Friday, February 28, 2025
Black history highlighted through student innovation
ALIYAH YOUNG STAFF REPORTER
Students at Oklahoma State are contributing to Black history through the creation of small businesses.
February is Black History Month making it the perfect time to recognize those who are shaping the future and leaving their own mark on the world.
Eli Miles: A business owner
One black OSU student on his way to making history is Eli Miles, a business owner. Miles, a double major in marketing and
management from Oklahoma City, first attended Rose State College, where he served as treasurer of the Student Government Association and was a member of the President’s Leadership Council. He earned his associate degree in general business before transferring to OSU.
“The business I own was originally started by my grandfather, Frank, who shined boots as a side hustle after retiring from the Army,” Miles said. “Following his passing in 2017, my father and I decided to honor his legacy by turning this trade of boot repair and shining into a legitimate business.”
Miles started his boot repair
business in 2018 and has since worked to grow it while overcoming obstacles.
“Some of the challenges we faced included navigating the legal process of starting the business, rebuilding relationships with past clientele from when my grandfather shined boots and earning client trust and loyalty,” Miles said. “To overcome these hurdles, we sought guidance from other small business owners while conducting our own research.”
He emphasized the importance of building a solid reputation and a good standing with customers.
See HISTORY on page 5A
Interim OSU president making ‘student experience’ No. 1 priority
KENNEDY THOMASON STAFF REPORTER @_KENNEDYPAGE
Jim Hess said he won’t park in his reserved space outside of Whitehurst Hall.
Instead, Oklahoma State’s interim president said he plans for the space to go to a “student of the month.” The idea comes from his daughter’s experience during her time at OSU. What she referred to as a parking permit, Hess said he sees more as a pass for the open-season feeling of the
university’s spaces.
“I’ve been around (the) Stillwater campus a long time, and I said, ‘I wish you wouldn’t call it a parking permit.’ And she said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘Because it’s really a hunting license. It’s not a parking permit; it’s a hunting license,’” Hess said in a Thursday morning interview with The O’Colly. Parking and housing, are two key issues Hess said he sees for students.
The OSU/A&M Board of Regents appointed Hess on Feb. 13, four days after former OSU President Dr. Kayse Shrum
Housing town hall leaves returning students unsatisfied
HAYDEN ALEXANDER NEWS & LIFESTYLE
Oklahoma State students voiced their concerns Monday at a town hall meeting hosted by the Residential Housing Association (RHA) about the newly introduced “standby” list for students who did not get placed in residential housing.
Many students secured a spot in university housing on Feb. 17, but others received an email putting them on a standby list.
The email stated that students on the list would be notified if housing became available.
Students are responsible for obtaining offcampus housing if they don’t receive a housing assignment by June 1.
“We know that securing housing is an important part of your college experience, and we appreciate your patience as we work to accommodate as many returning students as possible,” Res Life said in its email to students.
During the town hall, students anonymously submitted questions through a Microsoft form.
Although a Facilities Management representative was present, most questions were directed toward Mike Hunsucker, the interim director of Res Life.
Hunsucker said Res Life is working overtime to ensure OSU can house as many returners as possible for the 2025-2026 school year.
“We’re watching enrollment numbers, so we’re going to place more and more as the spring and summer goes along,” Hunsucker said. “The goal is to place as many returners as we can humanly place.”
Hunsucker told students in attendance that Res Life placed returning students based on accessibility status, financial aid and scholarships.
“Before we placed anyone that had financial need, we placed anyone with an accessibility need that was registered on our list,” Hunsucker said. Hunsucker repeatedly advocated, during the town hall, for freshmen and their importance to the campus culture. He said living on campus allows freshmen to grow and learn to live efficiently and independently.
“It is incredibly important that we provide that service to our freshmen who are not accustomed to living away from their parents,” Hunsucker said. “I want to prioritize freshmen so we can provide that care and provide that support, noting that our returners also provide a great community and provide an additional structure that I can’t provide.”
Finances, commuting and food insecurity among the significant issues students focused on. Some students rely heavily on the proximity of on-campus housing and campus transportation to get to their classes.
“Will accommodations be made for students who are kicked out of housing for the (2025-26) school year who cannot afford off-campus housing and cannot afford to communicate every day,” one student asked anonymously.
Hunsucker replied with an answer he often used during the town hall.
“I don’t have an answer for that,” Hunsucker said. The lack of answers left some in attendance underwhelmed and unsatisfied.
resigned. Her resignation was announced publicly two days after she stepped down.
Although Hess said he has been a “mentor” to Shrum, Hess said he has not spoken with her since assuming his new title. Hess said he has known Shrum for 25 years, starting when he recruited her to the OSU Center for Health Sciences.
“I suspect we’ll have some (conversations) over the months to come,” Hess said. “She’s been busy, and I’ve been busy, so I haven’t had an opportunity to talk to her.”
See HESS on page 6A
Payton Little
OSU students Eli Miles (left) and Jermini Wilson (right) are hoping to shape the future through their buisnesses.
Hayden Alexander OSU students asked questions about housing during a town hall meeting.
Bryson Thadhani
The O’Colly sat down with OSU President Dr. James Hess on Thursday morning at Whitehurst Hall.
