Trio of Oklahoma Sooners invited to NFL Combine
Three former Oklahoma Sooners have been invited to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, which begins later this month.
Linebacker Danny Stutsman, safety Billy Bowman, and defensive end Ethan Downs all had excellent careers at OU and chose to come back for their senior seasons in 2024. They were three of Oklahoma's best players last season and are all trying to improve their draft stock for April's NFL Draft.
All three players were part of the 2021 recruiting class, which ended up being the final class for former head coach Lincoln Riley and former defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. After their first seasons in Norman, Riley and Grinch boarded a plane for Southern California.
But Stutsman, Bowman and Downs stayed loyal to the Sooners and new head coach Brent Venables. They helped build the foundation of the Venables era in Norman with their commitment to the program.
Stutsman will go down as one of Oklahoma's best defensive players over the last fifteen years. He was an excellent leader and a tackling machine at inside linebacker. His vocal presence in the middle of OU's defense will be missed in a big way moving forward.
Bowman was a phenomenal playmaker who always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. The Sooners needed his ability to create turnovers and score when the ball was in his hands, and he delivered.
Downs was a steady force who improved every year that he was in Norman. His technique, consistency, and effort were always something Venables and the defensive coaching staff could depend on. He played some of his best football in the biggest moments of his Oklahoma career. The NFL Scouting Combine takes place from February 27th to March 2nd in Indianapolis.
This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Danny Stutsman, Billy Bowman, Ethan Downs invited to NFL Combine
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New York Times
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- New York Times
Thunder, Oklahoma City have reinforced each other through shared rebuilds and flourished
OKLAHOMA CITY — It's quiet at KD's old place. Not empty, mind you. There are people enjoying the burgers and salads and well-made drinks in this restaurant, which is now known as Charleston's, in the Bricktown neighborhood that serves as downtown's major entertainment hub. But there used to be a buzz. A pulsating energy of sorts, every time you walked into this spot. A decade ago, it was called KD's — the vanity gastro project of Kevin Durant, the then-champion of this city. Durant was Oklahoma City's gleaming pride, his 2014 speech accepting the NBA's MVP award in which he was moved to tears discussing his mother, Wanda's, sacrifices, providing a civic iconography. KD = OKC. Advertisement But that seems so long ago. Longer than nine years, anyway. That Thunder team, built at warp speed around Durant and Russell Westbrook and James Harden after the franchise relocated from Seattle in 2008, has been replaced, almost as quickly, by a new, dominant one, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and featuring a defense that attacks opponent dribbles like a shoal of piranhas. This one has its own league MVP in SGA, along with a beguiling rotation of homegrown All-Stars (Jalen Williams), supremely gifted role players (Chet Holmgren, Lu Dort, Cason Wallace) and free agent/acquired imports (Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein) who've fit right in during a magical season that has the Thunder, after dominating the NBA's regular season with a 68-14 record, back in the NBA Finals, against the Pacers. Thunder 2.0 has quickly become beloved here, with its rabid fans' non-stop, almost desperate chants of 'OKC…OKC…OKC' at home games over 48 minutes surely meant, first, for the team. But, also, maybe, for themselves. To paraphrase the chants of the residents of Whoville in the Dr. Seuss Classic, 'Horton Hears a Who': We are (still) here, we are (still) here, we are (still) here… 'We don't take it for granted,' Holmgren said Saturday. 'We appreciate how loud it gets in here every game. It makes us want to go out there and kind of represent well. I feel like we're an extension of them, and they feel the same way. They kind of expect, they have a certain level of expectation for us, in terms of the way we carry ourselves, the way we kind of go out there and try to execute. Going out there and doing those things doesn't guarantee a win every night, but we know the city's heart is in it, so we kind of have to have our heart in it at the same time.' If that sounds a little college, rah-rah …well, this is kind of a college, rah-rah town. That's not said snidely or condescendingly. There is a symbiosis between this team and its fan base, the resurgence of one feeding the other, without much of the cynicism that permeates pro fan bases elsewhere, who chafe at the astronomical salaries of players and the equally high costs of the infrastructure needed to keep them around. Advertisement 'I always compare it to, like, a small local high school football team being really good, and the city around them kind of gathers around them,' Williams said before Game 1. 