Despite being from down the road in Oklahoma and his brother already being a Sooner, Blake Griffin recently admitted that playing at OU wasn’t always part of his plans.

Now retired after a 13-year NBA career, Griffin was recently on “New Heights” podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce when he was asked if he always knew he was going to end up at Oklahoma during his recruitment process out of Oklahoma Christian School in nearby Edmond, where his dad was the head coach.

Blake Griffin tells Kelce Brothers he eyed other programs over OU

“It actually wasn’t,” Griffin said. “So my brother (Taylor) committed and played there his freshman year, and then they got a new coach. Kelvin Sampson left, there were some recruiting violations, they got this new coach. Honestly, I loved Kansas, I loved Florida. …

“And then I had like Duke and North Carolina on my list, but it was kind of just like a — it felt like it was a lifelong dream of Duke and North Carolina.”

Obviously Griffin ultimately did end up staying home in Oklahoma and the rest is history. He committed to the Sooners as a McDonald’s All-American and one of the greatest recruits OU has ever landed in men’s basketball at the start of Lon Kruger’s tenure.

As a freshman in 2007, Griffin immediately cracked the starting lineup and averaged 14.7 points and 9.1 rebounds a game while becoming First-Team All-Big 12. Despite being a potential lottery pick, Griffin chose to return to OU and helped lead the Sooners to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament and swept national individual awards. He was then the first overall pick the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2009 NBA Draft, where his brother, Taylor, was also drafted at No. 48.

“I wanted to go to a place where, A, my brother was there, it was close to home, my parents could come watch us play, and then also just that I wanted to go to a place where you felt like they really believed in you and you were gonna be the guy and you were gonna get the opportunity,” Griffin said. “And I’m so glad I did.”

LSU baseball has been searching for a conference win for three weekends now, but after rain swept into Baton Rouge Friday, LSU would have to wait until Saturday for its chance to claim that win against South Carolina.

The issue is that meant the Tigers would play a doubleheader, something this team has yet to face. And the last thing this LSU team needs is an irregularity in its schedule.

LSU didn’t let it affect them, earning a 6-1 win in Game 1 and a 7-3 win in Game 2.

So now that the Tigers secured the series, it goes for the sweep on Sunday. But more importantly, LSU can take these three things away as it finishes the regular season and tries to earn a spot in the postseason.

The Fewer Pitchers, The Better

LSU’s starting rotation has been plagued by injuries, with Casan Evans and Cooper Moore missing multiple weekends this season.

And LSU has felt that.

With those losses, nearly every game has become a bullpen game, leading to LSU averaging five relievers per game across the last three weekend series losses. And the bullpen has been inconsistent, with nearly everyone having multiple rough outings this season.

This weekend, LSU got everything it could ask for from its starting pitchers.

With William Schmidt moving up to the starter role in Game 1, he went six innings before being replaced by Grant Fontenot, who went the rest of the way for the Tigers.

Game 2 was the same story. LSU had Marcos Paz carry the team through five innings of one-run baseball, and he was replaced by Deven Sheerin, who tossed four innings, allowing two runs in the top of the ninth inning.

Freshmen Keep Raking

Freshman William Patrick was just one of two players with multiple hits in Game 1, continuing a hot streak of games from him.

Another freshman who stepped up on Saturday was Mason Braun. He had one hit and three walks in Game 1 before blasting a two-run home run to advance LSU’s lead in Game 2. He’s been a major contributor all season as a freshman, earning starts as early as opening day.

Don’t overlook the freshman in the pitching staff either, with Paz earning a weekend start in Game 2. His outing was layered with confidence, allowing just one hit, one earned run and three walks while striking out eight.

Offense Finds Its Footing

For a while it felt like LSU would never find an offensive identity, with head coach Jay Johnson just asking his team to go back to basics and focus on just finding the baseball with the bat and not trying to optomize their swings for launch angle and find hits to the backside of the field.

Against Mississippi State last weekend, LSU scored eight runs in every game in one of the most consistent offensive weekends since February.