O’Colly editor-in-chief wins prestigious journalism award
RAYNEE HOWELL ASSISTANT NEWS & LIFESTYLE EDITOR @RAYNEEHOWELL
Ashton Slaughter, The O’Colly Editorin-Chief, spent last summer as an intern for the Tulsa World.
When he pitched his ideas to the World for his summer project, the editors had a few ideas of their own.
“They said ‘Hey, we want you to do this story,” Slaughter said. “This won’t be your project; it’ll just be a story you do.”
The story — a feature on a Tulsa high school football player’s heart stopping on the field — won first place in the Hearst Journalism Award Program’s Sports Writing Competition, which was announced Thursday. Slaughter is automatically qualified for Hearst’s National Writing Championship in June, when he’ll compete for scholarship money while on assignments in San Francisco on an all-expenses paid trip.
The feature details the experiences of former Cascia Hall high school player Collin Cottom, who went into cardiac arrest during his first varsity start. A parent of a child with another health condition brought down an oxygen bottle from the stands, which along with doctors and a defibrillator, saved Cottom’s life.
Cottom’s experience inspired him and his family to lobby for a bill requiring Oklahoma public schools to have a cardiac emergency response plan. The bill passed this past June.
Slaughter’s story was selected out of 135 entries submitted from 73 schools.
“There’s a lot of great journalism programs that go to the Hearst (Journalism Awards Championship), but it’s not just these ‘blue blood’ journalism schools,”
Editor-in-Chief
Ashton Slaughter editorinchief@ocolly.com
Sports
News & Lifestyle
Design editor Megan Turner design.ed@ocolly.com
Hayden Alexander news.ed@ocolly.com Photo
Payton Little photo.ed@ocolly.com
Social Media editor Bryson Thadhani news.ed@ocolly.com
Slaughter said. “Oklahoma State has good journalists too, and I think it’s just a good reflection on us, whether it was me or anyone else.”
Slaughter’s journalistic experience at OSU helped him secure his internship with the World and win an award that is a honor for any journalist.
“Winning is a testament to what Ashton has learned at The O’Colly, OSU and the Tulsa World, and more importantly, it’s just an awesome outcome for him,” said Brett Dawson, The O’Colly adviser.
Slaughter placed fifth in the Hearst’s Feature Writing competition last year.
That, along with a 20th-place finish in Explanatory Reporting, landed Slaughter at the 64th annual Hearst National Journalism Awards Championship. He finished as a runner-up of the eight writing finalists. Dawson attended the ceremony with Slaughter in California. Over the past year, Dawson has watched Slaughter continuously grow as a journalist.
“I was in San Francisco with him last summer, and I know how much he learned and how many connections he made through that experience,” Dawson said. “It’s amazing that he gets to do it again, and making it back for a second straight year really speaks to his commitment and creativity and skill as a storyteller.”
OSU faculty and staff are proud of Slaughter and his hard work. Max Andrews, student media coordinator, said the award is an incredible achievement.
“This recognition highlights Ashton’s exceptional talent and dedication and reinforces the standard of excellence at The O’Colly and the School of Media & Strategic Communications at OSU,” Andrews said.
Assistant News & Lifestyle
Assistant Sports editors Kenzie Kraich, Calif Poncy, Sam Mitchell
Assistant Photo editor Connor Fuxa
Assistant Social Media editor Jose Brito
Assistant Design editor Alexandra Guinn
Adviser Brett Dawson brett.dawson@okstate.edu
Ask the Pokes
What’s your favorite thing about the warm weather?
“It’s nice. I am happy that I got to wear shorts these last few days especially after the cold.”
- Autumn Turay, junior
“I love being able to wear my jorts outside now. I got to watch people play frisbee and it felt like a really college experience.”
- Eli Maimo, sophomore
“I have been enjoying the warm weather. i think it helps me perform better academically and my mental health and it definitely makes the day a lot more enjoyable.”
- Kirstan Toney, sophomore
“I have been in a little bit of a slump with studying lately and ,since it’s been warm, I’ve been studying outside. I think it helps my mental health a lot.”
- Liberty Tiger-Williams, sophomore
Courtesy Hearst Journalism Award Program
Ashton Slaughter won the Hearst Journalism Award Program’s sports writing competition.
The O’Colly Staff
City council approves third phase of airport terminal project
the course of the project that aren’t yet,” Staring said.
Availability of some federal funding has come into question after the federal Office of Management and Budget ordered all federal grants, loans and assistance programs be paused Jan. 28.
The airport terminal project is moving into its third phase.
The third phase, which includes improvements to the Stillwater Regional Airport’s access road and roundabout, was approved in a unanimous City Council vote Monday. Previously, building a new terminal and minor improvements to parking were approved.
The project’s six phases will cost about $30 million, $17.3 million of which has already been approved for use. Much of the money comes in the form of grants from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Stillwater Director of Engineering Candy Staring said the complete project is estimated to be finished in August 2026.
“The FAA has been very generous to us to help us build the parts that we are building so far, and we certainly hope for continued grants to be able to finish
Stillwater Regional Airport Director Kellie Reed said that despite initial questions, she does not expect the freeze to impact the grants needed to finish the terminal projects.
