In his first full season as OSU’s starting QB in 2019, Spencer Sanders’ competitive spirit was sometimes a hindrance to his on-field production, Mike Gundy said Tuesday. If it’s possible, he was actually too competitive, so much so that it worked to his detriment.

But after harnessing that energy last season, Sanders, now entering his third season as the starter, is primed to take a leap this season if he improves in one specific area.

“This year his development in the throwing game now that he’s learned to control his emotions will be important through spring and August,” Gundy said.

Gundy said Sanders was “over-competitive” and he “let his emotions get caught in the game” at times earlier in his career, which stunted his decision-making and development overall.

Sanders finished the season with exactly as many pass attempts and total completions last season as he did in 2019 — 155-of-247. He finished with fewer total yards both on the ground and through the air, too. It’s jarring actually to see just how closely his 2020 season statistically looked compared to 2019.

Yet a year older and a little wiser, 2021 might be the time when Sanders’ talent and decision-making finally meet his potential. That competitive drive harnessed properly can be a lethal weapon for OSU’s air attack, so the coming few months will be critical to laying the groundwork for a career season.

“As he now learns to understand what to do with the football and take what the defense gives him, it’s just going to give him a chance to become a better player at this level,” said Gundy.

The post The Key to Spencer Sanders’ Developmental Progression at QB for OSU appeared first on Pistols Firing.

As has become status quo, the Cowboys have a lot of talent at receiver in 2021, but the Pokes lost a lot of experience.

With Tylan Wallace and Dillon Stoner prepping for Oklahoma State’s Pro Day on Thursday, Kasey Dunn’s wide receiver room isn’t as experienced as it has been in recent years. However, last week Dunn pointed to two guys who are stepping into positions of leadership: Braydon Johnson and Brennan Presley.

Johnson is the most experienced returner on the Cowboys’ roster, having caught 45 passes for 746 yards and five touchdowns across the past three seasons.

Presley, however, is just a entering his sophomore season after catching just seven passes in his freshman season (three of those did go for touchdowns, though).

“He’s a guy that everybody loves,” Dunn said. “The guy just outworks everyone and busts his a– every day. He turned in a hell of a game against Miami, which we all know, and we saw a glimpse of what he can be down the road. He’s just such a positive kid that everybody loves him. He easily steps into that (leadership) role. Now he just needs a little more production, a little more skins on the wall and everyone will buy into what he’s talking about.”

Gundy said Tuesday that Presley had to learn as he went last year with the truncated spring, summer and fall camps because of the pandemic. Presley got it going by the end of the year and capped his freshman season off with a Cheez-It Bowl where he caught six passes for 118 yards and three touchdowns.

Before that game, Presley had one catch for seven yards all season.

“He can do a lot of things, we know,” Gundy said. “You can pull out his high school tape, he can catch it, he can run it, he can throw it, do a lot of things. He’s got his speed down now. I think he was a 4.51 guy. We need to be able to bring him into the offense in different ways because he’s so versatile, and he’s a quick learner. But again, this is not an easy game to learn without quality reps and with him not being in that spring, took him until the middle of November to get going instead of maybe what could have been the middle of September.”

Gundy said Presley will be involved in the return game this season, and last week Dunn compared him to former OSU standout Josh Stewart. Stewart had 2,204 receiving yards in three seasons and scored twice on returns in 2013.

It’s a lot of high praise for a kid who barely cracked the top 1,000 in his class rankings. Now heading into his sophomore year, he won’t only play a role on the field for the Pokes, but he is also being looked at as a guy who can lead.

“It’s kind of weird because when you have people older than you and stuff like that or just as young as I am, sometimes you think you haven’t earned the right to be that leader or be that person,” Presley said. “It’s not really for me trying to lead other guys but just coming in every single day trying to attack the day and be that person. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Don’t force anything.”

The post Brennan Presley Stepping into Leadership Role in Second Year appeared first on Pistols Firing.

Tuesday was the Cowboys’ fourth spring practice this year, but it was their first in full pads.