'That's how Oklahoma is. But it's (like) that with the whole state. Everywhere we go, I've been met with love since I've been out here. It's a really cool experience. Even the past two years, I'm really happy I get to be a part of two really good teams. I think it just brings the city more and more life. I'm happy that we get to bring that back here.' There are other pro sports teams here, like the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate, the Oklahoma City Comets. But the Thunder remain the show. 'As superficial as it sounds, you are who your sports teams play,' said former Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett, a driving force behind the efforts that persuaded local voters to come out of pocket, time after time, to finance the city's redevelopment. 'When we were playing a Triple-A schedule for pro sports teams, those were our peer cities,' Cornett said. 'In October of 2005, when the Hornets landed (in a temporary relocation after Hurricane Katrina forced them out of New Orleans), it all changed. Suddenly, we were playing Los Angeles and Chicago and Dallas. And we've never really looked back. And I think we've thought of ourselves differently. And then, the brand, today, is largely positive. That has to be because they now connect our city with the positive energy of a basketball team. 'And all of the economic measurements, and all of the data about highly educated young people moving here, all that's great. But that's only hand-in-hand with being an NBA city. Because highly educated young people want to be in a city that's culturally relevant. And having an NBA team makes you culturally relevant to the rest of the world.' The majority of people in and around town agree with this sentiment. Not all, though. Speed — impatience? — seems to always be part of this city, which might seem contradictory to those who don't live here. Few non-natives think of Oklahoma City as 'fast,' in the traditional sense. But the city was created, literally, in a day. Or, days. Advertisement Oklahoma City, as the author Sam Anderson wrote in his detailed history of the city, 'Boom Town,' has an actual birthday: April 22, 1889. That day became known as the Land Run, when what was then called the Unassigned Lands of the then-territory — approximately 2 million acres — were, literally, flung open to the world for anyone to claim as their own. Of course, the lands were anything but 'unassigned,' unless by that you mean 'unassigned to White people,' which is surely what the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889 meant. On that day, settlers from around the world brought all they owned into the Unassigned Lands and staked their claims to it. Anarchy was disguised as progress. 'It was far too many people for the amount of good land available,' Anderson wrote, 'but from the very start, Oklahoma was an idea that far exceeded its reality.' After the territory was colonized, the city had periods of boom and bust, like most U.S. cities. The busts, though, were longer-lasting. Well into the 1990s, the city was desperate for new development. Yet few American cities have grown faster in the last quarter-century. OKC has risen to the 20th-largest U.S. city in the last decade-plus. Twenty-five years ago, there was one hotel in Bricktown. Now, according to Cornett, there are 29. 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Outside capital wasn't going to invest in Oklahoma City. They felt sorry for us, but they weren't going to invest money in it.' So Oklahoma City's citizens had to start the ball rolling. Four times since 1993, voters have approved beginning or renewing another version of MAPS, and in 2023, they voted for yet another one-cent tax on top of that over a six-year period that will provide the bulk of the funding for a new, nearly $1 billion arena for the Thunder. That venue will be built across the street from the current arena, on the site of the city's old convention center. Presti would never — ever — discuss his individual role in remaking this team, twice, in less than two decades, into one of the league's best. He will, though, on occasion, discuss how the team fits into the city's firmament. Advertisement 'I think, as a community and as an organization, we've always drawn deeply from the community that we represent, and that supports us,' he told me a few years ago. 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But while it will be some time before the Thunder approach their consecutive sellout streak of 349 straight games, set between 2011 and 2020, new fans are in the building. 'There was a turnover in the fan base during the COVID/rebuild years,' Cornett said. 