2025 Transfer Portal

[TNwrestling]

27 minutes ago, StanfordTree133 said:

 

Would be a massive pickup for OU

Imagine bedlam 

[okokzach]

17 minutes ago, TNwrestling said:

Imagine bedlam 

 

[H82Lose]

OU is desperate. Donors are not happy with Kish, and many want to go a different route. OU majorly F'd up when they pissed Chad Richison off (paycom).  I would not be shocked one bit if AJ ends up at OU.  I believe Kish would sell his soul right now. 

[alex1fly]

3 hours ago, H82Lose said:

OU is desperate. Donors are not happy with Kish, and many want to go a different route. OU majorly F'd up when they pissed Chad Richison off (paycom).  I would not be shocked one bit if AJ ends up at OU.  I believe Kish would sell his soul right now. 

What's up with OU donors? They sure do seem to chase out the guys they hire. Are they already mad at Kish after two seasons?

[Winners Circle]

19 minutes ago, alex1fly said:

What's up with OU donors? They sure do seem to chase out the guys they hire. Are they already mad at Kish after two seasons?

They finished 23rd in 2024 and 38th this year. Would you be happy with that much of a regression? And if your argument is, "well they lost Buchanan to the portal", I'd counter with being able to retain your athletes (especially the elite ones) is the most important part of the job.

[H82Lose]

57 minutes ago, alex1fly said:

What's up with OU donors? They sure do seem to chase out the guys they hire. Are they already mad at Kish after two seasons?

Chad Richison was one of the biggest donors OU had, and Jason Leonard ran him off. Jason Leonard was also the driver of these dumba$$ hires.  MANY wanted Coleman Scott, but that was shot down becase Leonard didn't want a coach from "that side of the state" coaching OU.  DUMB. He was the driver of the LOU hire. The last two hires, Lou and Kish did not embrace ANY of the OU history or the alum. Lou sucked, I could not stand that dude. Kish has so much arrogance, he is going to fail because of that.  Big ol goofy bastard.  Look at what OSU is doing, buidling staff on top of staff. I feel like there are no egos.  Teyon Ware has done more than any staff member, but you can see Kish wants to be front and center, he won;t let Teyon take the lead.  IF Kish don't get a handfull of qualifiers this year, he is gone. 

[BruceyB]

1 hour ago, Winners Circle said:

They finished 23rd in 2024 and 38th this year. Would you be happy with that much of a regression? And if your argument is, "well they lost Buchanan to the portal", I'd counter with being able to retain your athletes (especially the elite ones) is the most important part of the job.

Buchanon was a gun for hire. He left Wyoming, left OU, and went to Iowa for a handsome sum. Talking about firing a guy before he even gets two recruiting classes on campus is just insane. The only regression that took place between 2024 and 2025 was Buchanon leaving. He took all but 3 returning points, and Heindselman took 2 of the other 3 points with him to Michigan. 

If we're going to start firing coaches for losing athletes during the NIL era, then a lot of coaches are going to be shown the door. Missouri lost Elam, UNC lost McNeil, Oregon State lost their freshman AA Stiles, Little Rock lost both Bailey and Williams, tOSU lost Welsh, ISU lost Swiderksi and Chittum, and so on and so on. 

Arguably the two best wrestlers on OU's roster this year were RS Freshmen. I don't have any intel, nor am I an Oklahoman. But from a distance, I am curious to see what Kish can do at OU given some time. 

[Winners Circle]

8 minutes ago, BruceyB said:

Buchanon was a gun for hire. He left Wyoming, left OU, and went to Iowa for a handsome sum. Talking about firing a guy before he even gets two recruiting classes on campus is just insane. The only regression that took place between 2024 and 2025 was Buchanon leaving. He took all but 3 returning points, and Heindselman took 2 of the other 3 points with him to Michigan. 

If we're going to start firing coaches for losing athletes during the NIL era, then a lot of coaches are going to be shown the door. Missouri lost Elam, UNC lost McNeil, Oregon State lost their freshman AA Stiles, Little Rock lost both Bailey and Williams, tOSU lost Welsh, ISU lost Swiderksi and Chittum, and so on and so on. 

Arguably the two best wrestlers on OU's roster this year were RS Freshmen. I don't have any intel, nor am I an Oklahoman. But from a distance, I am curious to see what Kish can do at OU given some time. 

