Oklahoma
Oklahoma State football signee and ‘spitfire’ Luke Webb motivated by brothers’ challenge
HOUSTON — The youngest of three brothers, Luke Webb constantly heard from the older ones that he was destined to be an offensive lineman.
But Webb’s passion was on the defensive side, so as he grew into his 6-foot-4, 275-pound body, he bucked his brothers’ projections.
“You’re gonna be an O-lineman,” they’d tell him. “You’ll never make it in college as a D-lineman.”
Partly because he loved it, and partly to prove his brothers wrong, Webb stuck with his defensive dreams.
“Next thing you know, I was the only brother to get scholarship offers to play college football,” Webb said with a hint of a smile. “That was pretty fulfilling, I guess you could say.”
More: Oklahoma State football recruiting became a speedy process for Idabel’s Matrail Lopez
Webb, who starred as an interior defensive lineman at Deer Park (Texas) High School, signed with Oklahoma State in December and will be on campus in June. He picked OSU over offers from Houston, Kansas, SMU, Arizona, Washington State, Cal and a few others.
He could’ve stayed close to home. Deer Park is a suburb on the east side of Houston. He could’ve gone far. He took a visit to Berkeley, California, but decided that wasn’t his type of town.
Stillwater, on the other hand, absolutely was.
“It’s more my style up there,” Webb told The Oklahoman. “It’s spread out and it’s more of a country town.
“Going on campus, getting there, it felt like family from the beginning. It just felt right.”
Determining where Webb fits on the Cowboys’ defensive line is a question for another day.
He played on the interior at Deer Park, but recruiting conversations centered around the possibility of an outside spot in OSU’s three-man front, which uses bigger defensive ends than a traditional four-man alignment.
And the Cowboys have shown a desire for versatility with a big end even before Bryan Nardo brought his 3-3-5 scheme to town. Guys like Tyler Lacy, Nathan Latu and Anthony Goodlow have moved in and out, depending on the situation.
On top of all that, OSU coach Mike Gundy hired a new defensive line coach, Paul Randolph, in January to replace Greg Richmond, who had recruited Webb and the other defensive line signees.
More: Oklahoma State football stadium upgrades will be something fans can ‘take great pride in’
So the specifics of Webb’s role will be determined in the summer and fall.
Meanwhile, his mother, Laurie Freeman, is counting the days until Oct. 26.
That’s when Baylor hosts OSU at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas, about a three-hour trip north from her home. A junior-high teacher and coach, Freeman finished her doctorate at Baylor last year.
“I’m already trying to plan flights and days off, so we can get to as many games as we can, but I just don’t know what I’m gonna do when they play Baylor,” Freeman said with a laugh. “I’m probably gonna be in all orange with a Baylor hat on or something. But we’re excited. This is so much fun for us.”
Thanks to Webb’s older brothers, Freeman is confident her son can handle the physicality he’ll face in making the jump to college football.
“Luke has always been a spitfire, always been a go-getter,” she said. “My older two are amazing men, and Luke had good examples in that. But he had to be tough a lot. When he was younger, he was a little squirrely, but we’ve watched him blossom into the most amazing young man.
“One thing I admire about him is his work ethic, and he’s even helped his brothers learn that more now.”
With a couple games in central Texas on the schedule next year, plus regular visits to Houston in the future, Freeman is excited to have her son in the Big 12. And just like Webb, she sensed OSU was the ideal destination for him.
“Even though he’s gonna be eight or nine hours away, I feel comfortable that he’s gonna be there with that coaching staff,” Freeman said. “Education is big to us, and I was very impressed with their school of business.
“I know he’s gonna get a good education and have fun while he’s doing it.”
What you need to know about Oklahoma ahead of the College World Series
North Carolina will face a dangerous Oklahoma team that is on a roll.
Oklahoma (41-22) has been just as dominant. The Sooners, making their 13th College World Series appearance and first since 2022, surged through the postseason as road warriors. They won the Atlanta Regional by upsetting No. 2 seed and ACC champion Georgia Tech in the final, then swept Big 12 champion and No. 15 seed Kansas by a combined score of 21-3 in the Lawrence Regional.
The Sooners, who are 3-0 in Omaha after beating No. 7 seed Alabama and knocking off No. 3 seed and SEC champion Georgia twice, are seeking their third national championship. Oklahoma won titles in 1951 and 1994 and finished as runner-up to Ole Miss in 2022.
Here are a few things to know about Oklahoma:
Best player: Catcher Deiten LaChance
LaChance is Oklahoma’s most powerful hitter. He is batting .333 with 12 doubles, two triples and team highs of 16 home runs and 65 RBIs.
