3 Oklahoma Bball Players trying to leave!

[pdiddybull32]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2421089

Wonder if we can get any of them? Wasn't mayfield interested in USF at one point!

[bulls96go]

come on mac bring a boomer sooner home to USF

[JoeB]

Read Greg's blog.  It mentions Jeremy Mayfield consindering USF still.

[BULLfreak]

well until we get some winning seasons under us we are going to live off of transfers

[RHBullsFan]

if Leroy was still in office I'm sure he'd make some calls to his alma mater

[pdiddybull32]

Posted by: BULLfreak Posted on: Today at 2:46pm

well until we get some winning seasons under us we are going to live off of transfers  

Yea but these transfers would have 4 YEARS of ELIGIBILITY! Nothing wrong with that.

[Greg Auman]

these oklahoma signees really aren't transfers. it's not much different from a kid committing somewhere and then changing his mind. there's a ton of transfers on the roster, but these ones and solomon bozeman shouldn't count as transfers ...

[Velcro]

found this from the 22nd... it seems mayfield has already opted out of his letter   ???

James, Mayfield Opt Out

Filed under: Sooner Basketball— David Skipper @ 6:07 pm  

This brings the total to three basketball recruits who have bailed out of their supposedly binding letters of intent in the past week. Damion James was the best of the bunch, a 6′8 player with lottery pick talent and every skill necessary. Both James and Jeremy Mayfield could still re-sign with OU, as can previous commitment Scottie Reynolds. But that doesn’t happen very often. It appears Jeff Capel will have to rebuild this year’s recruiting class around shooting guard Tony Crocker and the interminably agitated Keith Clark, who might not even qualify academically. Both guys are really good players, but losing Reynolds, James and Mayfield, with the possibility of Clark not qualifying to boot, is a near death blow for this recruiting class. What once looked to be a class destined for greatness is now a sordid mess due to Kelvin Sampson’s cutting and running to Indiana.

http://sooners.mostvaluablenetwork.com/

[Velcro]

and this

Capel mum on defections, says Oklahoma will go on

By Justin Harper

The Oklahoman

NORMAN - The hangdog expression one might have expected from new Oklahoma basketball coach Jeff Capel was MIA on Monday.

With three of the Sooners’ five signees having requested out of their national letters of intent and another having yet to qualify academically, it would not have been surprising to find a surly Capel at OU’s practice facility.

Hardly. He declined to talk about the signees individually, saying that the Sooners will go on no matter what happens.

You know what, I can’t comment on it,” Capel said of Scottie Reynolds, Damion James and Jeremy Mayfield all having requested releases from their letters of intent with OU.

“They’re recruitable student athletes now. I’m not going to comment on any of that, anything that’s going on. It’s always been my philosophy in life - what’s supposed to happen will happen,” Capel said. “And whatever happens will be the best thing for us, and our program will go forward.”

Capel had inherited a class signed by former OU coach Kelvin Sampson that ranked fourth nationally. But with Sampson leaving to coach at Indiana, only signees Keith Clark and Tony Crocker have yet to ask OU for a release.

The school has already said it would grant releases to the players given the situation. Reynolds, Mayfield and James have all said they are just keeping their options open and that OU remains a strong candidate for their services.

Asked if he has gone from feeling like he was being handed a gold mine to feeling as if he’s struck fools’ gold, Capel grinned and said he hadn’t thought about the situation in either extreme.

“I didn’t even think about it,” the 31-year-old coach said. “I just tried to concentrate on what was ahead on the job and try to get to know these guys (current players) and get to know those guys (signees). That’s been my sole focus trying to do that to the best of my ability.

“Obviously, some of the restrictions I’ve had, I haven’t been able to get out as much as I’d like to, as frequently, but I have been able to contact and meet in person all of those guys (signees). And we’ll see what happens.”

The current recruiting period ends Sunday. Capel said if any of the five scholarships OU had reserved for the five signees come available, he’d use them for other players.

Use all the scholarships or save some?

“Don’t know,” he said. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

Use them for high school or junior college players?

“Players are players,” he said. “We want to always have good players.”

Capel admitted anticipating that not everything would go smoothly. He just is undaunted by that fact.

“Any time you have a (coaching) change like this this late in the year, it’s tough,” Capel said. “But we’re going to survive it. Whatever it is, we’re going to survive it and come out a better program. I’m a big believer in that you learn a lot from adversity.”

Capel must be learning plenty at the moment as it looks like a monster recruiting class may just be falling apart. And why he looks so calm in the face of that.

“When you’re the leader of whatever it is - and right now I’m the leader of our program - my job is to do everything I can to make sure our program is as strong as it possibly can be. And sometimes that requires you to make tough and hard decisions. That’s what I have to do. I have to look out for the University of Oklahoma men’s basketball program. And that’s what I intend to do. Whatever you want to take out of that, that’s what I intend to do.

“This program was given to me in very good shape and I intend to keep it in very good shape and improve it.”

       

The Oklahoman

[ChiTownBull]

Oklahoma plans to release as many as three basketball recruits from their binding national letters of intent Tuesday because they signed with the expectation of playing for Kelvin Sampson. Among the three are highly touted, 6-foot-8 swingman Damion James, whom Texas recruited. Scottie Reynolds, a 6-0 point guard, and Jeremy Mayfield, a 6-10 center, also will be given their releases if they desire. At least two scouting services ranked OU's incoming class among the top five in the country. All five members in the class were ranked in the top 75.

-- Austin American-Statesman