“The FAA is not concerned at this time,” Reed said.
The rest of the about $8 million the airport will seek in grants is through the airport’s entitlements, which it receives through offering commercial service. This differs from a highly competitive program like the initial money for the terminal because the funding is already allocated to Stillwater, Reed said.
“The money that is in the support package that Candy (Staring) has presented is already in the quote-unquote ‘checking account’ with the FAA that’s already been approved by Council unencumbered,” Reed said.
OK House of Representatives to hear bill barring required meal plans at universities
surcharge is added to all meal plans.
According to the University Dining Services website, the charge is used to offset the cost associated with infrastructure and maintenance.
OSU student accused of possessing, distributing child sexual abuse material
HOWELL ASSISTANT NEWS & LIFESTYLE EDITOR
On Feb. 11, police cars surrounded an OSU student’s home in northeast Stillwater.
Jordyn Wilkerson Baskin was arrested at his residence on three counts relating to child sexual abuse material; two counts of distribution of child sexual abuse material; and one count of aggravated possession of child sexual abuse material. All three offenses date back to July 2024.
IP address. One was assigned to her and the other was assigned to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI). Wheeler requested access to the OSBI investigation and received it.
On the morning of Feb. 11, Wheeler was on scene for the arrest of Baskin and the execution of the search warrant. SPD officer Josh Carson joined to assist with surveillance. He was told he had probable cause to arrest Baskin if he observed him leaving the residence.
The Education Oversight Committee passed House Bill 2197 8-1, presented by Max Wolfley, R-Oklahoma City.
The proposed bill would prohibit higher education institutions from requiring incoming freshmen to purchase a meal plan to enroll or live in on-campus housing.
Currently, incoming freshmen are required to choose a meal plan at OSU. The university offers six meal plans, with Bronze ($1,700) per semester, the minimum required meal plan for incoming freshmen.
Each semester, a $150 operations
The bill declares an emergency and would go into effect immediately if passed and approved. The legislation aims to give students freedom to make choices that fit their dietary and financial needs.
In a press release, Wolfley said the legislation gives students control of their financial situation.
“It allows them to make the choices that are best for their budgets and lifestyle without unnecessary requirements,” Wolfley said.
When asked about the proposed bill University Dining Services spokesperson said they had no further information.
Stillwater Police Department (SPD) Detective Stephanie Wheeler was investigating a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children she received at the end of August. The tip showed Snapchat reported an individual saved, shared or uploaded child sexual abuse material, according to records from SPD.
Snapchat released the username and date of birth of the individual, allegedly Baskin, in its report. The IP address also was believed to be assigned to the Stillwater area, according to Wheeler’s report, obtained by The O’Colly. The media files that were received were described in the report as well, but the department redacted the information.
A couple of days after Wheeler received the initial tip, the department submitted preservation requests, which are formal written notices requesting records are retained and not destroyed, according to the U.S. District Court. The police report redacted who the request was sent to, but Snapchat and Kik were confirmed to be used by the accused individual through official documents.
From the request, Wheeler received two tips based on an email address and the previously identified
Baskin never left the residence or answered the door upon the police announcing their presence. SPD forcibly entered the house and continued announcing their presence, according to Carson’s report. Carson saw Baskin exit a bedroom and ordered him to walk toward him where he was put into handcuffs. Baskin was turned over to Wheeler while Carson assisted in clearing the house.
In an affidavit, Wheeler said Baskin admitted to possessing child sexual abuse material and trading it on social media sites. He had more than 1,000 files in the trash folder of his iPhone. In Oklahoma, possessing 100 files is enough for an aggravated possession of child sexual abuse material charge.
Baskin could face up to life in prison for the aggravated possession charge alone. If only charged with both counts of distribution, he faces no less than 10 years and no more than 30 years in prison.
Baskin appeared before the court the day after his arrest and his bail was set to $50,000. Bondsman Jerry Bryan Shed posted the bond the following day. Baskin’s next court date is scheduled for April 17.
news.ed@ocolly.com
Hayden Alexander
The projected six phases for the airport terminal will cost about $30 million.
Courtesy Creative Commons
If it passes, House Bill 2197 will prohibit universities from requiring freshmen to purchase meal plans.
Bryson Thadhani
If convicted, Jordyn Wilkerson Baskin would be required to register as a sex offender.
Lifestyle
The Canada goose: Your friend or foe?
BAYLOR BRYANT STAFF REPORTER
The Canada goose is a menace to Stillwater.
The bird species has overstayed its welcome in town. The non-migrant bird stands out amongst wildlife in Stillwater, and residents acknowledged the issues that come with it.
Jim Scott, parks and facilities manager, said geese in Stillwater cause many issues. Among those, Scott said the geese’s aggression with humans stands out. When geese lay eggs, they become aggressive toward people near their nest. Another issue with geese is their droppings. An adult goose can produce three to four pounds of waste per day, so a flock of 20 geese can produce more than 60 pounds of waste.
The Links at Stillwater has noticed a similar problem. And since The Links is a private golf course, it must deal with the issues itself. Golf course superintendent Brandon Mongold said goose defecation is a big issue.
