STILLWATER, Okla. – The Oklahoma State football team hosted its annual Pro Day Wednesday inside the weight room at Boone Pickens Stadium and on the field at the Sherman E. Smith Training Center, with 11 Cowboys working out in front of representatives from nearly every NFL team.
STILLWATER, Okla. – The Oklahoma State football team hosted its annual Pro Day Wednesday inside the weight room at Boone Pickens Stadium and on the field at the Sherman E. Smith Training Center, with 11 Cowboys working out in front of representatives from nearly every NFL team.
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OSU signee Brandon Garrison put on a masterclass of efficiency on Tuesday as he quietly starred in the McDonald’s All-American game. Garrison, the highest-ranked signee of OSU’s incoming hoops class, finished with 10 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting night from the floor in a 109-106 loss for the West team to the East team. Garrison started the game and played just over 20 minutes in total. More importantly, he was one of five players on the floor to finish the game as it came down to the wire. The West team had a 3 at the horn that would have sent it to overtime, but it clanked off the backboard. In addition to his 10 points and 20 minutes, Garrison pulled down four boards and had two steals and one block in his efficient outing. He played the third-most minutes on his team behind only five-stars Isaiah Collier and Ron Holland and ahead of teammate Bronny James (among others). His plus-12 final number in the plus/minus category was highest among all players in the game. Garrison earned Gatorade Player of the Year honors in the state of Oklahoma after a big senior season with Del City, and he has rightfully earned high praise as a highly-touted signee for the Cowboys with hopes of becoming an instant impact addition next season. “I think Brandon can have a similar type of impact (as Cade Cunningham did) in terms of impacting winning, but the game will look totally different,” Mike Boynton said earlier this week via the O’Colly. “He’s physically capable of stepping on campus and, with a good summer, getting to a place where he’s going to make a difference on the court.” His game isn’t such that he has to have a ball to impact it. He’s going to be a really good defender; he’s going to be a great rebounder. But the best thing Brandon Garrison does is he’s an unbelievable passer for a guy his size, at his age, which is good for both him and for us because that means he can be trusted with the ball and also help us offensively, a team that struggled with playmaking and decision making.” Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. One significant difference on the Cowboys’ spring roster is the absence of an entire position group. Oklahoma State created the “Cowboy Back” position in 2015 with the onboarding of position coach Jason McEndoo. It was a hybrid group of tight ends and fullbacks meant to create a mismatch for opposing defenses. The idea was sound. A fullback who could catch passes. A tight end who could block. But in practice, there were still the fullbacks and the tight ends inhabiting the same group. And according to Mike Gundy, the Cowboys have split the hybrid group up to focus on improving a run game that was woeful last year. Regardless of the reason, that group is no longer listed on the roster after eight years. Now it’s back to tight ends and fullbacks, with some of the more finesse pass-catching Cowboy Backs, like Blaine Green, headed back to the receivers room. The more bruising blockers were sent back to the fullback room. So for the first time in nearly a decade, let’s take a look at the Cowboys’ tight ends. Be sure you check out our previous spring position groups: QB | RB | WR Who’s GoneOther than Braden Cassity and Jake Schultz, who are now fullbacks, every TE/CW that caught a pass last season is still on the roster. Who’s BackThe Cowboys return Tabry Shettron, the brother of touted wideout Talyn, but he didn’t record any stats as a freshman last year. He seems like he might have some upside as a pass-catcher, though. Also back is Quinton Stewart, who played in 11 games but caught just one pass. Who’s Entering the MixOklahoma State gained UMass transfer Josiah Johnson by way of the portal. The 6-foot-5, 235-pounder played significant reps the last four seasons. As a senior last year, he made 24 catches for 163 yards. OSU also added 6-foot-5, 272-pound Ian Edenfield from California University of Pennsylvania, a DII school. He played at tight end for the Vulcans for four