After the practice, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy met with reporters to talk about how things are going. Here is what he said.

Opening Statement

“Finally got in pads. Get to play real football, which was good today. I’m excited about watching the tape. We’re getting a lot of reps. I might have mentioned this last week, but on most springs, we have between 85 and 90 players. Right now I think we have 112 out there based on so many early enrollees, transfers and then the super seniors. We’re able to get a lot of reps. Even our young players and new players are getting really quality reps. That’s an exciting time for us, and I’m looking forward to watching the tape and seeing what guys do.

“Their attitudes are good. We got a long ways to go, but we’re competing. We’re telling them, ‘If you make a mistake, it’s OK. Make it full speed. Take a lot of pride in what you do. Continue to work hard.’ So far we’re getting that from the players.”

On how the offensive line looked in the first day of full pads

“Just off hand in my notes, we really talked a lot and worked hard in the offseason walkthroughs in meetings with pass protections. We weren’t a good pass protection team last year. I thought today we were better. Again, it was early, and I haven’t seen the tape, but it looked like we were better in protection, which will allow us to be a better run blocking team.

“We have a lot of young players that are getting quality reps, and I will say that it’s fun to watch the third group, which in most cases are guys that have never played at this level, they’re early entry guys, functioning pretty well as a third group in the offensive line, which is the most difficult part of spring ball.”

On what an experienced player like Malcolm Rodriguez can learn in the spring

“Once we get into live scrimmages, Malcolm won’t be in there much. He’s like a 10-year vet in the NFL. What he did do, though, in the offseason was develop his body even more. I think he was 224, he ran, I believe, 4.49, 4.51. His strength levels are through the roof. So, physically he’s even developed himself more. As we know by watching Olympics, the male body continues to develop up to 26, 27 years old, so he’s still developing. He’s helping teach the younger players. Schemes — I would be pretty safe to say he’s got it all down, but his leadership and his input with the young players should be valuable.”

On how the skill players deep on the depth chart have looked

“I can see the big picture, but I very seldom can see guys individually until I watch tape. I’m really excited about both sides of the ball, the development of our young players. I’ve been involved with 35 college spring practices in my career, player and coach, and I think this is the first one we’ve been able to use a third group and they’ve all functioned and looked normal. That’s good for our program. That’s good for the future, and it’s good for those young players that get a chance to play, to show ‘Hey this is what I can do, I’ll play hard, I’ll compete.’ It’s pretty cool too. Their moms and dads call and say, ‘How’s it going?’ They can say, ‘I’m getting out there and getting to play. I’m not just standing there watching.’ So, that’s pretty cool.”

On how much the coaches depend on the older players helping coach the younger players

“They can bring a lot to the table. There is no substitute for experience, and there is no substitute for reps. The young players that are getting a lot of work, the game’s moving really fast for them. We were just visiting with Nick Martin, the backer that’s an early entry guy and getting some time, and he had commented to somebody that, ‘When I was in high school, I pretty much had everything figured out.’ He said, ‘Now the ball is snapped, and there’s guys going everywhere and they’re going really fast.’ That’s the progression that young kids go through and develop. That’s why these reps are so good. So, the older guys like Malcolm, Devin Harper, who could help, he’s not out there now because we’re holding him out because of his shoulder, but he can give a lot of input from a reps standpoint. Builds team camaraderie, builds your culture, builds your cohesiveness of your unit, which is important as that progresses because after the summer we’ll find out where we are as a group in August.”

On this importance of spring for a guy like Brennan Presley who didn’t get a spring last year because of the cancelations

“That’s a great question because you saw what he did in the bowl. So, if you just play the numbers, repetition wise, seeing it, watching video, he might have hit that at game five, but we didn’t have spring. He played two months, September, October, catch up, figuring out what’s going on because if you remember in watching our games, he would do things in the game and then like drop the ball. He was in the right spot, but things just move fast. Because he didn’t get last spring, he finally started to come on in the end of November and then had a good bowl game, all those reps start adding up. He was getting all of the reps in practice. He just hadn’t done it in competition, and that’s an example of what I’ve been talking about.”

