Takeaways, notes (and box scores) from Day 2 at Love's Field:

After listening to last nights podcast, Brandon mentioned there’s a rumor of a certain offensive lineman who might transfer to Ou. Was hoping you would let us paying members know.

Thanks!

It was an incredible, historic day for the OU softball program. But they acknowledged that it took some time to find their bearings.

Final story from an emotional day at Love's Field.

Oklahoma walk-on running back Emeka Megwa has filed a civil suit against the University of Washington, alleging "medical negligence" while rehabilitating his second ACL injury.

I've got to say, if what the suit claims is found to be factual, the handling of his situation was utterly grotesque. https://oklahoma.rivals.com/news/em...ainst-washington-alleging-medical-negligence-

College Football 25 fans, here's our prediction for the highest-rated offensive players at each position in EA Sports' upcoming game this summer! Let us know what you think! (I know you will anyway) https://oklahoma.rivals.com/news/college-football-25-highest-rated-offensive-player-at-each-position

Update on the blue-chip pass-catcher here. I swung up to Derby yesterday to check in with him. Things are beginning to take shape in his recruitment.

Did some digging on this one after I spoke to Pringle yesterday. As of right now, I'm told the Sooners would like to get Pringle to campus before they get the final word from Tory Blaylock, if you catch my drift. Still gotta favor Blaylock to be the one that ends up in Oklahoma's class. But I'm also told DeMarco Murray is lobbying for the Sooners to open up some room to potentially take both Blaylock and Pringle. Definitely something to monitor moving forward. Here's the story...

*** I went by Carl Albert today to check-in on the 2025 Sooners commits, along with the lone Titan not committed to the Sooners, in four-star DB Trystan Haynes.

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Haynes and I spoke a bit about his spring and what he has going on so far. The four-star DB is currently focusing on track at this time, but also said that he is training and working on his overall footwork and defensive back technique with his trainer, Dwight Dobbins.

*** As for Haynes and his recruitment, the Rivals250 talent told me that he has three (for sure) spring visits upcoming.

*** First, will be Miami.

Haynes made it sound like they would be spending a few days down in South Florida to make the trip worthwhile for him and his family. Naturally, that sounds like a visit that will happen during spring break. Though the exact date wasn't set just yet, but it will be very soon.

*** Now, the second visit that is set up for Haynes is with Texas A&M on April 13th.

Haynes expressed that he likes the new staff there and feels comfortable with them already. He has been to A&M before, but this will be the first trip to College Station since the staff changed up so drastically. Haynes said the idea of the visit was to get in front of A&M's new staffers and see how he feels they relate to one another in person.

*** The last visit is to OU for their spring game on April 20th.

The good news is that Haynes will be joined by his fellow Carl Albert teammates, and Sooners commits, in four-star QB Kevin Sperry, four-star ATH Trynae Washington, and three-star LB Marcus James.

All four teammates are close and get along really well. All they do is joke with one another, so when I asked to get a group photo with the Sooners' Carl Albert commits, Marcus James and Kevin Sperry turned to Haynes and joked with him, saying, "Hey, Trystan! All you have to do is say that three-syllabled word (committed) and you can join us in the photo."

Haynes laughed it off, but when I spoke with him afterwards about taking all five official visits, the four-star told me, "I am getting a bit drained on recruiting so we will see. I don't know if I want to take that many just yet." Obviously, his feelings could change after visiting Miami and Texas A&M, but with OU getting the final spring game visit from him, I think there is a real chance the Sooners make a big splash with him.

*** All that said, I do think that the new offer from Notre Dame is one that has Haynes' attention. I say that because former 2006 OKPREPS and Northeast HS star, George West, who also played for the Irish, is a family friend of Haynes' family. West is currently the Executive Director, Regional Development in the Irish athletic department, so a visit to South Bend this spring or summer isn't something that would surprise me.

*** In the end, I am starting to get a feeling that even though Haynes is a bit of a wildcard right now, there are some around him that feel the Sooners are making the right moves and pushing the right buttons to keep the Rivals250 defensive back in the Sooner State. No one is overly confident about that, but a source did tell OUinsider, "Trystan will tell you that he is getting a bit tired of the process, and the more that happens, the more it seems things are working in OU's favor," the source said. "Oddly enough, as tired as he may be with some things in his process, he is still very open to listen to coaches and programs. So until he stops taking visits, it's hard to get a real grasp on what's going on in his head regarding his recruiting."

That same source did end by saying that he would favor OU right now, but weren't sure by how much.

MY OVERALL TAKE: I, too, favor the Sooners. Even if it is by just a bit right now. I will explain it all below:

First, even though I expect Haynes to be at a few of the Sooners' spring practices, along with him having a visit set OU's spring game, I have yet to put in a Rivals Future Cast because he plays things so close to the vest and has visited several schools, with more visits still in the cards (as noted above).

