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Wyatt Hendrickson landed in Stillwater, even if just for a layover. Hendrickson, who has wrestled at heavyweight for Air Force the past four years, posted on Instagram on Monday that he visited Oklahoma State after entering the transfer portal last week. His caption was, “1 of 4,” alluding Stillwater was his first of four stops before deciding his next and final destination. Missouri, Michigan and Minnesota have also reportedly been in the mix to land the top prospect in the portal this offseason. Hendrickson is a two-time Big 12 champion and two-time All-American, placing third at heavyweight the past two seasons at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. He was Most Outstanding Wrestling after winning his first conference title at the Big 12 Wrestling Championships in 2022. Hendrickson beat OSU’s Luke Surber in the finals that year. Surber started at 197 pounds for the Cowboys this past season. Hendrickson has also led the country in falls the past three seasons, and in 2022 and 2023 was awarded NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler honors, which is given to the wrestler who earns the most points for their team during the season. Transferring from a service academy was not a simple process for Hendrickson, prompting the late entry after competing at the United States Olympic Team Trials two weeks ago. He was unable to use his extra year of eligibility because of COVID at the academy and had to receive clearance from the United States Air Force to transfer in order to use that last year of eligibility. He reportedly entered the portal on Wednesday. So far, OSU has had two portal commitments this offseason in Dean Hamiti and Caleb Fish, both of which wrestled at 165 pounds this past season. Hamiti is a two-time All-American from Wisconsin and Fish was a three-year starter at Michigan State. Those two additions are compared to the Cowboys losing only 149-pounder Sammy Alvarez so far to the portal despite coach John Smith retiring. OSU wrestlers are able to transfer within 30 days from Smith’s retirement, which would be May 11. OSU has yet to announce its next head coach, with Coleman Scott serving as interim head coach since Smith’s retirement. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. Contract details for new Oklahoma State basketball coach Steve Lutz have started coming out. According to The Oklahoman‘s Scott Wright, Lutz’s deal is five years, $13.5 million. Here is how it breaks down: 2024-24 — $2.4 million That’s quite the pay raise for Lutz, who was reportedly making $650,000 at Western Kentucky. His new deal at OSU also comes with some additional benefits, according to Stillwater News Press’ Marcus Trevino. Those include a membership at Karsten Creek, four tickets to OSU football games, a luxury suite in Gallagher-Iba Arena, eight tickets for home basketball games and 12 postseason tickets. Lutz’s deal also reportedly includes some performance-based incentives: Big 12 regular season championship — $100,000 Lutz’s $2.7 million average ranks about 50th nationally, according to USA Today’s database, though that database isn’t totally updated at this point (it still shows Mike Boynton at OSU, for example) and also is without some private schools’ numbers. Here is how Lutz’s numbers stack up to the available Big 12 schools in that database. Again, this isn’t a perfect list. It’s not fully updated. It doesn’t included Darrian DeVries at West Virginia yet nor BYU’s numbers. But, this shows you sort of the ballpark: Bill Self (Kansas) — $9.6 million Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. Another Mike Boynton Era Cowboy has found his next landing spot. Justin McBride on Monday announced he has committed to Nevada. McBride was a later entry to the portal than most, going in on April 15. He was a freshman for Oklahoma State this past season, where he played in 24 games and averaged 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds a game. McBride joins a Nevada squad that went 26-8 this past season, earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament under Steve Alford — whose name was tossed around for the OSU vacancy. Listed at 6-foot-8, 230 pounds, McBride put up a career-high eight points against Sam Houston, a game in which he went 2-for-4 from 3. He was the Big 12’s youngest active player during the 2023-24 season, according to OSU, as he won’t turn 19 until late July. He came to Stillwater as a four-star prospect out of Plano, Texas. He reported offers from Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Kansas State, Arizona State, TCU and others as a high schooler. McBride was also part of the Team USA’s FIBA U16 Americas Championship roster in 2021, where he took home a gold medal and averaged 7.