That carried over into this weekend, scoring six and seven in each of the games on Saturday.

Steven Milam, Derek Curiel and Cade Arrambide all had multiple RBI in Game 1 versus the Gamecocks, but they’ve been stars at the plate all season.

Arrambide launched a late home run for LSU, adding to its strong lead.

Seth Dardar got his time back in the lineup in Game 2 after dealing with some injuries the last few weeks, and he took advantage of his at-bats, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

LSU has found its offensive identity that Johnson was begging for all season, allowing small ball, sacrifice plays and two-out hitting to score instead of relying on home runs.

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Spring football is well past wrapped up by now, with summer workouts standing in between now and training camp later in the fall. The 2026 college football season will be here before we know it as revamped rosters look to compete for the sport’s biggest prize next winter.

Tennessee Football has seen, and will see, plenty of major changes this offseason. For one, the Vols will have a new quarterback at the helm. Tennessee signal-caller Joey Aguilar didn’t win his court case for an additional year of eligibility, meaning that the Vols will roll into the season with a new starting quarterback. Redshirt freshman George MacIntyre, true freshman Faizon Brandon, and Colorado transfer Ryan Staub are all in the mix for that spot.

Another big change for UT this offseason is a retooled defensive staff and roster. On the coaching side of things, Tennessee brought in Jim Knowles to serve as the Vols’ defensive coordinator after letting go of Tim Banks. Knowles opted to keep Rodney Garner and William Inge in their respective spots and rounded out his staff with co-DC and safeties coach Anthony Poindexter, LEOs coach AJ Jackson, and cornerbacks coach Derek Jones. Tennessee has a few key returning starters on the defense, such as DL Daevin Hobbs, LB Arion Carter, and CB Ty Redmond, but the Vols also brought in several players through the portal to compete for starting and rotational spots.

With spring slates over with, USA Today decided to rank all 138 FBS programs heading into the summer. Paul Myerberg has Tennessee coming in at No. 18 in the country, one spot behind Arizona and one spot above Houston.

Tennessee lands as the eighth highest-ranked SEC team on the list, behind No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Georgia, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 9 Texas A&M, No. 12 Alabama, No. 13 Ole Miss, and No. 16 LSU. Other notable in-conference teams include No. 35 Vanderbilt, No. 38 Florida, No. 43 Missouri, and No. 94 Kentucky. The lowest-ranked SEC team is No. 109 Arkansas.

Based on 2025 win-loss records, Tennessee Football has the 20th-toughest schedule in the nation in 2026. Additionally, the Vols’ path is the 11th-toughest among SEC teams. Tennessee will have five home SEC games and four road SEC games this season as part of the conference’s new nine-game slate. The Vols will also hit the road to take on Georgia Tech in the second week of the season.

Here’s a look at the Vols’ schedule next fall:

• Sept. 5 – vs Furman
• Sept. 12 – at Georgia Tech
• Sept. 19 – vs Kennesaw State
• Sept. 26 – vs Texas
• Oct. 3 – vs Auburn
• Oct. 10 – at Arkansas
• Oct. 17 – vs Alabama
• Oct. 24 – at South Carolina
• Oct. 31 – OPEN
• Nov. 7 – vs Kentucky
• Nov. 14 – at Texas A&M
• Nov. 21 – vs LSU
• Nov. 28 – at Vanderbilt

More From RTI: Country Star Luke Combs Brings Out Peyton Manning, Josh Heupel, Joey Aguilar, and Al Wilson During Neyland Stadium Concert

Some important questions will begin to be answered when Tennessee returns to the field for fall training camp in August. For one, which quarterback separates themselves from the pack and starts the first game of the season? Additionally, how quickly can Tennessee’s new-look roster pick up Jim Knowles’ defensive scheme?

One other important thing that’ll be happening behind the scenes is how Tennessee looks after a full offseason in Derek Owings’ strength and conditioning program. Owings joined Tennessee’s staff this offseason after helping Indiana win last year’s national championship, and is widely looked upon as one of, if not the best, in the business at what he does.

Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee Football offseason coverage.