Sooners' commit Horton ready for football
NORMAN — Cade Horton's cell phone lit up with a familiar text message Sunday evening in San Diego as he wrapped up a huge baseball game.
“Is it football season yet?” Horton, Norman High School's super-talented twosport star, could finally give football coach Rocky Martin the answer he longed for all summer. Yes, it was finally time for football.
Except Horton had to fl y home Monday, which meant he missed the opening practice of his senior season. Such is the life of a high-profile baseball player who's also special with a football in his hands.
“Baseball's over,” Horton said following Tuesday' s practice. “It was a good long summer, but it's exciting I'm back here for good.”
Horton was finally able to turn the page on a blockbuster summer when he took the first snap of his season Tuesday. Norman has huge expectations following a playoff berth last season, and it starts with Horton at quarterback.
As a junior, he completed 117 of 234 passes for 1,919 yards and 14 touchdowns, and he rushed for 1,009 yards and 11 TDs. He followed that up by committing to Oklahoma to play both baseball and football.
“I've been saying from Day 1, he's the best I've seen and been around, and I've been around some good ones in high school and college,” Martin said. “It's the things you see as far as making the throws and his athletic ability, but it's also his work ethic. People don't see his work ethic.”
Horton spent roughly 80-85 percent of the summer at
Norman football workouts. The rest of the time, he was blowing up on the baseball circuit.
He played in four Major League Baseball stadiums — Arizona, Tampa Bay, Cleveland and San Diego — while raising his draft stock to a possible firstday selection. He was clocked pitching 96 mph. He was named Perfect Game's best two-way prospect in the annual National Showcase Awards last weekend.
Horton played in Perfect Game' s AllAmerican Classic. He participated in MLB's Prospect Development Pipeline program for three weeks in June. He earned a spot in the PDP All-Star Game in Cleveland, too.
“It was an incredible experience,” Horton said.
But what about his future next summer? Baseball is going to be tempting.
“I don't really know,” Horton said. “When we cross that bridge, it' ll
come. Right now, I' m going to college. I want to play football bad. I can't imagine giving up football. It will be tough.”
Throughout his summer of baseball, Horton never lost sight of football.
He took airplane flights
late at night to arrive on time for a football workout t he next morning. Tired or not, he never missed a workout if he was in Norman.
That's what's won over coaches, teammates and recruiters.
“He just does it somehow,” Norman linebacker and Oklahoma State commitment Cole Thompson said. “He's that cool.”
Horton will be limited the first week of practice by design.
He' s had a huge summer. But baseball is finally on hold. It's football time.
“It's fun getting back here,” Horton said. “Last year, we made it to the playoffs. We' re using that as a learning tool for this year. Now, we can move on and go forward knowing what we know now. There's definitely a higher expectation.”