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks a game alongside Brandon Garrison and Eric Dailey Jr. New OSU coach Steve Lutz is in the midst of nearly an entire roster overhaul, as McBride was one of five players to enter the portal since Boynton’s dismissal. OSU also lost three players from last season’s squad because of exhausted eligibility. McBride joins Dailey (UCLA) and Quion Williams (Abilene Christian) as former Cowboys who have announced their new homes. The only two still in the portal now are Brandon Garrison and Javon Small. Lutz has pulled in three players from the portal at this point in Arturo Dean (FIU), Robert Jennings II (Texas Tech) and Marchelus Avery (UCF). That trio is set to join up with returners Bryce Thompson, Jamyron Keller and Connor Dow. The Cowboys also have one high school player signed in Jeremiah Johnson. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. Mere days before the transfer portal is set to close, a Cowboy finally entered. Donovan Stephens entered the portal on Monday, according to 247Sports’ McClain Baxley. Stephens then confirmed the news himself via X. Out of Del City, Stephens is a redshirt junior linebacker who made 10 tackles last season, including two tackles for loss and a half sack. The portal closes on Wednesday. Stephens came to OSU as a three-star prospect. He was the No. 808 player in the 2021 recruiting class, per the 247Sports Composite ranking. He picked OSU over offers from Baylor, Texas Tech, Boise State, Hawaii and others. He took a redshirt in 2021 before taking part of all 13 of the Cowboys’ games in 2022, primarily as a special teamer. Stephens played in 10 games in 2023, recording four of his tackles in the Big 12 title game against Texas. His half sack came against Central Arkansas. He had a tackle for loss against UCF and another half tackle for loss against Arizona State. Nick Martin had a breakout season at the linebacker position for OSU this past season, piling up 140 tackles. Martin and Stephens were part of the same recruiting class. The Cowboys seem fairly deep at the position group as things stand. Collin Oliver is listed as a linebacker but could spend more time closer to the line of scrimmage in 2024. The group also has Justin Wright, who missed most of last season with injury after transferring from Tulsa. Jeff Roberson, Gabe Brown and Poasa Utu are also linebackers who have shown flashes earlier in their careers, and OSU coach Mike Gundy said this spring that safety Kendal Daniels could spend some time closer to the line of scrimmage in 2024. Stephens is the first OSU player to hit the portal in this window, which is rather impressive from OSU given the modern landscape of college athletics. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. Spring practice is now complete, and we’ve got a long summer before fall camp starts in August. In the meantime, let’s continue our look at OSU’s position groups. The Oklahoma State defense hit some struggles over the back half of last season, dinged up with injury and still adjusting to a new system under Bryan Nardo as the competition stiffened. But now it’s Year 2 and the defense needs to step up if the Cowboys, who return one their most experienced and talented offenses in some time, can live up to their potential. Let’s look at the defensive position groups starting up front with the defensive line. Be sure to also check out our previous previews: QB | RB | WR | TE | OL Who’s BackThe Cowboys lost most of its starts on the edge this offseason with defensive ends Anthony Goodlow and Nathan Latu gone, but still returns Kody Walterscheid (17 starts) and Xavier Ross (four). Although a clue from spring practice should ease fans’ minds. More on that below. On the inside, the Pokes return both nose tackles that made starts last year in Collin Clay and Justin Kirkland, two big guys who are tough to block. Clay was a double-team monster in the three-man front last year, he could pose even more trouble for opposing blockers. Also back are DeSean Brown and Jaleel Johnson who saw the field last year. Also, (sort of) back is Collin Oliver. Oliver made the switch to linebacker last season and is still listed as such on the roster. But the Cowboys are expected play four defensive linemen more often this fall than last, and it would be hard to imagine one of those lineups that didn’t include Oliver. And he even alluded to as much earlier in spring ball, stating that OSU was going to be playing more four-man fronts and that he would be playing the role of edge rusher. “I love it,” Oliver said of lining up on the edge. “And we’re in the Big 12 too, with the teams we play, pass rushing’s going to be very important and that’s what the four-man front brings to the table. You get your best pass rushers out there in certain stack passages so, yeah I love it.” Who’s NewThe Cowboys added Obi Ezeigbo by way of Gannon University, Bryan Nardo’s former school. Ezeigbo brings with