“They seem to have a tendency to congregate on the green,” Mongold said. “They poop more on the green than anywhere else. It’s not only an eyesore, but it’s (hard to) play golf. Having that on the greens is a problem. Always a large maintenance to go out. You send two to three guys out with blowers, and they’ve got to blow off all the greens and clean up the greens.”
There are many other issues involving geese at The Links. The trails that geese leave tend to disrupt the fairway on the golf course. Pro shop nanager Eric Treleaven said destruction of property has become a big issue.
“They tear up some of the fairways,” Treleaven said. “They’ve done that in the past, as well as especially once they have babies, they’ll sometimes not necessarily attack golfers, but they get pretty aggressive with golfers.”
Although geese seem to come with only negatives, both Mongold and Treleaven agreed on a positive the geese population brings to the golf course.
“Free fertilizer,” Treleaven said.
“Technically, avian defecation is not a bad thing because it’s one of the ways that grass actually gets nutrients,” Mongold said. “There’s nitrogen, there’s calcium. I could definitely see how that could be a benefit. The fact that it’s such a time-consuming thing to go out and clean and pick it up because you don’t want that on the greens, you see that as more of a negative than you do more positive.”
In Stillwater, the population of Canada geese can be dealt with in many ways. Scott said the city works alongside the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation using egg and nest control.
Oiling the eggs prevents them from hatching, but it is not a longterm solution. Craig Davis, a Natural Resource Ecology & Management professor at OSU, said the problem is geese are very long lived.
“I think you can easily get 10 to 12 years; I think maybe that is what some of these resident geese will live ‘til,” Davis said. “It takes a major effort to start to get the population down because these birds are so long lived. So even if you do it for a couple of years, all it takes is the next year where they have reproduction, and you start seeing that population increasing again.”
Paired alongside a long life cycle, geese in Stillwater do not have many natural predators. This creates a safe, secure refuge for resident geese, so the population can increase. The Links has a predator of its own to assist in the issue. Mongold said there is a bobcat that helps out with the geese population.
“He’s always done a good job,” Mongold said. “You’ll see his impact on them a couple times throughout the year. You’ll find a carcass, or you’ll find feathers and stuff all over a fairway.”
When the geese are done laying eggs and begin to molt in the summer, The Links takes action to move the geese. The Links works alongside Predator Impact, a full-service management company that uses humane methods to manage nuisance wildlife, to help take the geese to a nature reserve on the OklahomaKansas border. Mongold said it’s a coordinated effort with quite a few people involved.
“We actually drop in kayaks in the driving range, and we have an aquatic driving range, and we pull them out with nets,” Mongold said. “We herd the geese across the golf course with carts and people, and then we get them in the driving range and basically just walk the geese up on the bank.
“I got to be involved in it very heavily one year, and I had a blast. People just slowly walk them into an enclosed area, and then we just load them by hand into the back of a trailer, and it keeps them safe.”
Mongold said it is one of the most humane ways he has seen geese handled, and it can be entertaining to watch.
“The guy that actually does it, he also has this falcon,” Mongold said. “Sometimes he’ll bring his falcon with him, and the falcon keeps the geese from flying. It’ll soar over the top of them so that they don’t want to jump up.”
Even if humans continue to oil the eggs or relocate the geese, they will keep coming back one way or another. It’s in their nature to return home. And these Canada geese have made Stillwater their home. And they’re not all negative. Davis said the geese help by bringing an element of nature to everyday lives.
“I don’t think anybody would want all the geese to disappear,” Davis said. “People love the geese. People love wildlife. They love all kinds of different water fowl, all kinds of different animals. And so they do contribute to that. And so I think that is a benefit, a big benefit.”
GivePulse enhances campus volunteering opportunities
MJ NYAMDAVAA STAFF REPORTER
Haley Osiek, coordinator of Oklahoma State’s student volunteer center (SVC), recently highlighted how students can participate in community service through GivePulse, a digital platform transforming volunteerism across campus.
“Volunteering is ever evolving, with opportunities constantly shifting to meet changing needs,” Osiek said.
For example, most recently, SVC listed Valentine’s bag-stuffing service opportunities on the website by SVC, allowing students to participate in a quick, one-time event. Alternatively, students can sign up for ongoing opportunities, such as weekly semester-long commitments like assisting at food pantries or participating in semester-based service programs.
The platform streamlines the process of finding meaningful service opportunities that align with students’ interests and schedules, Osiek said.
“GivePulse allows students to browse, register and track their volunteer hours all in one place,” Osiek said.
The SVC encourages all OSU students to create a GivePulse account to stay informed about upcoming volunteer events and community needs.
What distinguishes GivePulse from other platforms is its national reach.
“What makes GivePulse unique is that it extends beyond the Stillwater community, offering volunteer opportunities nationwide,” Osiek said.
Students can search for opportunities anywhere in the United States by entering location information, allowing engagement regardless of where they’re located.
For individual students, logging volunteer hours is straightforward — they simply visit okstate.givepulse.com and log in with their OSU credentials. For student organizations, the process requires official registration status and an up-to-date CampusLink page. Organizations interested in establishing a GivePulse profile must schedule a meeting with Osiek to learn about administrative functions.
