Oklahoma stars branching out...

By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com

Former Central star Demarco Cobbs is one of many past in-state recruits looking to make his name outside of Oklahoma. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman

Well, seems like I ruffled a few feathers in my piece Monday about ‘it’s OK for in-state kids to look elsewhere.’ I’m not backing down from my position because I know what Millwood’s Josh Turner is going through.

Well, sort of.

It wasn’t like I was a top-notch athlete with colleges banging down my door or anything. However, I made a decision pretty early on that I wasn’t going to stay in Ohio to attend college. I wanted to branch out and experience things. And some of it was definitely ego wanting to show I could make it by myself.

I could have (and financially speaking, should have) stayed home and attended The Ohio State, but I didn’t and went to OU.

Turner and former Tulsa Central stud Demarco Cobbs were lucky enough to have the country at their disposal. I agree with what Millwood assistant Kevin Cox said ‘there is no bad decision.’ I mean when you’re talking about teams like Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, etc., aren’t you nitpickin’ at that point?

Turner took a lot of heat. He responded to a couple of the negative comments and turned them into fans. When you let Turner explain himself, it’s easy to respect the kid for his choice.

And let’s get one thing straight – not all the comments were bashing Turner. A lot of people are wishing him the best of luck (except for that one weekend in October) and a lot are excited for Turner and proud that the young man knows what he wants to do.

Turner respects the Sooners and has been an OU fan for a long time. Truth of the matter is OU got into the game a little too late as Texas had already made quite the impression on him.

On one hand, I understand it’s tough to watching Gerald Jones (Millwood) and David Oku (Carl Albert) thrive at Tennessee or Texas Tech succeeding because of kids like Colby Whitlock (Noble), Tramain Swindall (Millwood) and Harrison Jeffers (Lawton Eisenhower), among numerous examples.

But on the other, I think it’s great to see the home-grown talent going elsewhere and making a name for themselves.