Throughout the postseason, he is hitting .326 with four home runs and 15 RBIs. In Omaha, he is 5-for-14 (.357) with one home run and five RBIs.
Strengths
Like North Carolina, Oklahoma is a balanced team that is good at a little bit of everything and is built to frustrate opponents.
Oklahoma is a balanced hitting team like UNC, but the Sooners have hit a few more homers with 91, compared to the Tar Heels’ 82. That is largely due to the Sooners smashing 26 home runs in their 10 postseason games. In Omaha, OU has homered eight times, including five homers in its win over Georgia in its previous game.
The Sooners have stolen 129 bases this season. That is good for 24th nationally and second in the SEC.
Pitching-wise, OU is 18th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings and leads the SEC in shutouts.
Weaknesses
The most glaring weakness is the pitching staff, despite its ability to strike out opposing batters and record shutouts.
The Sooners have a 4.98 ERA as a staff. Only one pitcher with 10 or more appearances has an ERA under 3.60.
They also allow 4.51 walks per nine innings, which ranks 138th nationally.
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It was a Friday Night Lights in June kind of moment for the Oklahoma State Cowboys as Israel “Izzy” Hammons made his commitment announcement.
The Choctaw, Okla., rising senior announced his decision to commit to Oklahoma State on Friday during an Instagram Live session. The Cowboys beat out a roster of schools vying for the linebacker, most notably Texas.
Hammons made just two official visits — one to OSU and one to Texas last week.
His commitment pushed the Cowboys’ 2027 recruiting class back to nine players after the defection of Mount Carmel (Chicago, IL) offensive lineman Chase Clark to Purdue.
Commitments are non-binding. The earliest that Hammons can sign with OSU is in December.
Izzy Hammons to OSU
Hammons is the first four-star player to commit to the Cowboys this cycle. Their previous commitments all came from three-star players. The 6-3, 225-pound linebacker was considered a Top 200 player in the country by both On3/Rivals and 247Sports. Both services had him ranked as a Top 10 player in the state of Oklahoma at any position. He’s also considered the No. 1 linebacker in the state.
He also runs track and field, competing in the high jump and the 100-meter days, with a personal best of 11.30 seconds in the latter.
The Longhorns came in hot at the end but already had linebackers committed to the program this cycle. For the Cowboys getting a pledge from a player like Hammons is key to shore up a position where they didn’t have a commitment and where they plan to use senior transfers as starters in 2026. That means OSU and head coach Eric Morris must start building a pipeline now.
OSU’s Class of 2027
After Clark’s decommitment the Cowboys were down to eight recruits for 2027 entering Friday, most of which were on the offensive side of the ball and starting with Iowa Colony (Texas) quarterback Carson White, who was the cycle’s first commitment in April.
Up front, OSU has two offensive line commitments Jake Baker of Ensworth High School in Nashville, Tenn., and Sonny Mullen of Troy, Texas. When it comes to skill positions players the Cowboys have three commitments as well, including two wide receivers — Cooper Hooker of Pryor (Quapaw, Okla.) High School and Ake O’Neal of Argyle, Texas. Oklahoma State also has a pledge from tight end Talan Scott of Queen City, Ariz.
Defensively, the Cowboys have commitments from safeties Chayce Davis of Euless (Texas) Trinity High School and Bryson Brown of Broken Bow, Okla.
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OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — As an Oklahoma utility company seeks a multimillion-dollar rate increase, two Oklahoma state representatives are asking the Oklahoma Supreme Court to give customers a voice.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is currently deciding on a $29 million rate increase for Oklahoma Natural Gas.
If approved, officials say it would mark the fourth rate hike the OCC has approved for ONG in the last four years and has led to an $128 million increase in customer bills.
Rep. Tom Gann, R-Inola, and Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore, have filed an appeal with the Oklahoma Supreme Court, saying customers weren’t given a chance to participate in the case.
“The OCC has gone completely off the beam,” ONG customers Gann and Kevin West told the Supreme Court in their June 17 petition.
In the filing, they claim that the OCC set a March 27 deadline to intervene in ONG’s rate case but only set it after the deadline had already passed.
They say ONG’s customers weren’t notified about the case until late April.
“This case was rigged from the start to keep ONG ratepayers out,” said Gann. “The federal courts have said utility customers have constitutional due process rights – including a right to timely and adequate notice about these cases. We are asking the Supreme Court to uphold customers’ rights and require the OCC to change its rules to respect them. ONG ratepayers should be allowed to exercise their right to participate without being muzzled.”
The commissioners are expected to make a final decision on the $29 million rate increase later this year.
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ONG, the OCC, and the attorney general have 30 days to respond to Gann and Kevin West’s latest ONG appeal.
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