On the importance of finding ways to get Brennan Presley the ball

“He can do a lot of things, we know. You can pull out his high school tape, he can catch it, he can run it, he can throw it, do a lot of things. He’s got his speed down now. I think he was a 4.51 guy. We need to be able to bring him into the offense in different ways because he’s so versatile, and he’s a quick learner. But again, this is not an easy game to learn without quality reps and with him not being in that spring, took him until the middle of November to get going instead of maybe what could have been the middle of September.

“He’ll be in the return game. We can use him as a punt coverage guy if we need to. We’ll have to watch how many reps, one thing that you’ve got to watch on punt and punt coverage guys is, they get all the work during the week — that’s a lot of running. He’ll be in there somewhere, wherever we think he benefits us most.”

On how transfers Danny Godlevske and Jaylen Warren have looked

“Well Danny’s doing good upfront, seems to be doing well. Again, today was the first day we were in pads. The first three days, other than assignments, not really a chance to evaluate him. Some of the other guys, particularly Warren, seem to be doing well. Those guys have two and a half to three years of experience of playing at this level. So, those are valuable reps for those guys, and that should play dividends for them earlier than the younger kids because they’ve already been there and done that.”

On the quarterbacks

“Spencer and Shane have had a lot of work, and they seem to be doing really well in their reads at this time. That’s one thing we can get out of these practices because their reads are going to be the same with pads or no pads. They seem to be doing very well. Spencer is, I would say, further ahead now than he’s been in his career. Shane’s still learning. Just because he played last year, he’s still learning and getting better. It takes him time to come on. So, they’re getting quality reps and a lot of them.”

On being so deep at running back with LD Brown, Dez Jackson, Dominic Richardson and Jaylen Warren

“It’s a really good thing because we know all four of them can play. They’ve proved that they can. The difficult thing is how do you get them all work. The good part of that is, unfortunately, that is the most violent position to play in our level, in my opinion. Those guys get beat up. So, that gives a little depth, and it should allow them to stay healthier longer throughout the season. I think Dez carried it one game like 30 time, 34 times. That’s too many times. Now, he was rolling pretty good. The thing you do with running backs is they all want to get a lot of reps, but if they do have enough ability to play someday at the next level, their bodies become a precious tool. So, they need to protect them. When they’re in the game, they need to roll, but the fewer hits they take over their career is better for them and us. That’s where the advantage comes in at having depth at that position.

“LD is a burner. Warren game in the other day and was 215, and he ran 4.56. So rolls pretty good for 215 pounds. Dom’s is going to run under 4.6. Dez ran, I think, 4.58, and Dez was about 212 . We’ve got a pretty good mixture there of guys that will compete, and they all get along. That’s a good thing for us.”

On the potential of playing spring scrimmages against other schools

“It would be good for us to scrimmage Arkansas. You’ve got Nebraska, you’ve got A&M, there’s teams around that would be good to have a spring game, spring scrimmage where you would do like the NFL, do some inside, do some 7-on-7, do some team. I would be for that, just from a numbers standpoint. What happens is, when we get into the spring game, on most year’s we don’t have enough depth to have a real good spring game, so the reason we haven’t had one in awhile is because I think it’s not favorable for the fans because we don’t have enough depth and then you can’t function. If you were to play a game against Arkansas, or Nebraska, or A&M or somebody, a practice game, you could get really quality work. So, I would be for that in just short notice without thinking through it.”

On other young guys who could benefit from having spring ball after missing it last year

“Well we had a lot of young lineman, unfortunately, that got reps that weren’t ready for reps. All three of those guys — [Hunter Woodard], [Preston Wilson] and [Jake Springfield]. Defensively, we were pretty mature. We didn’t really play many underclassmen. And then Shane, Shane got a lot of reps where he got kind of thrown into the fire, and he’s coming along and doing well. Alex Hale, first time ever as a kicker and was doing fantastic, would be another guy. This is a really good spring for us. I just want to stay healthy, practice hard and keep getting a lot of reps.”