The verification process has been significantly improved with the new platform.
“With the new platform the verification process lies with each agency,” Osiek said. “This has been a huge help in getting students’ impacts verified faster.”
Osiek said students should log their impact directly with the agencies they volunteered for rather than their student organizations, while
sharing the impact data with their organizations for tracking purposes.
One major challenge Osiek identified involves distinguishing between community engagement and leadership responsibilities.
“One of the biggest challenges I see is the simple fact that most students do not know the difference between community engagement and leadership roles,” she said.
To help students identify true community engagement, she suggests asking: “Did this task make a positive impact on the larger community around me or did it just make an impact on the organizations that I am a member of?”
Student organizations frequently hosting volunteer events are encouraged to establish their own GivePulse profiles. Once set up, they can post events similar to the CampusLink process. For organizations unsure about planning volunteer events, the SVC’s Student Ambassadors are available to provide guidance.
Osiek recommends that organizations encourage their members to log impacts as they complete them and share these impacts with their organizations.
“Every group is made up of individuals, the best way to show a student organization’s impact is to encourage their members to log their impacts as they complete them,” she said.
Volunteer work significantly contributes to students’ professional development by building skills, expanding network and providing real-world experience.
“Through GivePulse, students can track their service hours, document their impact and showcase their involvement in a professional portfolio,” Osiek said.
This portfolio becomes an asset for job applications, graduate school admissions and scholarship opportunities.
Since implementing GivePulse, OSU has seen expanded forms of community engagement. The platform allows students to explore various ways of giving back beyond traditional time-based volunteering.
“GivePulse opens the door for students to engage in multiple different types of community engagement (times, money raised/donated, donation of goods, training, unpaid research, voting and more),” Osiek said.
Students interested in discovering current volunteer positions can visit okstate.givepulse.com and navigate to the “Explore” tab to view realtime listings.
Bryson Thadhani
Students with GivePulse profiles can explore listings of volunteer opportunities.
Little
Canada goose is a notoriously invasive species that is taking over some Stillwater properties.
Lifestyle
OSU students, staff react to mass layoffs at National Park Service
BELLA CASEY STAFF REPORTER @BELLACASEYYY
After Mary Dunbar dipped her toes into the frigid waters of a river in the Rocky Mountains, she was hooked.
It was 2011, her first trip to a national park, something that turned into an annual family tradition. Now, she is worried what her upcoming park visits could look like.
The Trump administration laid off about 1,000 National Park Service employees on Valentines’ Day — a love letter to federal budget cuts that not all Americans welcomed. Some took to social media to express their support for the federal cuts, while others used their platforms as a megaphone for their disdain.
Dunbar, a chemical engineering major at OSU, is one of many who voiced her disappointment in the layoffs online, but her Instagram post wasn’t only a plea for change — it was a pledge to help.
Dunbar said she would donate an hour of her time to volunteering at National Parks for each comment her post received, and she would donate $1 to National Parks for every share it got. The post, which detailed her love of National Parks, garnered 273 likes, 48 comments and 14 shares after one week.
Her post explained she has been to 94 parks in 48 states, and the parks were a sacred place to her and many others. She also expressed her opinion about the layoffs, saying “This action is at best, disrespectful, and at worst, criminal,” referring to probationary employees who some believe were fired without proper cause.
“I’m introverted, reserved, I don’t wanna stick my hand in places where it doesn’t belong,” Dunbar said. “But I think because I knew so many of my friends and supporters also supported the National Park Service, I kind of had an idea in my head that it would succeed no matter what, just because a lot of people support it.”
The National Parks Service topped the charts on a list of government agencies seen favorably by U.S. adults, according to a July 2024 Pew Research study. Protests have happened across the country, notably at Yosemite National Park, where protestors hung an upside-down American Flag on a rock formation on Feb. 24.
Following the widespread backlash, the Trump administration restored dozens of NPS employees and hired an additional 3,000 seasonal workers on Feb. 21, according to the Associated Press.
Dunbar said she is really happy, but this “gives people whiplash” as they wonder whether they have a job or not. She’s especially tied to the push-and-pull of the situation as part of NASA’s Pathways Program, a longterm internship program that prepares students for a career at NASA. Dunbar is considered a civil servant and is able to take leave without pay when she is at school. Like NPS, NASA has faced layoffs, which Dunbar said are taking time and energy away from accomplishing NASA missions.
OSU could be affected by the federal cuts and layoffs, too, according to Jim Ansley, head of the Natural Resource Ecology and Management
at OSU. He said two faculty members are especially at risk.
“We do have two scientists that are part of those 22 (faculty members) that are actually part of what we call the co-op unit, which is a federal unit, and their salaries are actually funded by the USGS, U.S. Geological Survey, and that’s a federal organization, just like (the) USDA, but it’s operated out of the Department of the Interior instead of the Department of Agriculture,” Ansley said.
Their roles are primarily research focused, but they also teach graduatelevel courses and advise graduatelevel students. Ansley said the collaboration has been in place since 1935 and hosts 44 universities, and the co-op is a key component of the natural- resource-related research the department does.
