Looking Foward to Next Year

Even though we're not half way through the basketball season yet, I have to admit that this has been a hard year to be a Sooner fan and I'm ready for next year. But the good news is that next season is looking bright for Oklahoma.

In football, the injuries killed this season. Not one of the eleven offensive players started all twelve games. Its hard to forget the season ending injuries to Sam Bradford, Jermaine Gresham, and Cory Wilson, but DeMarco Murray, Ryan Broyles, Trent Williams, Ben Habern, Brandon Calab, Brody Eldridge, and Matt Clapp were all offensive starters who missed time. On the other side of the ball there was Austin English, DeMarcus Granger, and Tom Wort, just to name a few.

All these injuries led to a more than dissapointing 7-5 record. But we can draw some positive from it: a lot of young, talented guys saw playing time. Landry Jones got a lot of playing time because he was pretty much the only quarterback available. OU's other options were a freshman who they were trying to redshirt, or a walk-on. Wide receivers Dejuan Miller and Cameron Kenny stepped up their games while Broyles and Caleb were injured. And the OU coaches figured out that a tight end can play practically anywhere, so several tight ends played offensive linemen throughout the season.

"Oh, our center is injured."
"Let's put Brody Eldridge in there."
"Trent Williams is out with a concussion. Who should we put in there?"
"Eric Mensik would fit in nicely."

With this playing exposure to many young players, plus the excellent class OU has coming in, the future looks bright for OU.



On to basketball. Let me just say this: Willie Warren is not Blake Griffin, no one will ever be. Although the men haven't had any devastating injuries, they have struggled at points which resulted in a 7-3 record and falling out of the top 25. I accredit this to the lack of experience; OU has four freshmen playing major rolls on this team. Their first year all freshmen struggle to be consistent as they adjust to the speed of the game; these troubles are normal. But after a year, they become sophomores, which means consistency and leadership.

Next year, OU will have four stud sophomores. The last two years, there was Blake Griffin and then Willie Warren. This year, there will be Tiny Gallon, Tommy Mason-Griffin, Steven Pledger, and Andrew Fitzgerald. In these four, you have a post, a point, and two streaky shooters. That's pretty balanced. What would make this team even more formidable is if Warren decides to come back for his junior year. (I'm not saying he should, I think he should do what's best for him and his family, I'm just saying if he did) Like football, next year looks promising.

Our final stop is women's basketball. The injury bug spread from the football team and bit the Lady Sooners. Five games into the season, Whitney Hand tore her ACL. The 9 player squad has adjusted and maintains an 8-2 record and a no. 15 ranking. Next year the Sooners will welcome a top 20 recruiting class. (according to ESPN; some place the Sooners' class at no. 5) That, coupled with Hand's return and Carlee Roethlisberger's emergence, the Sooners look like they will be national contenders once again.

Sometimes this year may be hard to watch, but 2009 is almost over, and barring another rash of injuries, 2010 looks pretty bright. So next September, I'll have my OU shirt on cheering on my team to a typical great year.