On Tay Martin

“Well Tay is just now getting in shape. When he came in, he transferred in, we had COVID, we didn’t have structured workouts, we all struggled, the team struggled, guys that hadn’t been in this organization really struggled. Tay is in shape right now, in my opinion, for the first time since he arrived here. So, how good can he be? I don’t know because he’s never been in shape. He was pretty good in the bowl game, and he was out of shape. It’s difficult to get in shape during the season because we can’t push them expect one day a week when you’re getting ready to play. We can push them every day now, and we’ll push them hard in August for 18 days. I’m excited about him. If he’ll stay focused and compete, which he has, now that he’s in shape, he should make a lot of plays.”

The post The Rundown: Gundy Talks Quarterbacks, Depth after First Day of Full Pads appeared first on Pistols Firing.

The Daily Bullets are brought to you by Hoboken Coffee: Get 20% off your first order. 

Scores

Baseball: Pokes 5, Sooners 4

OSU Bullets

• One of the big questions around Mike Boynton’s extension is this – how does he now compare with his peers on the payscale?

This season, by nearly $500,000, Boynton was the Big 12’s lowest-paid coach. Even at $3 million, he still would be eighth on the 2020-21 ranking of Big 12 salaries.

However, the move to $3 million is a sweet milestone for Boynton and an important commitment statement from OSU.

[TulsaWorld]

• Pokes beat the Sooners with a walk-off – storybook stuff from O’Brate:

• This is the key to unlocking anxiety around the seven-year extension:

I saw some Travis Ford PTSD folk saying the 7 years were too many, but I think the 7-year, $3 million per is a great sweet spot.

[PFB]

• How the Cowboys can get better from the three next season

• Pokes are after another touted center for the 2021 class – a recent decommit from a Big East program

• Pretty fun to see Boynton’s old players congratulating him on his new deal

• Three OSU wrestlers will be competing for Olympic spots this weekend

• Speaking of Olympic wrestlers… We would all probably dislike AJ Ferrari if he went to another school but instead we can just delight in him trolling the Sooners ha:

• Pro Day coming up tomorrow in Stillwater – should draw a crowd:

Non-OSU Bullets

• Finished this non-fiction read on a New England town raising loads of Olympians – some solid parenting insights in there

• Bitcoin is all grown up

• With Easter coming up, I’d recommend this Bible for toddlers and up a couple years – ours are engaging with it pretty well

The post Daily Bullets (Mar. 31): Pokes Beat Sooners with Walk-Off, Boynton’s Salary Among Peers appeared first on Pistols Firing.

STILLWATER — O’Brate’s first Bedlam ended walk-off fashion.

Oklahoma State beat Oklahoma 5-4 on Tuesday night in O’Brate Stadium thanks to some late-game dramatics that ended in a Caeden Trenkle walk-off single.

The game went into the bottom of the ninth tied 4, where the Sooners failed to record an out. Justin Campbell came in as a pinch hitter and knocked a leadoff singe to right. Jaxson Crull followed that up with a wicked bunt single.

Then it was back to the top of OSU’s order, and Hueston Morrill dropped down a bunt with two strikes. OU tried to get Dylan Gardner, who pinch ran for Campbell, out at third, but the throw wasn’t in time.

With the bases loaded and OU’s infield playing up, Trenkle sliced a ball past OU second baseman Conor McKenna to end the game.

“I give a lot of credit to lose guys in front of me,” Trenkle said. “They made my job easy.”

The Cowboys jumped off to an early lead, scoring two runs in the first off a Max Hewitt double.

The Sooners’ runs came via strategery. Diego Muniz scored off a sacrifice fly in the second. OU then took a 3-2 lead in the fourth after scoring off a fielder’s choice and a groundout.

OU added another run in the top of the fifth after a walk and back-to-back bunts put runners on second and third before another sacrifice fly.