Ansley said the co-op unit and other conservation groups have formed through learning from the past. For example, the Dust Bowl demonstrated that some ecosystems are fragile and can be unintentionally abused.
“So we’ve learned that in many cases the hard way,” Ansley said.
“And so a lot of these conservation agencies, whether it’s federal agencies or private groups, they have formed to try to gain a better understanding as we’re always continuing to learn how these ecosystems function, (and) what their constraints are.
Ansley took an interest in ecosystems in college. He grew up in Denver, where he spent quite a bit of time in the mountains and fishing. He entered college as a biology premed major, but changed his mind and pursued a master’s in range science at Utah State, where he caught the research bug.
Ansley said he felt horrible when he learned of the layoffs and felt they were running the risk of losing a lot of talented people. Employees who helped maintain trails, educate visitors and perform other duties were among those laid off.
He acknowledged America has a large federal deficit, but said he feels this is something Congress needs to work on.
Emma Roy, an OSU microbiology major, agreed the layoffs are going to hurt a lot of people. Her best childhood memories consist of trips to various national parks, and she credits her parents for showing her the natural wonders America has to offer.
The parks are an interest she never outgrew, and she used the freedom college gifted her to branch out and explore national parks. Like Dunbar, her social media is proof of it — nearly every post on her Instagram features a hiking trip or a park visit.
Her hikes mean more to her than pretty pictures, though. They represent resilience.
Roy recalled a hike in Capitol Reef National Park, where she carried a heavy pack during the blistering summer heat. She questioned whether she could finish the hike multiple times but completed it. She said the experience gave her determination and faith in herself that she could overcome hard things.
“I think that the National Parks can teach us resilience and perseverance through difficult times, because I would say that the National Parks are about to face a very difficult period in their history,” Roy said.
news.ed@ocolly.com
History
Continued from 1
“To build trust, we uphold strong business etiquette — standing when approached, engaging in conversation while shining boots and sealing the experience with a handshake to show our appreciation and professionalism,” Miles said.
In the future, Miles plans to expand his business ventures beyond shoe shining.
“My goal is to highlight the talent and creativity that Oklahoma has to offer,” Miles said. “I aim to accomplish this by owning and operating a dynamic venue that serves as a gathering space for meetings, concerts and fashion shows. This venue will also be a creative hub where artists, activists and entrepreneurs can collaborate, produce content, shoot videos and bring their visions to life. By fostering a space for innovation and expression, I hope to build a thriving community that inspires and uplifts others.”
Miles has experience in fashion, having modeled for photoshoots, catalogs and runway shows. He hopes to combine his passion for music, fashion and business to create spaces where visionaries like himself can connect.
A rising music artist
Another Black OSU student making her mark is Jermini Wilson, a business major from Tulsa. She is a musician who recently released her first song, “For Free.”
“I have been creating music for about a year and a half,” Wilson said. “I was inspired to make music because I knew that I was capable of creating if I just went for it, so I decided to go for it.”
Wilson credits her mother for being supportive and inspiring her creativity.
“My mom is my role model because she is also a music artist and the person who taught me to keep God first… and that I am capable of accomplishing any goals that I have for myself,” Wilson said.
Her songwriting process was unexpected.
“The idea for this song developed out of boredom,” Wilson said. “One day, I was at home listening to random free beats on YouTube, and I came across the beat I used in my song. I started freestyling to it and liked the way it sounded, so I decided to record it and turn it into an actual song.
“I got in touch with the beat maker to make sure everything was ok for me to publish it,” Wilson said. “Once I got the thumbs up, I dropped the song not too long after.”
Reflecting on her journey, Wilson revealed some of the fears and struggles she conquered.
“The main challenge I faced was being too self-critical of the song,” she said. “It took me a lot longer than I expected to finish because I
felt like, if I was actually going to drop it, it had to be perfect so that everyone would like it. But then I had to remind myself that if I like it, that’s all that matters.”
Wilson’s experience has given her the wisdom to encourage others who may be unsure of themselves, and she has advice for those hesitant to pursue their passions.
“I want to tell the Black girls afraid of stepping out of their comfort zone to just go for it.” Wilson said. “Live the life that you dream because you only get one life, so why not make the best of it? Forget what other people think, and don’t let them stop you from believing in yourself.”
A gifted photographer Roderick Lee Brown, a student from Oklahoma City, is another talent to come from OSU. He runs a photography page showcasing his work.
“I began photography at a very early age, around 11 years old, and at my previous church, I would take photos of the worship team every Sunday,” Brown said. “Really, if I see something that captures my eye, I will stop everything I’m doing to capture it on camera.”
Brown is passionate about photography and draws inspiration from his experiences.
“Time inspires me to create; since time is so precious for us humans, I want to take advantage of it as much as I can,” Brown said. “Along with the rush I get whenever I finish editing a photo, it’s a nice sense of accomplishment.”
When creating art, Brown sometimes faces challenges he has to overcome.
“My lack of confidence is one of my biggest challenges,” he said. “I often worry about not having the proper equipment or applications for my craft.”
However, he finds inspiration in several role models who help him push past these doubts.
“My inspirations are Tite Kubo, Wes Anderson, David Fincher and my great friend Dakota Dunn,” he said.
