Oklahoma receiver Basquine injured again
NORMAN — About two weeks ago, Oklahoma receiver Nick Basquine was elated as he finally got cleared to resume full workout activities after tearing his Achilles tendon early in preseason practices in a non-contact drill.
But just a few days later, Basquine suffered the exact same injury on his other leg.
The former walk-on will miss spring practice but is expected to be ready to return to practice by the time preseason camp opens.
Basquine suffered the injury during what Sooners coach Lincoln Riley described as a “warmup.”
“It’s a tough injury for him but Nick’s been through it and if there’s anybody that can bounce back from that he’s the guy,” Riley said.
Riley: Moore expected in June
Offensive lineman Tramonda Moore has had a long road to Norman that’s not quite over.
Moore, the former John Marshall star who initially signed with Oklahoma State out of high school before winding up at a junior college in Kansas, was expected to enroll early and be on campus in January. But Moore has yet to enroll. “Academically, he wasn’t to a point where that was ready to happen yet,” Riley said. “But we fully anticipate he’ll be here in June.”
Riley also confirmed that linebacker/h-back Ricky DeBerry would be transferring. DeBerry is expected to graduate in May and will be immediately eligible for two seasons.
Riley open to adding graduate transfers
With just 22 signees, the Sooners have space to add a couple of graduate transfers.
That was done on purpose, Riley said at Wednesday’s press conference.
“We’ve become kind of a hot destination for those guys because they see the opportunity to come play at a place like this,” he said. “We had a plan going into this that we did not want to leave signing day without a couple open. There’s just enough that can happen and we wanted to make sure that we had that flexibility.”
The Sooners have added a graduate transfer wide receiver in each of the last two seasons in Geno Lewis and Jeff Badet.
Versatile tight end signs
A couple months ago, Riley didn’t know much about tight end/h-back Brayden Willis.
But he liked what he quickly learned, and now, Willis is officially a Sooner after signing his national letter of intent.
“I think he may be a guy that can give you some really, really good versatility,” Riley said. “He was really, if you will, the late find in the class and a lot of times those guys have a way of becoming some of the best players year-in and year-out.”
Though Willis was recruited as a tight end/hback, his high school coach Bob Wager knows he’s capable of filling a variety of roles.
“Basically, through the last five games of the year, which includes three rounds of playoffs, he was our starting quarterback and was still the guy that led our team in tackles on kickoff coverage,” Wager said. “That’s a unique skill set.”