Only one of the Sooners’ runs were earned, as OSU had costly errors in the second and fourth. Cabbiness had a tough break in the second when he lost a ball in the early evening O’Brate shadows. The ball got by him and turned a would be line out into OU runners getting to second and third.

OSU had the potential to blow the game open in the bottom of the fifth but couldn’t quite capitalize.

Down 4-2, the Cowboys had the bases loaded with no outs. Christian Encarnacion-Strand then got hit with a pitch to score a run before Hewitt tied the game with an RBI single to left.

Still with no outs and the bases loaded, Carson McCusker struck out before Cade Cabbiness grounded into a double play.

OSU closer Brett Standlee came in with two outs in the ninth and threw one pitch to get the win. He is now 3-0 on the year.

Josh Holliday, Mr. 300

A walk-off win against an in-state rival in a new stadium might be the best way possible to get a milestone win, and that’s what Josh Holliday did Tuesday.

The walk-off W was Holliday’s 300th win. He ranks fourth in program history in career coaching wins, but he could get as high as No. 2 by the end of the year. It’s going to take a while before he catches Gary Ward’s 953.

“I didn’t know I was at 299, so I wasn’t sitting around thinking about 300,” Holliday said. “… When you coach at Oklahoma State, you’re hired and you’re supposed to win. That’s why you get hired. That’s just the joys of the job. It’s an honor to coach here, and we’ve had a lot of great players. I would say that’s a byproduct of the good work those kids have done.”

Switch Up on the Mound

Bryce Osmond was initially scheduled to start this game on the mound for the Pokes, but when the lineups came out, it was Mitchell Stone on the bump.

OSU is playing Thursday, Friday, Saturday this weekend because of Easter as opposed to Friday, Saturday, Sunday. So, Holliday explained he didn’t want to rush starters back and that Osmond was going to start Thursday’s game against West Virginia.

“It’s just a decision made on behalf of the team and everybody’s wellbeing,” Holliday said. “Just kind of looking at the collective whole, it gave somebody an opportunity tonight. I’m happy for Mitch and the guys that pitched behind him.”

Max Hewitt Might Be a Sooner Killer

Two games might be too small of a sample size, but Max Hewitt might be a Sooner killer.

In two games against OU, Hewitt is 3-for-5 at the plate with four RBIs.

The Canadian’s first game against OU was in 2019, where Hewitt subbed in in the eighth and hit a walk-off single in the ninth.

Hewitt started Tuesday’s scoring with an RBI double down the right-field line in the first, scoring Nolan McLean and Encarnacion-Strand.

Hewitt delivered again in the fifth when he hit a single to left to score Trenkle. That hit tied the game at 4.

The post Oklahoma State Baseball Secures Walk-Off Win in Bedlam appeared first on Pistols Firing.

OSU wrestling superstar AJ Ferrari hit his famous flex celebration on Tuesday night inside O’Brate Stadium after throwing out the first pitch before Bedlam baseball.

Ferrari delivered a strike down the middle then wandered in front of the OU dugout before flexing. He then proceeded to rip his shirt off, leaving his white tank top in shreds. Because, why not? When you’re the most ripped dude in the stadium, I think the rules allow for it.

Here’s another video from a different angle because, yes, you need to watch this twice.

The freshman phenom became just the third true freshman in OSU wrestling history to win an NCAA title earlier this month. How’d he celebrate? With a shirtless interview on ESPN that concluded with a shout and flex on-camera.

The post WATCH: AJ Ferrari Throws Out First Pitch, Rips off Shirt Before Bedlam Baseball appeared first on Pistols Firing.

This late into the 2021 cycle, it seemed as if Mike Boynton would work the transfer portal more than high school seniors, but then something opened up.

Four-star center Jonas Aidoo decommitted from Marquette on Monday, and Boynton was there to offer him a spot in Stillwater on Tuesday.

Who Is He?

Hailing from Liberty Heights Athletic Institute in Charlotte, Aidoo is a 6-foot-11, 215-pound center.

He is long but skilled for his age, as despite his height and long arms, he ahs a decent 3-point shooting ability.