'We still sold out, but I'm there almost every game, and it's different people now. Maybe the first group were people that had money and were supportive of Oklahoma City and the Chamber of Commerce and all those things. This group seems more about basketball than the loyalty to the city. … this time around, they just captured the basketball fans, who have been created by the team and the franchise. You've now got a generation of young people who've grown up and thought we always had a team.' The roster has been completely turned over since the George trade, which also brought the first of what is now a rash of future first-round picks to town that could help sustain this run for a good long while. This group, while supported strongly (and loudly, of course), is still getting to know the community. 'Russ, KD, James Harden, they used to come out,' Jabee said. 'Russ had a comedy show every year, and he would book me to perform and host. All the players would come and support. When you would go to a party, you'd see a Thunder player.' But there is time, now, for this next generation of Thunder players to settle in even deeper, with its new fans, and see what is possible over the vast horizons. The Thunder are young and have a work ethic that plays especially well here. The future seems limitless, just like it did 15 years ago. Just like it did 136 years ago, when people from all over came to stake their claim in the topography in the middle of a state that was not yet a state, in a place that was inventing itself on the fly. And is still doing so. 'What a crazy way to start a city,' Cornett said. 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Fox News
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OKC Evens NBA Finals
The Oklahoma City Thunder come back from a devastating loss in Game 1 of the Finals to even their series with the Indiana Pacers at one game apiece. Game 3 will be Wednesday. #NBA #Finals #OKC #Pacers #FoxSports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit FOX News Radio
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
Alex Caruso's energy, offense fuel Thunder in Game 2: ‘We really feed off of that'
OKLAHOMA CITY — A back-door cut. A no-look pass from Cason Wallace. A whistle. An off-balance reverse layup. A deafening roar from the crowd. Alex Caruso was alive. So alive. His momentum carried him right to his bench, where he flicked his wrist in the classic and-1 gesture and chest-bumped Chet Holmgren. Caruso had missed a right-corner 3, after the Oklahoma City Thunder tracked down the rebound, smoked Indiana Pacers guard Ben Sheppard on a back-door cut, enough for Sheppard to grab Caruso as he whizzed by with hopes of slowing him down. Caruso kept going, catching Wallace's pass and scooping in a layup off the glass on the left side. Advertisement The Thunder were up by 22 with just inside of 10 minutes left in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. But having been burned by these Pacers before, the clear task was to step on Indiana's neck. Caruso obliged. With the free throw, he'd put the Thunder up by 25. The shot didn't count, however. Sheppard's foul was ruled before the shot. Caruso's punctuation highlight was erased from the box score. But the visual wasn't. The moment was still illustrative of Caruso's Game 2 and his unmistakable value to the Thunder. His combination of basketball IQ and relentless hustle has come to embody the championship quality of Oklahoma City. In Game 1, he left his mark with defense. His presence felt like two defenders. He defended his man, hounding the ball the way he does. He was also a stealthy helper, aggressively pursuing blocks and sneaky steals. Contesting in the paint. Blowing up dribble handoffs. Evading screens. He gave Indiana fits — until the final minutes. On Sunday, that defensive presence was still there. But if the Thunder were going to prevent more Indiana heroics, they needed a more efficient and explosive offense. So Caruso delivered buckets: 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting off the bench, including four 3s, in a game the Thunder had to have, and got, with a 123-107 win at Paycom Center. The man is a marvel. He plays with such ferocity on both ends. It would be impressive no matter who managed such energy and effort. But Caruso is doing this at 31 years old. 'Don't disrespect,' Holmgren, who wears his sunglasses at night, said with a smile, 'our GOAT like that, man.' Touché. 'He's one of those guys who you know is going to bring it every single night. Whether he's 22 or 30, doesn't matter. He's going to bring it. I feel like, as a collective, we really feed off of that. Then also his ability to kind of process things that are happening out there and relay it and communicate it to everybody else is really important for us. Advertisement 'Hopefully,' Holmgren continued, his smile creeping back, 'that doesn't fade away as the years go on.' It's hard to imagine a different Caruso, one who isn't swarming around the court, bullying opponents with his strength and energy and making play after play powered by his cerebral prowess. We only know him as this. The undrafted G Leaguer forged a place in basketball culture with his sheer will. His headbands are wider than the road he took to get here. That's why it must feel grand for Caruso to be back on this grand stage. He won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020. The