Oklahoma’s quarterback room just got a lot deeper — and with a local QB at that.

Steele Wasel has transferred from Akron, where he redshirted in 2023, to OU, he told Sooners on SI Saturday.

The news was first reported by OU Insider’s Brandon Drumm and Parker Thune.

Wasel said he grew up an OU football fan and loved watching one Sooner QB in particular.

“It was my freshman year,” he said. “They started inviting me to come out to some of the games, and just watching Baker Mayfield play as a young kid, getting into football, it was pretty damn cool.

“I don’t know if I would say I model my game after him, but definitely one of my favorites to watch.” 

Wasel was offered by offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Seth Littrell to join OU’s roster as a preferred walk-on.

“So I went in the portal and not too long after, Coach Littrell called me,” Wasel said. “You know, it was actually like probably two or three weeks ago that we had finalized it, but I had been just waiting for my admission to go through before I put anything out there.”

Littrell always kept his finger on the pulse of Oklahoma recruits when he was head coach at North Texas — especially quarterbacks — but Wasel said he never spoke with Littrell before he got the call. 

“I was just sitting in my bed, doing some school work, and I got a call from him,” Wasel said. “Pretty crazy deal.” 

Littrell apparently got an assist from the Sooners’ growing NIL collective, which has a program specifically targeting walk-ons.

“We haven’t gotten to any of that stuff yet,” Wasel said.

Wasel was a prolific quarterback at Choctaw in 2022, when he threw for 3,325 yards and 38 touchdowns, rushed for 543 yards and five touchdowns, and led the Yellowjackets to an 11-2 record and playoff run. Wasel was a three-year starter for coach Jake Corbin and was named Oklahoma All-State. As a sophomore in 2020, he Wasel racked up 3,324 total yards and 33 touchdowns and powered his team the state championship game.

He was part of a Choctaw team that sent at least seven players into Division I football, including former Sooner defensive back Jordan Mukes and two others who went to Oklahoma State.

“I never thought about it like that,” he said. “Saying them all out loud, puts a little different perspective on it.”

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Wasel was a 3-star prospect coming out of high school, according to 247 Sports. He chose Akron over scholarship offers from Arkansas State, Memphis, Rice, Tulsa and Virginia Tech, and had several Power 5 offers as a preferred walk-on.

At Akron last year, as the Zips were just 2-10 for the second consecutive year under coach Joe Moorhead, Wasel did not get any game action.

“There’s no bad blood with them,” Wasel said. “Nothing bad to say about them. I just feel like it wasn’t right for me — for me to be the best I can be and just be happy on and off the field.”

Now he’s playing for the program for which he grew up supporting, and at the spot of the player he grew up cheering for.

“I’m a huge Baker Mayfield fan obviously, grew up watching him,” Wasel told Sooners on SI in 2021, especially “the way he resets his feet and the way he leads his team.”

At OU, he’ll enrich a QB room that’s grown in both depth and talent over the past year with the addition of freshmen Michael Hawkins and Brendan Zurbrugg as well as seventh-year senior and three-time transfer Casey Thompson behind sophomore starter Jackson Arnold.

“Just want to show up there and do whatever I can to make myself better and make my team better,” he said.

“Shoot, I’m just ready as hell to get out there and get started. Not too much else to it. … Work hard and just play ball.”

When fans start to arrive for UCLA and Oklahoma softball’s winner’s bracket Women’s College World Series game on Saturday, they might hear an alarming noise.

Patrons traveling from other areas might not be familiar with the echoing tornado sirens that go off each Saturday in Oklahoma City. But there’s no reason to fret, at least for a certain part of the day.

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Oklahoma City tests its tornado sirens every Saturday at 12 p.m., unless there’s already inclement weather to be expected. The noise can be quite jarring, especially if there’s clear skies and sun.

Here’s everything to know about Oklahoma City’s tornado sirens, which will likely be heard by many on their way to Devon Park on Saturday:

Why are sirens going off in Oklahoma City today?

Oklahoma City tests its tornado sirens nearly every Saturday at 12 p.m., unless there’s incoming inclement weather, according to the city’s website.

The reasoning is simple: Oklahoma is subject to some of the most dangerous and often tornadoes in the United States, making it important for sirens to work effectively in the event of severe weather.

Oklahoma City has 182 tornado sirens in its area, all of which will echo together for a few minutes during each Saturday’s testing run.

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What time are tornado sirens in Oklahoma City?

The tornado siren tests are always at 12 p.m. on Saturdays in Oklahoma City.

There are no softball games scheduled for noon on Saturday, but patrons in Oklahoma City’s vicinity will likely hear the sirens on their way to Devon Park for the WCWS.

Women’s College World Series weather

Unfortunately for many, weather does not stop even though college softball’s top destination is underway.