I understand what you're getting at. But OU has been bad long enough that the donors and alum are sick of the "give it some time" outlook. Is that their own fault for the hires they've made, probably, but that doesn't change the fact that they want to win now, not "in time". 

[BruceyB]

2 minutes ago, Winners Circle said:

I understand what you're getting at. But OU has been bad long enough that the donors and alum are sick of the "give it some time" outlook. Is that their own fault for the hires they've made, probably, but that doesn't change the fact that they want to win now, not "in time". 

I was just looking into their roster next year.. they're going to be a really solid dual team. They don't have the top tier guys to make much noise at NCAAs, but they should have a lot of qualifiers.

[Winners Circle]

1 minute ago, BruceyB said:

I was just looking into their roster next year.. they're going to be a really solid dual team. They don't have the top tier guys to make much noise at NCAAs, but they should have a lot of qualifiers.

Qualifiers don't pay the bills when your "rival" down the street, who you want to be competing against, is hunting for team trophies.

[SoonerKing]

OU isn't going to improve until Jason Leonard is gone.  He has put a *stain* on a program he competed for.  Kish has his own stain in that he *ran off* Heindselman for his dude Mora.  He has to own that.  Lou never truly embraced Oklahoma as a state yet he did leave program with 3 kids that All American this year.  They all just did it for different programs.  The only sport that OU places 2nd fiddle to its little brother is in Wrestling and unfortunately with OSU willing to embrace a big-time donor in Richison and OU not, the gap is now only getting wider and my beloved Sooners won't be closing it anytime soon.

[BruceyB]

7 minutes ago, Winners Circle said:

Qualifiers don't pay the bills when your "rival" down the street, who you want to be competing against, is hunting for team trophies.

Ah, the disillusion that OU should be competing with OSU is the problem. 27-150 in Bedlam history, and they have lost 20 Bedlam duals in a row. History would show that's not likely. And you have to start somewhere. The only way to have a fast turnaround is having enough money to bring in elite transfers.

[Winners Circle]

1 minute ago, BruceyB said:

Ah, the disillusion that OU should be competing with OSU is the problem. 27-150 in Bedlam history, and they have lost 20 Bedlam duals in a row. History would show that's not likely. And you have to start somewhere. The only way to have a fast turnaround is having enough money to bring in elite transfers.

Oh so you're ok with losing, and to your rival no less. That explains a lot. 

Edited June 2 by Winners Circle

[SoonerKing]

@BruceyB OU had chance to embrace Richison before OSU.  If they had done that we would be in better place today than OSU.  John W is a legend but his ship was sinking *FAST*

[BruceyB]

37 minutes ago, SoonerKing said:

@BruceyB OU had chance to embrace Richison before OSU.  If they had done that we would be in better place today than OSU.  John W is a legend but his ship was sinking *FAST*

It's hard to say OU would be in a better place than OSU, but they would definitely be in a better place than they are now, but who knows what Richison wanted in return for his financial support. DT to OSU is a biggest reason for the turnaround than Richison. Money is great, but a kid still has to believe in a program to wrestle there. And kids clearly want to wrestle for Olympic Champion David Taylor. On the other side, OU has had 2 champs in the last 20+ years, they're on their 3rd coach in the last 15 years, and they have had zero top ten finishes in the last 10 years. 

I want OU to be good. I was hopeful for both Cody and Rosselli. But these recruits haven't seen a competitive team from OU in their lifetime. You have to rebuild the program from the ground up by having consistently competitive teams, to producing AAs, to consistent top ten finishes, and developing national champions. Recruits need to believe the message the coach is sending, and that's not going to happen overnight. 

[H82Lose]

2 minutes ago, BruceyB said:

It's hard to say OU would be in a better place than OSU, but they would definitely be in a better place than they are now, but who knows what Richison wanted in return for his financial support. DT to OSU is a biggest reason for the turnaround than Richison. Money is great, but a kid still has to believe in a program to wrestle there. And kids clearly want to wrestle for Olympic Champion David Taylor. On the other side, OU has had 2 champs in the last 20+ years, they're on their 3rd coach in the last 15 years, and they have had zero top ten finishes in the last 10 years. 

