaches that are over there and the attention to detail and the preparation. There’s no loose ends at Mustang. And given how big the school is, you can always get kind of lost in personnel or all that stuff, but just the way that Mustang operates, it’s top tier.”
Mustang didn’t necessarily have big names this season like some teams in the state, but the Broncos had several guys who shined.
Outfielder and Northern Oklahoma College-Enid signee Nate Sutton hit .449 with 15 homers and 70 RBIs.
Fellow senior Kamden Mantooth was second on the team with a .442 batting average. A shortstop, Mantooth started at pitcher in the title game and held Edmond Santa Fe to eight hits and four runs — three earned — over 5 2/3 innings.
“It means everything for us,” Mantooth said after the championship win. “We’ve been working for this since we were in seventh grade. We’ve been working for this, and we finally achieved our goal that we wanted.”
For Patterson, it’ll forever be a special moment as he had his 6-year-old son with him in the dugout and his dad watching from the stands.
Patterson had lost two title games as a player at Owasso and three as a head coach — two at Westmoore and one at Mustang.
The outcome was different this time, and it was well worth the wait.
“It was just a feeling of relief and happiness,” Patterson said.
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 for The Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Nick’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
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