Lakers let him get away in 2021. He signed a four-year deal with the Chicago Bulls. He played four playoff games in his three seasons there before Chicago traded him to Oklahoma City. He's also dealt with injuries along the way. He played a career-high 71 games with the Bulls last season, but generally falls below 64. He appeared in 54 games this season. Caruso said the journey underscores the difficulty of it all. Making the playoffs, winning a series, making it to the finals, hoisting a trophy. It's ever daunting. In a series like this, where every possession counts, there's no such thing as a small play. Nobody understands this better than Caruso, who built his career in the margins, on small plays —and he's using them to make Oklahoma City's championship dreams feel that much closer. 'Getting here isn't guaranteed,' Caruso said. 'Nobody gets a free pass. Nobody gets an extended welcome. You have to earn it every time. Being here is an accomplishment. But winning it is the real pinnacle.' Holmgren meant the Thunder locker room when he said 'our GOAT.' But, truly, he was speaking on behalf of basketball fans. It's hard to watch him play and not want him on your team. Not even just basketball. You want him on any team. Sales team. Legal team. Your company softball team. Human resources, community service, construction. Give that man a badge and a key fob, and your team is better for it. Advertisement Of course, Oklahoma City agreed to pay him $81 million over four years. So he is on that team, which he just helped avoid disaster. Going into Game 2, even though Vegas had Thunder as overwhelming favorites, Indiana stealing a game was in the back of everybody's mind. Including Oklahoma City. The Thunder played with urgency, like a team that understood the stakes. It's a mistake to read too much into one game in the finals, especially with these Pacers. But a response from the Thunder was paramount for their confidence. It's not a coincidence that Caruso was at the center of their resurgence. As the one player with championship experience, he knows the way. He's surrounded by poised youngsters, who've shown the stage isn't too big. But they can get rattled, as Game 1 proved. They can have spells when they get off kilter. Sunday was the latest example of how they can lock back in, get back to center. No doubt part of that is the leadership of Caruso. The example he sets with his style of play and his ability to communicate what he sees and knows. 'He's been tremendous for us from all parts of the game,' Kenrich Williams said. 'Brings a lot of energy, brings a voice to the locker room, and he is just playing at a very high level right now. You can tell he turned it up in the playoffs, and that's what we need.' The Thunder prepared for this postseason surge by Caruso. He was ninth on the team in minutes during the regular season. It was the fewest total minutes he's played since his second season in the NBA, when he was on a two-way deal with the Lakers. He acknowledged that part of this regular season was difficult. He wants to play. He's used to playing. Not doing so, especially in those times the team struggled, required a new level of patience. But at the same time, Caruso is — wait, don't want to disrespect their GOAT — over 10,000 minutes for his career. And his isn't typical playing time. Those are maniac minutes. Dirty-work minutes. All gas, no brakes. Advertisement 'I just only have one gear,' Caruso said, explaining his limited action. 'I don't know how to play at 75 percent. Some of that was keeping me out of my own way, out of harm's way. I don't do a good job of that on my own.' He's averaging 27.5 minutes so far in these finals and it feels like it should be over 30 based on his impact. When he's in the game, you know he's on the court. He's the one all over it, constantly moving, completely disrupting his opponent. His defense is as suffocating as ever. Just ask Jalen Williams. 'I don't know,' Williams said. 'I be frying AC, so I don't really know.' Hey, hey, hey. Don't disrespect your GOAT. Caruso is more than just hustle. He's got off-the-charts savvy. An ability to read the game with a surgeon's precision. With his smarts and tenacity. On Sunday, he showed he can knock down open 3s and slash his way to reliable offense. In Game 2, he was the spark off the bench. Because whatever is needed, Caruso is willing. It's been too long getting back here for him to not approach this series like it's his last. But that's no problem for Caruso. He lives for the biggest games. He's ready to pour himself out like liquor if it means winning. That's why he's conceding to Williams. The Thunder's OG, the ultimate teammate who finds honor in sacrificing, validated the claims of Williams. 'Dub is a very confident individual,' Caruso said, embedding his concession in a smile. 'I'm not the best practice player. Once I made the NBA roster and I signed a contract, my intensity in practice dropped a little bit. In the game is kind of where it matters now. I think I've earned that spot in my career. We'll let him have the days in between games.'