Aidoo was initially in the 2020 class, but reclassified to 2021 to play a post-graduate season at Liberty Heights.

Here is what 247Sports analyst Jerry Meyer wrote about Aidoo in October:

Long, mobile and has positive athleticism. Must get stronger and tougher. Functional athleticism will improve with strength gain. Has good shooting touch to behind the arc. Can finish with his off hand (left). Decent rebounder but needs more strength on the boards. Has good court awareness. Does not have much back to the basket game at this point. Good to great shot blocker. Has a lot of potential. Again, strength gain is vital.

[247Sports]

In the Rankings

Aidoo is the No. 60 player in all of the 2021 class, according to the composite rankings. That makes him a four-star prospect. In the composite rankings, he is the seventh-ranked center in the class and ranks first among prospects from North Carolina.

Rivals is higher on Aidoo than 247 is. Rivals lists him as the No. 33 prospect in the class. The outlet also lists him at 7-foot, 215 pounds.

Others Involved

With Aidoo just opening up his recruitment Monday, it’s still early. But, since Aidoo reopened his recruitment, he has also heard from North Carolina, Boston College, Texas A&M, Georgia, Ohio State and Maryland, according to 247Sports’ Travis Branham.

Highlights

The post Oklahoma State Offers 2021 Center Jonas Aidoo appeared first on Pistols Firing.

David Castillo was lighting up Oklahoma high school teams as a freshman this season, and Mike Boynton has taken notice.

Castillo, a guard from Bartlesville, announced an Oklahoma State offer on Tuesday morning. Castillo won’t graduate high school until 2024.

Who Is He?

As a freshman, Castillo dropped 43 points on Ponca City on Jan. 19.

It wasn’t a one-off, as he handed buckets to people all year long. He is with Team Griffin right now on the AAU circuit, a program that has produced (and is producing) a lot of good talent as of late. He is AAU teammates with 2023 OSU offer Brandon Garrison, of Del City.

Others Involved

Oklahoma State joins Tulsa as the only programs to have offered Castillo this early in his recruitment. He announced his Tulsa offer on March 18.

Highlights

Other 2024 Offers

Castillo isn’t the first player Boynton offered in Castillo’s cycle.

Vyctorius Miller, a 6-5 guard from California, announced an OSU offer Saturday. He already boasts offers from Arizona State, Arizona, Wake Forest and Georgiatown.

Tre Johnson, a 6-5 guard out of Lake Highlands High School in Dallas, announced his OSU offer Sunday. Shortly after, he announced an offer to Alabama State. Johnson plays with Team Griffin, as well.

The post Oklahoma State Basketball Offers Bartlesville Freshman David Castillo appeared first on Pistols Firing.

Oklahoma State on Monday formalized a contract agreement with OSU basketball coach Mike Boynton on a seven-year extension that will keep him in Stillwater through the 2027-28 season, paying him $3 million annually.

Coming off his best season as OSU’s coach yet, it was a welcome sign by OSU fans that a deal got done to get him to a median Big 12 salary and also to lock him down longer term.

Among those who were pumped were former players, who in a video shared by OSU’s basketball account shared some pretty great thoughts and well wishes to their former coach.

Here’s Mitch Solomon: “Staying home! No one embodies the Cowboy spirit or embraces Cowboy tradition like you do.”

And Thomas Dziagwa: “I’m so happy for you, you deserve all the blessings coming your way.”

And Cam McGriff: “You taught me what hard work looks like on a daily basis.”

And Lindy Waters: “Being coached by you was a blessing, and I can’t thank you and your family enough for what you’ve done for me.”

And Trey Reeves: “You see a lot of coaches talk about how it’s more than just basketball. You see a lot of coaches talk about how they value their players as people first not just as players. What you don’t see is people truly embodying like coach Mike does.”

All the feels.

Here’s the video:

The post Mitch Solomon, Cam McGriff and Others Congratulate Boynton on Contract Extension appeared first on Pistols Firing.