Looking to the future, Brown hopes to share his talent with the world.
“I consider myself a jack of all trades in the artistic department, so my goal is to write and direct films in the near future,” he said. “I would love to further my blended passion for fashion and photography… One of my goals is to create printed copies of my work to share with others.”
These three talented OSU students showcase black excellence through their creative and business endeavors. Their triumphs prove that the accomplishments and initiatives celebrated during Black history month are not just a part of the past, but alive and continued by ambitious individuals like them.
Courtesy Mary Dunbar
OSU student Mary Dunbar has traveled to 94 National Parks in 48 states.
Payton Little
Miles, Wilson and Brown showcase Black excellence through their entrepreneurship.
Housing
Hunsucker continuously pointed out that he started in October and could not answer specific questions. When a student asked Hunsucker about the steps taken before implementing the new auto-allocation housing system, Hunsucker was unable to answer.
“Unfortunately, I can’t speak to that,” Hunsucker said. “I started in October, so that was in place before I started.”
The auto-allocation process is a new method of placing students in housing, and Hunsucker acknowledged the process needs work but believes his department is doing everything it can at the moment.
“From my perspective, the reason I’m here talking to you is because we are doing the absolute best we can do,” Hunsucker said. “Do I think we’re doing things in the most effective way possible, no, but I think we’re doing better, and I think that’s the goal is to always improve, to always listen to your voices and to hear your concerns and to do better with what we can in the future and to fix what we can right now.”
Hunsucker encouraged students with lingering questions to contact him to find a solution. He said that if
anyone is receiving financial aid and is not on the list to contact him as soon as possible or stop by Iba Hall.
Many students were unsatisfied with the town hall’s lack of answers.
Raz Marin, a current resident, said they felt the answers were mediocre at best.
“I feel like the questions could have been better answered, but the guy has been here since October, so we’re working with what we got right now,” Marin said.
Marin is currently on the standby list and cannot afford transportation to and from campus and worries about her classmates.
“Other students may face that circumstance too, which puts a lot of fear into students who live off of campus, live more than an hour away,” Marin said. “I hope they come to something that can help the students who may be out of state and maybe out of the country or live more than an hour away who can’t commute.”
Hunsucker appreciated student advocacy and was happy to see students taking an active role in their housing.
“That’s what you guys all coming means to me; it means you actually care,” Hunsucker said. “You think we’re doing at least a good job, and you want to live here.”
Hess
For Hess, the student experience will be a top priority. He shared with the Faculty Council earlier this month his other priorities include building a new veterinary medicine teaching hospital and increasing funding for student scholarships.
Addressing deferred maintenance issues with housing will be more of an “evolution, not revolution,” Hess said. Instead of building a new dorm, which Hess said would be financially irresponsible with the impending enrollment cliff, increasing the quality of the existing dorms will be the focus.
OSU saw issues with housing during summer 2024, when the university had more applicants for oncampus housing than available units.
OSU, which previously required first-year students to live on campus, is now allowing freshmen to opt out. Despite this change, Hess said he thinks first-year students living on campus is part of the OSU experience.
“The first semester for any first student is absolutely critical,” Hess said. “That experience in that first six months will determine how they feel about the university for a very, very long time.”
Balancing the request for incoming and current students to live on campus is like solving a Rubik’s cube, he said.
Hess previously served as an administrator for OSU-CHS and has worked in Oklahoma’s higher education system for more than 43 years. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in 2023.
Through his time as an administrator, Hess said the most important metric that top university officials can be measured by is the student experience.
“That is really the true measure of success because our students… if it weren’t for you all, there’s no reason for the rest of us to be here, and so the student experiences are my No. 1 priority,” Hess said.
news.ed@ocolly.com
A SPECIAL PEOPLE!
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” (1 Pet.2:9-10 NIV)
The apostle Peter is writing to a people who previously had no real relationship with God, but as they came to Christ, to trust and follow him all things changed. They are now special people, a pure people, chosen to be a special group who were taken from spiritual darkness. They are God’s people!
If you have come to Jesus, and received forgiveness of your sins; this is also your new condition. The Apostle Paul said it this way; “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Co.5:17 NIV) We are the people of God and we have sto ry to tell. We can proclaim it clearly and sincerely to all. This happened to me in Japan, November, 1956. I heard the good news of Christ and things begin to change in my life. Jesus became real and began leading my life. It has been an adventure, learning to fellowship and walk with the Lord. I have made many mistakes, but the Lord keeps encouraging me to keep following Him.
The God, who has started a good work in me and you (fellow believer) will finish it with eternal consequences. All through the ages to come we get to experience life with Christ. If you have not yet put your trust in Him and begin following him. I urge you to do It now. He is faithful to lead your life into the best (sometimes difficult) things and will glorify Himself and produce lasting blessings. It’s open to al!.
Payton Little
Multiple returning students seeking on-campus housing were placed on a standby list as Residential Life works to accommodate the incoming class of freshmen.
Bryson Thadhani
President Dr. Jim Hess said his top priority is improving student’s experience at OSU.