seasons and had another canceled due to Covid. Edendield appeared in 10 games last year, starting three, and recorded 153 receiving yards and a score on 18 catches. Of note, the Cowboys also welcomed in-state product Bryce Drummond from North Texas. The Pawhuska native started his career as a quarterback for the Mean Green before appearing on special teams in 12 games as a sophomore last season. He’s the son of Food Network personality Ree Drummond. Spring Depth Chart PredictionThere’s a lot we still don’t know about the Cowboys’ tight end personnel but here’s how things might shake out this spring. TE1: Tabry Shetton Spring OutlookThe only returning tight end on OSU’s spring roster to register a catch is Quinton Stewart. He had one catch for two friggin yards last year. But there is some incoming productive experience in Johnson and Edenfield and some potential returning in Shettron. To be honest, this depth chart should probably be linked with ORs, but I’ll just throw out my initial thoughts based on what little we know at this point. It will be interesting to see how (and how much) the Cowboys feature the position in their offense next year. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. Stop me if you’ve heard this before: OSU is dealing with a ton of turnover in this next position group… One of the unfortunate drawbacks to this new era of college sports is a ton of turnover in the old depth chart. And no position group in Stillwater was hit harder by the portal than the Cowboys’ wide receivers. Before we dive into the receivers room, you can check out our previous spring position previews: QB | RB | TE Who’s GoneAlmost everyone. The Cowboys lost four of their top five receivers from last season with a slew of producers and promising up-and-comers exiting stage left. OSU lost John Paul Richardson, Bryson Green, Stephon Johnson Jr, Brennan Presley, and Langston Anderson to the portal and lost Braydon Johnson to exhaust eligibility. Who’s BackThank goodness for Brennan Presley. The Cowboys’ leading receiver is back for his senior season and he’s the only Poke returning that logged more than 86 yards all of last season. He led OSU with 67 catches for 813 yards and two TD catches. You can bet he’ll be a heavy target in the slot, especially as the Cowboys look to break in a new starting QB. While Presley is by far the most productive of returning pass-catchers, there are some promising up-and-comers returning in touted freshman Talyn Shettron who showed glimpses of his star ability late and sophomore Jaden Bray who has turned heads in his two seasons. Blaine Green is back at WR after missing all of 2022 with injury and spending time in the now-disbanded Cowboy Back room. Rashod Owens is also back for his junior season. All four have potential and all four will get a chance to build upon it. Who’s Entering the MixThe portal taketh away, but it gives back a little too. The Cowboys added a trio of productive, experienced wideouts in Arland Bruce (from Iowa), De’Zhaun Stibling from Washington State and Leon Johnson III (DIII school George Fox). Bruce comes in to help a slot position that was gutted this offseason, behind Brenna Presley. Stribling is a 6-3 outside threat that racked up over a thousand yards and 10 TDs over the last two seasons in the Pac-12. And Johnson might be the most intriguing diamond-in-the-rough candidate in some time. At 6-foot-5 and 207 pounds he represents a massive target area and he is a proven producer, albeit at the DIII level. Last year, Johnson less George Fox with 1,156 yards and 14 scores on his way to being named a DIII All-American and conference Offensive Player of the Year. Spring Depth Chart PredictionHere’s at least a semi-educated guess as to what the Cowboys’ receiver depth chart could look like come fall. WR1: Jaden Bray, Brennan Presley, Arland Bruce IV, Talyn Shettron Spring OutlookThe caveat to the above list is that it’s still very early in the spring and that the Pokes are dealing with the most turnover at the position in recent memory. The good news for OSU is that, despite all that the Cowboys lost to the portal this offseason, there is a good mix of talent and experience. They just need to stay healthy and figure out what they have. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. Thanks for stopping by – here’s your daily dose of Oklahoma State sports news. ScoresBaseball: DBU 8, Cowboys 0 OSU Bullets• Incoming Cowboy Basketball recruit won the tip at the McDonald’s All-American game last night and could have a massive, Cade-sized impact on the Cowboys in year one.