Each year, it’s typical for numerous weather delays to halt play at the Women’s College World Series, and 2024 has been no exception.

Play was delayed on the opening day of the tournament Thursday, as Alabama and UCLA’s game started around half-an-hour late due to lightning being in the area.

On Saturday and Sunday, however, things might be looking up in terms of weather, as there’s a 20% chance for thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service.

WCWS schedule Saturday

Here’s the WCWS schedule for Saturday in Oklahoma City:

• No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 6 UCLA | 2 p.m. CT | ABC
• No. 4 Florida vs. No. 1 Texas | 6 p.m. CT | ESPN

NORMAN — On Friday night, Northwest Florida State College transfer Kyson Witherspoon made his first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, starting for Oklahoma against Oral Roberts.

Witherspoon and the Sooners’ easily took care of the Golden Eagles, notching a commanding 14-0 victory behind an excellent outing from the sophomore right hander and a barrage of extra base hits from OU’s offense.

Head coach Skip Johnson announcing Witherspoon as the starter on Thursday afternoon came as a bit of a surprise, as junior left hander Braden Davis has served as OU’s Friday night starter over the back half of the season.

Johnson’s decision ended up paying off, however, as Witherspoon threw six innings, striking out nine batters and allowing just one hit and zero runs. In addition to the Jacksonville, FL, product’s masterful performance, the Sooners will also have Davis available for their Saturday night contest against Connecticut, who defeated Duke 4-1 on Friday afternoon.

While ORU struggled to hit Witherspoon from the first pitch, the talented sophomore struggled to control his pitches early on, walking five batters in the first three innings. Despite putting at least two runners on base in each of the first three innings, Witherspoon was able to use his fastball to get out of the jam each time.

“Credit to (Witherspoon), man, we had a lot of traffic those first three innings,” Oral Roberts head coach Ryan Folmar said after the game. “We needed that one swing, I thought we were a swing or two away from getting in the bullpen early. After the third inning, he settled in, found the zone a lot more. The slider was really good, he’s able to command it. Again, when you talk about opportunities, we had plenty of them early, and we couldn’t take advantage of those.”

Oral Roberts left seven runners on base in the the first three innings alone, as Witherspoon tallied five strikeouts in the same span to keep the Golden Eagles off the scoreboard.

As Folmar mentioned, Witherspoon settled in during the fourth inning, gaining more command on the mound and closing out his final three innings with zero hits, zero walks and four strikeouts. Nine strikeouts is Witherspoon’s second highest total of the season and his six innings on the mound mark the transfer pitcher’s fourth time throwing six or more innings this year.

“Hopefully I can keep settling in a lot earlier than that,” Witherspoon said. “Just at the beginning, trying to do a little bit too much with my pitches. Trying to work around the zone too much and just got to execute my pitches. Throw it, let them work, and that’s what I did at the end.” 

Johnson commended his pitcher’s gutsy performance, saying that Folmar was correct in assuming OU would have turned to its bullpen had the Golden Eagles been able to get their bats going early on. With Witherspoon able to get multiple key strikeouts whenever ORU put runners in scoring position, however, the Sooners’ head ball coach didn’t have to bring in a reliever until the seventh inning.

“It could’ve went either way, and that’s the thing about baseball,” Johnson said. “They really separated balls from strikes, took their walks when they needed to, but (Witherspoon) made big pitches with two outs. He had two big punch outs with men on base. I mean, (Folmar) is exactly right, but (Witherspoon) made the difference when he settled in and located a couple pitches with two strikes to get him out of the inning, which was really huge. He did it last week in Arlington (at the Big 12 Tournament) and it shows you how big his heart is, because you pitch with your head and your heart. You know, his stuff is his stuff, what’s going to get him to the next level is going to be his heart.” 

With runners on second and third in the first inning, Witherspoon recorded a massive strikeout to end the at-bat. In the second, ORU loaded the bases, but Witherspoon struck out Elijah Rodriguez to once again escape the jam unscathed.

Oral Roberts was able to get runners on first and second base in the third inning before Witherspoon slammed the door shut on the Golden Eagles for a third time, striking out Cameron LaLiberte to kill ORU’s scoring chances.

Witherspoon’s impressive outing in his first-ever NCAA Tournament game is a good sign for OU, who has been solid on offense all year, but struggled at times on the mound. If Davis and Witherspoon are both able to raise to the occasion and perform well in the postseason, Oklahoma will have a chance to not only win the Norman Regional, but advance to Omaha for the second time in three years.

Next up, Oklahoma is set to face Connecticut at 8 p.m. on Saturday night from L. Dale Mitchell Park. With Witherspoon throwing over 100 pitches on Friday night, Davis, who has developed into the team’s ace, should start on the bump against the Huskies.