Oklahoma
OUInsider – Linkon Cure previews first Oklahoma visit, talks big picture
Fresh off a sensational junior season that thrust him into the national spotlight, Linkon Cure has no shortage of options as to where he’ll play college football. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound pass-catcher has put the remote Kansas town of Goodland on the map for Power 5 programs nationwide, and owns over two dozen FBS offers to date. He’s currently regarded as the No. 67 overall player in the nation and No. 3 among tight ends.
After a busy fall schedule that included stops at Penn State, Notre Dame and Oregon, among others, Cure is back on the road this weekend as he checks out another prestigious contender for his services. Oklahoma has signed the Sunflower State’s top player in two of the last three recruiting cycles, inking Jaren Kanak in the class of 2022 and Michael Boganowski in the class of 2024. The Sooners are now looking to make it three of four, as they’ve made Cure a major focus of their efforts on the trail and will host him on Saturday.
Rivals visited with Cure on Friday evening in Holcomb, where he led the Goodland hoops squad to a road victory with a team-high 26 points, and the four-star tight end expressed eagerness to get down to Norman for his first taste of the Sooner football experience.
“Coach Venables, he’s the first head coach that came out to Goodland and saw me,” recalled Cure. “Love that guy. He’s really energetic; he got me really pumped up and got my parents pumped up. We have a really good relationship with him, so we kind of scheduled [the visit] around that day because we knew we’d be in Holcomb and already pretty close. So yeah, I’m excited for it, excited to see the facilities and the team. I think I’m gonna talk with Jaren Kanak a little bit; he’s from Hays, Kansas, and he went through a similar process. But I’m excited for everything; it should be a lot of fun.”
It’s already been a busy few weeks for Cure, who is balancing his class schedule with basketball and a loaded 7-on-7 slate. Amidst it all, he’s had collegiate coaches swarming his hometown — which is no surprise, as his unique combination of size and speed has proven a particularly attractive commodity to his football suitors.
“They want me as more of a receiving tight end,” he remarked. “I like the idea of that, because at my high school, I kind of just play wide receiver and a little bit of tight end on the line. I’m excited to see how a lot of coaches would use me, because I can definitely see myself in that position. I love the skill set I have, and I love to use.”
Throughout the current contact period, Cure and his family have had dozens of meetings with coaches from a myriad of programs, and many have made weekly stops in Goodland (NCAA rules prohibit staffs from visiting the same school multiple times in the same week, but they can return to a school when the week resets). Though Cure does have an older brother who plays Division II college football, the sheer pageantry of his recruiting process has proved novel — even overwhelming — to his parents, who have watched their son go from unheralded small-town kid to nationally acclaimed prospect in the span of just seven months.
“They’ve provided a lot of support, but this whole process is also new to them, too,” said Cure of his parents. “So they’ve been getting to experience a lot of new things, and it’s really cool for me to include them in stuff like this. When all the coaches were visiting, I’d bring my parents in too. And they’d be like, ‘We haven’t even worked this week!’ I’m like, ‘Now you know how it feels!’ I think I was missing up to four hours of school a day, so I had to go see teachers and see what I was missing and kind of learn stuff by myself.”
Kansas State, Oregon, Penn State and Oklahoma are among the schools that have emerged as top contenders for Cure, who disclosed that he has multiple criteria for his school of choice.
“Obviously, academics,” he said. “We really value that in my family. And then, you know, just the culture of a place. I don’t want to go somewhere and be hopping in and out of the transfer portal; I want to go somewhere and stay and have a legacy and have an impact on that school. But it’s gotten to the point where I really gotta look into my development as a player, because the ultimate goal is the NFL, so just really looking into that and seeing how it goes.”
And as he’s taken visit after visit to try and identify the perfect fit for his next phase of life, Cure says that one common denominator has cropped up at virtually every school he’s gone to see.
“How much money goes into it is really eye-opening,” he noted. “They’ll talk about, ‘You know, we’re building this $400 million facility.’ They’re always building something, I feel like. And I’m always blown away by that. I’m like, ‘Wow, this is a cool place.’ Every place I go, it’s really cool.”
Cure doesn’t have any visits set beyond this weekend’s trip to Oklahoma, and although it’s still early in the process, he acknowledged that a commitment might not be far off. The upcoming dead period, which begins on Monday, should offer an opportunity for Cure and his family to begin processing his decision in isolation from constant external influences. As it stands, though, he doesn’t have a definitive grasp on the timeline.
“I wouldn’t say it’s set in stone,” he emphasized. “Ideally, I’d like to get it over with a little sooner, but it’s gotten to the point where I’m so indecisive about everything that I don’t even know. So we’ll see how it goes.”
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The Oklahoma City Thunder were shocked by the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night in Paycom Center, losing 124-97. This is OKC’s second loss in as many days, losing last night in Phoenix to the Suns 108-105.
The Thunder’s record is now 30-7 and they are 6-6 in their last 12 games. The No. 1 seed in the Western Conference is playing its worst stretch of basketball in over two years.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 points on 7-of-21 shooting to keep his 20-point streak alive. OKC shot a rough 28.2% from three-point range and 66.7% from the charity stripe.
Here are three takeaways from the Thunder’s 27-point home loss.
1. Inability to Make Shots
The glaring struggle for the Thunder tonight was on offense, with the team shooting 36.6% from the floor and 28.2% from three-point range. It’s difficult for any team to win shooting that poorly in a game.
