Norman North to hire McGuinness’ Justin Jones

Justin Jones has built McGuinness into a perennial Class 5A state championship contender, and now he’ll look to take that success to Class 6A-I.

Jones was named Norman North’s new head football coach at Monday night’s Norman Public Schools Board of Education meeting, bringing to end a seven-year run with the Irish that saw two state runner-up finishes and two semifinal finishes.

“I feel like the Norman North football head coach position is one of the better jobs in the state, definitely on this side,” Norman Public Schools athletic director TD O’Hara said. “One of the things that we felt was important was somebody who was proven as a head coach and had a relatively high success rate in that role. Justin fits that.”

Jones informed McGuinness players Monday afternoon that he was leaving, school athletic director Gary Savely told The Oklahoman. McGuinness has named longtime assistant head coach Bryan Pierce as Jones’ replacement.

Jones, a Westmoore graduate, spent the past seven seasons leading the Irish, going 68-22 in Class 5A with back-to-back state championship game appearances the past two seasons.

Previously, Jones was the head coach at Woodward. He is also a former president of the Oklahoma Football Coaches Association.

Jones replaces Brent Barnes, who resigned in February when he was named head coach at Scottsdale Chaparral (Ariz.) High School. Barnes led Norman North to the Class 6A-I state title game in 2016.

Pierce has spent 13 seasons at McGuinness. Most recently, he was the Irish’s run game coordinator and offensive line coach.

Tulsa Memorial’s Boone twins commit to Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State has landed a new pair of twins.

Tulsa Memorial forwards Kalib and Keylan Boone announced on Twitter that they were committing to play for OSU and coach Mike Boynton.

Kalib Boone, a 6-foot-8 post player, was named to The Oklahoman’s Super 5 team on Sunday after he averaged 17 points and 13 rebounds a game this past season as a junior.

Keylan Boone, a 6-foot-6 wing, averaged 15.8 point and 8.7 rebounds per game while helping Tulsa Memorial win its second straight Class 5A title.

Kalib Boone said he and his brother were going to be a package deal when making their college decision.

“Our mom and dad told us that we weren’t breaking up,” Kalib Boone said. “We grew up knowing that we would go to the same school, and we won’t break up until life takes us apart.”

The two had scholarship offers from ORU and Tulsa. Verbal commitments are non-binding.

Okmulgee football coach Carl Lee dies

Okmulgee head football coach Carl Lee died last week after a battle with cancer.

Lee, 35, was diagnosed with kidney cancer last fall.

Best known for turning around three football programs as a head coach, Lee returned to Okmulgee, his high school alma mater in 2016, helping the Bulldogs reach the playoffs with a 5-6 record.

Lee was Heavener’s head coach in 2012 and 2013 before moving to Ketchum in 2014, where he led the Warriors to back-to-back 9-3 seasons.