However, I will add that OU will be in the narrowed down top six list that Haynes tells me he will be dropping 'soon.' And as noted above, there are also visits to Miami and Texas A&M set for the spring. I will also reiterate that there is also a potential visit to Notre Dame that Haynes would like to take, but it's not set just yet. Again, more of a 'we will see' than 'it is happening' visit for now.

That said, if the Sooners can make their expected move this spring, I genuinely feel Oklahoma can solidify themselves to the point a decision could come by the middle of June. The issue is going to be holding off the other five programs on that soon-to-be top six list the four-star DB says is coming down the pike. And with schools like ND, Bama, Tennessee, Oregon, A&M, Miami and LSU recruiting him, it's going to be tough for Haynes to narrow it down. It's going to be even tougher for OU to hold off a narrowed listed version of those schools.

Still, with his OU committed teammates in his ear every day, and the Sooners having a strong relationship with Haynes, his family and his coaches, I just find it hard to see him not being at OU when the dust settles. But I will let that proverbial dust settle a bit more before I go making picks.

So JR Sandlin’s move to SMU has been anticipated for some time, so much so that Curtis Lofton (in conjunction with Venables, obviously) has been dealing with the NIL and the player management aspects of the role for some time. Multiple sources tell us that Lofton is expected to get the GM tag, but the reality is that he’s already been serving as the acting GM, so to speak.

OU’s finalists for the on-campus recruiting job were Jolie Ale and Florida staffer Bri Wade, with Ale obviously having been tabbed as the replacement for Lee Davis.

As for Sandlin’s role, we also know OU had already been casually talking with a few people about succeeding him. A name we feel comfortable throwing out as a potential candidate is current offensive player personnel and NFL liaison Drew Hill, who previously served as director of player personnel under Lincoln Riley. Another name is one we aren’t ready to publicly put out there yet, and we know there will be more names to come as well.

I like where OU stands here... but a lot will hinge on the timeline.

Kelvin Sampson spent 12 seasons as the head coach at Oklahoma from 1994 to 2006 and made many wonderful memories during his time in Norman.

As he gets set to make his first trip back as an opposing head coach, Sampson knows that it won't be just a "normal game."

https://oklahoma.rivals.com/news/emotions-spill-out-as-kelvin-sampson-discusses-his-return-to-norman

Oklahoma is set to make Todd Bates one of the highest-paid DL coaches in America for 2024 after he received interest for several job openings this offseason.

Credit to 247Sports' Matt Zenitz for the initial report.

https://oklahoma.rivals.com/news/oklahoma-todd-bates-finalizing-new-contract-ahead-of-2024-report

They beat Texas and win the Big 12 Championship.

Interesting. He will 100% try to recruit KaMori Moore but he seems all in at OU so I’m not that worried. Does this officially put our already rocky relationship to LSN in the grave?

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Got some fresh intel today in chatting with a few sources. Things are starting to move along in this process. Texas had surged for a while, but the Longhorns are finally fading. It appears Hawkins has come to terms with the fact that he just can't stand opposite his brother in the Cotton Bowl one day, which had always seemed a pretty inevitable epiphany. For the moment, Arkansas is the only school that stands between Oklahoma and their longtime target at cornerback.

I expect that Hawkins will schedule official visits to both schools. Whether he actually takes official visits to both schools is a different matter, as there's definitely a world in which Oklahoma wraps this thing up prior to OV season. Arkansas was Hawkins' first offer, but only recently has the interest from the Razorbacks reignited. Jay Valai and the Sooners have stayed consistent with Hawkins for well over a year at this point, and I believe it's poised to pay off before long.

An update here on Dawson Merritt, who has unofficially narrowed the focus of his recruitment to seven schools... with two programs a step ahead of the rest.

Luke Metz is red hot on the trail and added OU to the table today. He was in Norman last month and loved it, so I expect the Sooners to be in the thick of this one. He's dropping top schools soon, and we'll have more then.

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One of the rising 2026 offensive tackles in the Midwest has set his visit schedule. Ohio offensive lineman Adam Guthrie has let Rivals know where he’ll be going this spring. It’s quite the list.

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• March 14 Penn State
• March 19 Cincinnati
• March 21 Ohio State
• April 6 Tennessee
• April 14 NC State
• April 18 Oklahoma
• April 27 West Virginia

Guthrie is closing in on 20 scholarship offers and is poised to be one of the highest-rated lineman in the region when the full 2026 rankings come out soon.

Lexy Keys hit the shot of the season on Wednesday night, as her late 3-pointer clinched yet another Big 12 title for the OU women's team.

Takeaways, notes from a thriller in Norman:

I heard a rumor that Jacob Lacey is retiring. Any truth in this?