• The five best quotes from Mike Gundy after practice on Monday (PFB) • Mike Boynton looks at the roster situation and is boldly honest.
• OSU has seen an influx of talent to the offensive line (TulsaWorld) • Five thoughts on the Cowboys’ Basketball season (HCS) • Practice pics: Non-OSU Bullets• This is hilarious – ancient beaver named after the best Texas gas station Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. On Monday, Mike Boynton said the Cowboys will stay aggressive in recruiting and most of that would be focused on the transfer portal — which goes along with all the players Oklahoma State has been linked with over the past week or so. Late last week, we showed five portal players Oklahoma State had reportedly reached out to. Here are six more the Cowboys have been linked with since. It’s important to remember that “reaching out” doesn’t mean OSU is throwing the proverbial kitchen sink at a prospect. Another name to keep an eye on is Kentucky transfer Sahvir Wheeler, a 5-foot-9 point guard who is one of the best passers in the nation. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because OSU made Wheeler’s Top 4 when he transferred from Georgia to Kentucky. Wheeler has 655 career assists while averaging 10.3 points throughout his career.
Ike Cornish, MarylandA four-star prospect in the 2021 class, Ike Cornish redshirted at Maryland in 2021-22 before playing in 21 games this past season, playing just 4.8 minutes a game. The most minutes he played this past season came Nov. 15 against Binghamton, where he played 13 minutes and scored nine points on 3-for-4 shooting. Trey Tennyson, Texas A&M-Corpus ChristiTrey Tennyson has played at three colleges the past four seasons, but no matter where he was, Tennyson hit from 3. He started his college career at Central Connecticut State in the Northeast Conference where he shot 43% from 3, going 23-for-54 despite playing only 11.5 minutes a game. Then he went the junior college route to Ranger in Texas where he averaged 16.1 points a game and shot 43% from 3. He spent the past two seasons at A&M-Corpus Christi, shooting 39% from deep including shooting 40% from deep this past season. Originally from Arlington, Tennyson was a member of the Southland Conference Second Team this past season after scoring 15.7 points a game. He scored in the 20s in eight of his 35 games played this past season including a season-high 28 against New Orleans in January. He played against Oklahoma State in December, where he scored 10 points. He scored 20 points against Alabama in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Javon Small, East CarolinaJavon Small was East Carolina’s leading scorer when he went down with a knee injury in January. He never returned. Small took a big step forward as a playmaker as a sophomore before his injury, dishing 5.6 assists a game in 18 games. He had a 21-point, 10-assist double-double against Coppin State in December. He scored in the 20s five times and scored in double figures in 15 of 18 games. Denver Jones, FIUAnother junior college product, Denver Jones scored with the best of them as a sophomore this past season. His 20.1 points per game ranks 25th nationally. He scored at least 20 points 17 times this season and scored in double figures in all but two of the 28 games he played in. Jones dropped 30 on Rice on March 4, going 4-for-8 from deep and bringing down six rebounds in the process. Originally from New Market, Alabama, Jones played at Garden City Community College in Kansas before heading to FIU. At Garden City, Jones shot 40% from 3 while averaging 19.1 points a game. DJ Horne, Arizona StateDJ Horne spent two seasons with Illinois State before spending the past two seasons at Arizona State. A career 38% 3-point shooter, Horne has made 253 career 3s. He has averaged 12.5 points a game for the Sun Devils the past two seasons and averaged 15.1 points a game as a sophomore at Illinois State. Horne is from the same hometown as OSU guard John-Michael Wright. Kel’el Ware, OregonOSU made Kel’el Ware’s Top 10 coming out of high school before he signed with Oregon. He was the No. 7 player in the 2022 class. Ware played about 16 minutes a game for the Ducks as a freshman this past season, starting four games. His best game came against Final Four-bound UConn, where Ware scored 18 points and brought down nine boards. He also went 2-for-3 from deep that game. Despite being a 7-footer, Ware isn’t afraid to shoot the 3, putting up 55 attempts as a freshman, where he shot 27%. It should be noted that Ware is from North Little Rock, Arkansas, and Arkansas is also reportedly involved in the transfer market with Ware. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. Theres Going to be a Lot of Fluidity: Mike Boynton Discusses Expectations for the Offseason3/28/2023 STILLWATER — Since the end of the Cowboys’ season, Mike Boynton said he is constantly on his laptop. Boynton said he took it to Wichita with him to watch between his son’s games. Boynton said when he eats dinner, it’s in front of him. He is watching film of players in the transfer portal to determine whether they would be a good fit for his team. Oklahoma State finished below expectations in the 2022-23 season. The Cowboys were 20-16. OSU was the first team out of the NCAA Tournament, an event the Pokes have played in once in Boynton’s tenure. Boynton said there was a duality to the season. He acknowledged that winning eight games in the Big 12 (and three on the road) was no easy feat, but he said he was also aware of the shortcomings. As for moving forward, it sounds as if there will be some movement within Oklahoma State’s roster this offseason. Caleb Asberry and Bernard Kouma have exhausted their eligibility, but even past that, Boynton said he doesn’t expect everyone who could come back to be back. “I’m more committed now than I’ve ever been,” Boynton said Monday. “I feel really good about where we’re going. There’s going to be a lot of fluidity, just honestly, in the roster. I don’t have a whole lot of answers for you on that. I’m sure that’s a lot of the questions that are coming. But I have had individual meetings with every player. Each situation is a little different in regards to whether they are either capable of being back or whether it’s in their best interest or the interest of the program to be back next season. And not all of those decisions are necessarily mine or theirs. Some of them are combined.” Boynton said the individual conversations with his players, the exit interviews after the season, if you will, are all unique because not every player is in the same situation. Some can graduate but still have a year of eligibility. Some have already transferred. Everyone has something different going on. But there is also a common theme throughout those tough talks. “The conversation is the same in this sense: the program has expectations, and you’re either adding to our ability to meet those expectations or you’re falling short in whatever it is your part in us having success is,” Boynton said. “That goes for everybody, including myself meeting with people above me, right? We all have an obligation to make sure Oklahoma State basketball is really good — starting with myself then down through the staff and then for every player. Are we all meeting our obligation to the program? If we’re not, then can we fix it? If we can fix it, what does that look like? If we can’t, then here are the options.” Boynton made it clear he cares about the kids and wants them all to be successful, but he said his job is to take the program to a higher level. Still, in the midst of scholarship sanctions stemming from the FBI’s investigation into college hoops, the Cowboys could use 12 or a full 13 scholarships next season. Boynton has some flexibility after unintentionally being minus two scholarships this past season when Russell Harrison was deemed ineligible before the season started. But with four high school players signed (Brandon Garrison, Justin McBride, Jamyron Keller and Connor Dow) and another verbally committed (Eric Dailey Jr.), there will still needs to be movement out for Boynton to bring transfer portal guys in. As things stand — minus Asberry and Kouma and plus the five high schoolers — the Cowboys would be at 14 scholarships, one over the allowed limit. So when all is said and done, Boynton’s roster could look quite a bit different in 2023-24 than it did in 2022-23. The Cowboys have already reportedly made contact with a handful of transfers. Shooting seems to be high on Boynton’s priority list, and he said Monday that playmaking is also up there. When Avery Anderson went down with his wrist injury this season, that left the Cowboys without a guy who could naturally create off the dribble. As of writing, the Cowboys don’t have anyone in the portal, but with as aggressive as Boynton seems to be in recruiting the portal and with what he said Monday, it seems to be only a matter of time. “We’re going to continue to address making sure that we are aggressive in the recruiting space,” Boynton said. “A lot of it will be through the transfer portal. We’ve already made a lot of contacts. There’s a lot of high-level interest in helping our program get to where we believe it can go. I look forward to the work ahead of us.” Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. Notebook: Brennan Presley High on Arland Bruce Leading as a Transfer and Jaden Nixons Offseason Work3/28/2023 STILLWATER — The Cowboys on Monday put pads on for the first time this spring. After practice, a handful of Oklahoma State players met with reporters to give updates on how things are going. Here are three things that stood out. Presley High on Arland Bruce IVThere was quite a bit of turnover in the wide receiver room this offseason and especially in the slot. Out are John Paul Richardson and Braylin Presley and in is former Iowa Hawkeye Arland Bruce IV. Bruce was a four-star prospect in the 2021 recruiting class before heading to Iowa City and catching 44 passes for 396 yards and two touchdowns the past two seasons. Also a threat in the run game and return game, Bruce had six rushing touchdowns in his time with the Hawkeyes and 123 punt return yards last season. He is listed at 5-foot-10, 200 pounds on the Cowboys’ spring roster, and veteran slot receiver Brennan Presley said the newcomer has already made some plays since arriving. “He’s really good,” Presley said. “His feet are amazing. He got them sticks — I don’t know if y’all say that. But, like, he can stop on a dime. He’s made some cuts and stuff that have made some people miss. He’s a very shifty dude.” Those amazing feet are apparently well protected. “I saw him wearing Crocs, so I knew he was cool,” Presley said. Leading as a TransferThe Cowboys brought in 13 players from the transfer portal this offseason — at least a handful of which will likely be asked to produce right away. It isn’t just on-the-field production the Cowboys will need to replace, though. Regardless of the portal, players leave programs every year leading a void in team leadership. Xavier Benson, a linebacker who transferred in last season, discussed some of the difficulties transfers face in that aspect and how he is trying to provide confidence in leadership for fellow linebacker Justin Wright. “We all know how it is when you’re new somewhere and you gotta build all the trust and get through all the stuff,” Benson said. “You gotta wait. It’s rough. That’s what I was telling Justin. I was like, ‘Hey, I want you to know I’m all in with you. I want you to be comfortable as much as you can be.'” Speedy Nixon Working on Lower Body Strength This OffseasonThrough his first two seasons in orange and black, Jaden Nixon has shown in flashes how deadly his speed can be. Nixon, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound redshirt sophomore running back, has rushed for 303 yards and a touchdown on 60 college carries. He has made a big play each season, busting a 63-yard touchdown against TCU in 2021 and having a monstrous 98-yard kick return against Baylor last season. Coming into 2023, the Cowboys have options at running back with Nixon, Ollie Gordon, Deondre Jackson and Michigan State transfer Elijah Collins. Those three guys aside from Nixon all bring size to the position, but Nixon’s speed can break games open. Although he might never be the bruiser of a 6-1, 211-pound Gordon of a 6-foot, 220-pound Collins, Nixon said he has worked to improve upon his strength this offseason so he can bust through some contact and use his speed. “Definitely just one-step cuts,” Nixon said. “Just my lower body, really — catching is another thing I also want to work on as well. Mainly just lower body, though. My lower body strength and everything like that. Just being able to, when I take hits, being able to drive and explode through contact and everything like that.” Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. Thanks for stopping by – here’s your daily dose of Oklahoma State sports news. OSU Bullets• Mike Boynton did a post-season presser talking about the offseason – he knows what he’s got to do.
• The five transfers that have a good chance of starting next year for Cowboy Football (TulsaWorld) • Mike Gundy talked with the media yesterday – this nugget from Bill Haisten pulled back the curtain on the Mullet a bit:
• SEC talking head “expects” Spencer Sanders to start for the Ole Miss Rebels this fall (HCS) • Big time move for the Cowgirls passing the Sooners in RPI – nice roster addition yesterday adding this gal from McNeese State Non-OSU Bullets• Looking forward to this movie set in Oklahoma coming out in the fall Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. Oklahoma State kicked off its second week of spring practice on Monday and the Cowboys wore pads for the first time. Pistols Firing photographer Devin Wilber was on hand to take in all the action. Here are some of the best shots from Monday’s practice. You can view the full gallery here. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. |
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