I want OU to be good. I was hopeful for both Cody and Rosselli. But these recruits haven't seen a competitive team from OU in their lifetime. You have to rebuild the program from the ground up by having consistently competitive teams, to producing AAs, to consistent top ten finishes, and developing national champions. Recruits need to believe the message the coach is sending, and that's not going to happen overnight. 

hell you are answering all your own questions bud. OU has not been good since Cody, that was the last champ and the last time we were relevant and he was not great. MONEY IS EVERYTHING, that is why DT is at OSU, MONEY. Richison wanted to be involved in the coach search, that is what he wanted in return.  Coleman Scott was a name, Kendric was a name that I know he was hoping OU would talk to.  OU has a great tradition historically.  And you are right, you are not on the inside, so you don't know. Lou and Kish, neither one has brought alums back and asked for them to be part of anything. You got to talk tradition, and piece those guys back into the program. National Qualifers are not the bar, that won't cut it. You have to get placers. That starts with coaches, and keeping interest in the program.  Cody Brewer, no contact, Kendric Maple, contact last minute, Jared Patterson, completely F'd by Kish, asked to interview for the controls job that was given to the Mark Hall, and they didn't even have the common courtesy to call Patterson back to tell him they went with Hall. Zan Fugitt, was OU though and through, Kish NEVER CALLED HIM, and that is why he portaled and even then Kish tried to pull BS with him to make him stay.  OU needs a big name and then back it with some alums, if they are ever going to be relevant again.  I don't think OU has it in them to make a hard run, as I stated, I would no be shocked to see that program fold. 

[MNRodent]

[BruceyB]

1 hour ago, H82Lose said:

hell you are answering all your own questions bud. OU has not been good since Cody, that was the last champ and the last time we were relevant and he was not great. MONEY IS EVERYTHING, that is why DT is at OSU, MONEY. Richison wanted to be involved in the coach search, that is what he wanted in return.  Coleman Scott was a name, Kendric was a name that I know he was hoping OU would talk to.  OU has a great tradition historically.  And you are right, you are not on the inside, so you don't know. Lou and Kish, neither one has brought alums back and asked for them to be part of anything. You got to talk tradition, and piece those guys back into the program. National Qualifers are not the bar, that won't cut it. You have to get placers. That starts with coaches, and keeping interest in the program.  Cody Brewer, no contact, Kendric Maple, contact last minute, Jared Patterson, completely F'd by Kish, asked to interview for the controls job that was given to the Mark Hall, and they didn't even have the common courtesy to call Patterson back to tell him they went with Hall. Zan Fugitt, was OU though and through, Kish NEVER CALLED HIM, and that is why he portaled and even then Kish tried to pull BS with him to make him stay.  OU needs a big name and then back it with some alums, if they are ever going to be relevant again.  I don't think OU has it in them to make a hard run, as I stated, I would no be shocked to see that program fold. 

I don't recall asking any questions, bud. Keeping alumnus on campus doesn't necessarily matter when building a program. Having the right guys matters. Iowa State was basically in the same place as Oklahoma before Dresser got there, and they have climbed back to relevance with how many ISU alumnus on their staff? Cael and PSU? David Taylor and OSU? 

Building a culture and having the guys in place to build a future is more important than bringing in someone just because they are an alumnus. It sounds like you clearly don't like Kish nor trust his process. But when a program has been stuck in mediocrity for as long as OU, it might be time to clean house and start the rebuild from scratch.

Edited June 2 by BruceyB

[Winners Circle]

3 minutes ago, MNRodent said:

Weren't there reports he was leaving VT to get back closer to home (I.e. Maryland)?

[BruceyB]

3 minutes ago, MNRodent said:

FIRE KISH!

[Winners Circle]

11 minutes ago, BruceyB said:

FIRE KISH!

He brought in a guy that went 1-2 at NCAAs...

[HokieDave87]

2 hours ago, Winners Circle said:

Weren't there reports he was leaving VT to get back closer to home (I.e. Maryland)?

Yeah he was DNC it was all set for UMD. I guess Oklahoma contacted anyways.

[creek chub]

2 hours ago, MNRodent said:

Man, I’m a big Hip fan. I don’t blame or fault him for trying to better himself but don’t see that happening at OU. 

[1032004]

6 hours ago, H82Lose said:

Chad Richison was one of the biggest donors OU had, and Jason Leonard ran him off. 

How?

[1032004]

4 hours ago, H82Lose said:

Zan Fugitt, was OU though and through, Kish NEVER CALLED HIM, and that is why he portaled and even then Kish tried to pull BS with him to make him stay. 

Was Fugitt ever enrolled anywhere other than Wisconsin?