The Thunder found open look after open look across the perimeter, but were unable to convert at a high rate. The Hornets were able to consistently help off of perimeter shooters to bring more defensive attention around Gilgeous-Alexander and inside the paint.
Poor shooting creates poor spacing and poor spacing creates ugly offensive execution. Poor spacing and shooting defined OKC’s woes against Charlotte.
2. Young and Hungry Hornets
Charlotte was by far the more energetic team in its win, amped up on both ends from start to finish, flying in for every loose ball. The young team came in looking to send Loud City home unhappy and they succeeded.
The Thunder were on the back end of an away/home back-to-back, having to quickly fly in from Phoenix to prepare for the game. The Hornets smelt blood in the water early, taking the game from their very first run.
After the game was tied at 33 at the end of the first quarter, Charlotte blazed into a 23-7 run throughout a large part of the second quarter to grasp a firm control of the flow of the game. The Thunder’s struggling offense could not find any momentum to claw back into the hole they fell into.
Charlotte’s shooting performance was remarkable from distance. With a plethora of shots taken with great difficulty, the Hornets managed to shoot 51.4% from three-point range.
The Hornets came in hungry and caught the reigning champions by surprise.
3. Gilgeous-Alexander Keeps Streak Alive Amid Struggles
Gilgeous-Alexander scoring above 20 points, with 21, to keep his historic 20-point streak alive, is the lone positive from a rough loss. Despite struggling through constant full-court pressure and double teams from the Hornets, the reigning MVP was able to muster just enough to keep his hunt for the record alive.
Gilgeous-Alexander shot 7-of-21 from the floor and 1-of-6 from three in the loss, adding six assists to his totals. He was OKC’s only 20-point scorer on the night.
The Canadian’s streak of scoring 20-or-more points now sits at 108 games, 18 behind Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 126.
The Sooners have added reinforcement to their backfield for the 2026 season in the form of Colorado State transfer Lloyd Avant.
The rising junior has committed to Oklahoma, and will join the program with two years of eligibility remaining. He’ll add explosiveness and versatility to an OU running back corps headlined by returning workhorses Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock.
It’s a return to the Sooner State for Avant, who spent his freshman season at Tulsa in 2024. He signed with the Golden Hurricane out of high school as a three-star recruit. At the time, TU’s head coach was Kevin Wilson, who’s now on staff with Oklahoma as an offensive analyst.
Avant made an immediate impact at Tulsa as a true freshman, rushing for 259 yards and a TD and adding a kick return touchdown. But after Wilson’s dismissal, the 5-foot-10, 200-pounder elected to enter the transfer portal and eventually landed at CSU. There, he became a weapon in several facets for the program during his lone season with the Rams. He totaled over 900 all-purpose yards, 417 of which came on the ground and 261 of which came via pass reception. He scored six total TD’s and averaged nearly six yards per touch.
Upon Avant’s second portal entry, the Sooners quickly emerged as the team to watch in his recruitment. He visited campus Sunday and didn’t take long to lock in his decision.
A native of Humble, Texas, Avant gives Oklahoma six scholarship running backs heading into the new season. He joins Robinson, Blaylock, Andy Bass, and a pair of incoming freshmen in Jonathan Hatton and DeZephen Walker. It’ll also be of some intrigue to see whether OU offers him the chance to return kicks. As a team, the Sooners attempted just two kickoff returns in 2025, opting almost exclusively for fair catches. That philosophy could change with a proven special teams weapon like Avant in the stable.
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Charlotte Hornets (12-23, 12th in the Eastern Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (30-6, first in the Western Conference)
Oklahoma City; Monday, 8 p.m. EST
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Thunder -15.5; over/under is 232.5
BOTTOM LINE: Oklahoma City hosts Charlotte looking to continue its three-game home winning streak.
The Thunder have gone 17-2 at home. Oklahoma City scores 121.9 points while outscoring opponents by 14.7 points per game.
The Hornets have gone 5-13 away from home. Charlotte ranks fourth in the league averaging 15.1 made 3-pointers per game while shooting 36.7% from downtown. Kon Knueppel leads the team averaging 3.6 makes while shooting 42.8% from 3-point range.
The Thunder’s 13.6 made 3-pointers per game this season are the same per game average that the Hornets allow. The Hornets are shooting 45.6% from the field, 2.5% higher than the 43.1% the Thunder’s opponents have shot this season.
The teams square off for the second time this season. The Thunder won 109-96 in the last meeting on Nov. 16. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 33 points, and Miles Bridges led the Hornets with 15 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Chet Holmgren is averaging 18.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks for the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 25.0 points over the last 10 games.
Bridges is averaging 20.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists for the Hornets. Brandon Miller is averaging 4.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Thunder: 6-4, averaging 118.9 points, 42.5 rebounds, 24.7 assists, 9.9 steals and 5.7 blocks per game while shooting 48.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.3 points per game.
Hornets: 5-5, averaging 118.7 points, 45.6 rebounds, 28.8 assists, 7.6 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 117.8 points.
INJURIES: Thunder: Nikola Topic: out (groin), Thomas Sorber: out for season (knee), Ousmane Dieng: out (calf), Jaylin Williams: out (heel), Isaiah Hartenstein: out (calf).
Hornets: Mason Plumlee: out (groin), Grant Williams: out (acl), Ryan Kalkbrenner: day to day (elbow), Tidjane Salaun: day to day (ankle), Moussa Diabate: day to day (wrist).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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