him 37 games of experience in which he logged 108 tackles, 25 TFLs and 14 sacks. The Cowboys also added an early enrollee who might just vie for early action. Armstrong Nnodim has already made a splash in the weight room this spring. “He’s young, but he’s gonna get it,” said senior linebacker Collin Oliver. “Dude power cleaned the same weight I did, 365 as freshman. That tells you all you need to know about his strength and it’s in the name.” Oliver also lauded Nnodim for how he takes on coaching early. “He’s gonna be real good. He’s gonna be real good.” Also new is veteran DL coach Paul Randolph who arrived in Stillwater ahead of the spring after spending the last two years at Indiana. Randolph replaced Greg Richmond who spent six years coaching the D-Line. Number That Matters: 4When the 2021 Cowboys boasted a Top 10 scoring defense, they did so with no small credit due to their nation’s best four sacks per game. But in the last two years the Pokes have averaged 2.0 and 1.93 respectively, good for the middle of the Big 12. The sack numbers aren’t the entire story, but just as Oliver stated above, getting to the QB is paramount in this league. If the changes OSU is making up front can push that number higher, the Cowboys will be able to get off the field quicker and give the ball back to their experienced offense. DL OutlookWith a new coach and some tweaking of personnel, the Cowboys hope their D-Line will be one of the best in the Big 12 this season, and there’s reason for optimism. The Cowboys lost some experience in the trenches but with them moving some of their more talented pass rushers, like Oliver, back to the edge, they shouldn’t miss a beat. If they can create a little more havoc in opposing backfields, the defensive line should be a strength for the Cowboys. Spring DL Depth Chart PredictionHere’s how we see the pecking order shaping out after spring practice. We went with a four-down look to get as many names on it as possible. DE: Collin Oliver DE: DeSean Brown/Jaleel Johnson Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
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The Cowgirls swept the Jayhawks in style on Sunday. Oklahoma State bested Kansas 9-1 in five innings to finish off the sweep in Cowgirl Stadium. It was also Senior Day, and five of OSU’s runs came via seniors. Jilyen Poullard went 2-for-3 at the plate with a pair of home runs in her four-RBIs outing. Claire Timm hit a third-inning grand slam, and senior Scotland David put the finishing touches on KU with an RBI double in the fifth to enact the run rule. PFB photographer Devin Wilber was at Cowgirl Stadium. Here are some of his best shots. You can see his full gallery here. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. Steve Lutz landed another Big 12 transfer. UCF transfer forward Marchelus Avery committed to Oklahoma State on Sunday afternoon. Listed at 6-foot-7, Avery averaged 7.6 points and four rebounds a game for the Knights last season while shooting 34% from 3. He should have one year of eligibility remaining. Out of Richmond, Virginia, Avery started his career at the junior college ranks with Northwest Florida State, where he averaged 11.8 points and 7.8 rebounds a game in his lone season there. He then made the move to New Mexico State, where he spent two seasons and played 44 games. In his two seasons in the WAC, Avery averaged six points and 3.4 rebounds a game while shooting an impressive 37% from 3 before making the move to UCF this past season. He has scored in the 20s four times at the Division-I level, including a 22-point performance against South Dakota State this past season in which he hit four 3-pointers. H also had two double-doubles at New Mexico State during the 2022-23 season. In that final season in Las Cruces, Avery shot 42% from 3. Avery becomes the third transfer Lutz has landed to this point and the second from within the Big 12. OSU nabbed Texas Tech transfer Robert Jennings II this past week, who Avery will join as the tallest players on the roster to this point. With Avery and Jennings in the fray, Lutz now has six scholarships available as that pair joins FIU transfer Arturo Dean, Bryce Thompson, Jamyron Keller, Connor Dow and incoming freshman Jeremiah Johnson. Other names to keep an eye on at this point include Arkansas transfer Devonte Davis, Ole Miss transfer (and former Cowboy) Moussa Cisse and Washington transfer Wesley Yates. Those three have all visited OSU. Brandon Garrison is also still available. Garrison entered the portal after Mike Boynton’s firing and has taken visit to Oklahoma, Texas and is on one at Arkansas. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
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Gundy's OSU Keeping up with Head Coach Mike Gundy and the OSU football team. Archives
January 2024
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