Lifestyle
Seniors weigh in on remote vs. in-person work
Of course, in-person work has always been the norm, but since the pandemic started in 2020, remote work has been widely accepted and utilized around the U.S.
Soon-to-be Oklahoma State graduates have mixed opinions on in-person work mandates.
“It was nice being able to wake up, not really have to get ready or anything, and then get on my computer for work,” senior business major Parker Purcell said.
In 2024, 14% of U.S. employees worked remotely full time, and another 8.4% worked remotely part time.
Purcell had a remote internship this past summer he will continue inperson after graduation in May.
“Now I have to account for commute time, meals during the day… I have an actual office space to get to,” Purcell said. “It’s definitely better to be in an office and work in person, it’s just going to be an adjustment at first.”
Five years later, companies like Amazon, AT&T and Meta are beginning to require all employees to come back to the office if available, and other companies are following suit.
Remote work allows employees to participate virtually. Some employees have loved the remote environment as it provides more flexibility for work hours and can improve worklife balance.
Interior design senior Kailey Soliz is currently working remotely part time for her job in the Dallas, Texas, area and is happy with the experience.
“I’m so used to my work-fromhome routine that it’s going to be a big change going to an office after graduation,” Soliz said. “For me and
my job, I can manage being at home, but I can see how others might abuse it.”
On the other hand, many executives believe that there is a productivity drop-off from remote employees and there lacks a true social interaction that can propel a company’s efficiency.
“Hours worked increased, output declined slightly and productivity fell 8%–19%,” according to a study from the University of Chicago that monitored around 10,000 employees from tech companies.
Although this is just in one industry, the study showed that the employees were working more hours because of factors like no commute time, but they were actually less productive in that time.
This fall off in productivity is the main reason for the push to bring employees back to the office.
What may be a drastic lifestyle
change for some is a welcomed return for senior business major Wade Graves.
“I always hated when I had to work or go to school from home, I just got way too distracted,” Graves said. “There’s just something about being present with everyone you would need to talk to throughout the day, it’s just easier to get stuff done.”
Although the flexibility of working from home can be beneficial to some, in-person work has proven to be the most efficient environment for the majority of companies.
“I think actually, physically being there with your coworkers is always going to be better for the company,” Purcell said. “Working from home used to be for emergencies and stuff, but it has become so normal. As much of a change as it will be for me, it’s probably for the better.”
news.ed@ocolly.com
Bryson Thadhani
RYAN PICKERING
Lifestyle
Okie Records paves way for local artists
like that around Oklahoma,” Heid said.
“We were trying to connect musicians, get their word out there.”
Okie Records is Heid’s brainchild, but he couldn’t do it alone.
Rich Heid’s roots ran deep through Stillwater.
His grandparents owned a farm in the area, and his dad was raised in the town. However, after living in Pennsylvania for most of his life, Heid returned to Stillwater to attend Oklahoma State. The student with an eye for architecture didn’t know what to expect.
The architect One night, his friends asked if he wanted to hit the town and check out Tumbleweed Dance Hall. Heid gave it a shot, and the live music captured his heart.
“It was a whole different world,” Heid said. “It’s almost like a cultural thing. So it’s not up here (Pennsylvania), and then you go down there (Stillwater), and it’s just a shell shock of a different world.”
Design sessions set to a soundtrack of Turnpike Troubadours led him to attend every live performance he could find after graduation.
One afternoon, Heid was listening to Bucky Hopwood play live while out to lunch when a conversation took an unexpected turn.
“We’re eating lunch at the restaurant, and I started talking to his booking guy and a couple of other folks,” Heid said. “The next thing I know, I’m in Zach Bryan’s backyard talking to his dad.”
There an idea was sparked to help local artists — Okie Records.
Okie Records
Heid started Okie Records during the pandemic to help local artists find their way in the music industry.
“We got together, myself and a bunch of the artists, got together on different ideas of how we’re going to push it,” Heid said.
Although initially small, Okie Records quickly expanded from trailer truck beds and parks to festivals and venues. The label works with more than 60 artists, promoting their work and giving local music the microphone.
“Okie Records was just something we used to promote new musicians and stuff
The photographer Standing in the lumbar section at Lowe’s, clad in his blue vest, Hayden Krebs had no idea that Heid, the man in front of him, would become his friend and business partner.
Krebs studied film and graphic design at NOC and UCO but enjoyed hanging out with Heid. Study sessions in the architecture building turned into hitting the bars for the music, and things spiraled from there.
“It really started with our love of art,” Krebs said. “The bars are a huge part of Okie Records, the bars, clubs and venues and stuff, but it truly was our passion for art and creativity that got us together.”
Krebs didn’t know much about the music scene, but Heid showed him the ropes.
“I never really went to live music,” Krebs said. “So I’m glad I met him, because it really opened my eyes to live music and creativity.”
Heid and Krebs continued checking out live music and building connections. After a friend mentioned he was looking for a gig, Heid made some calls.
“In my mind, that’s how it started was just a friend asking for a friend to go play some music and the rest is history,” Krebs said.
A few years later, Krebs, a professional photographer, got a call from Heid. His friend was working on starting a record label, Okie Records, and needed a photographer with a creative eye.
Krebs jumped right in and never looked back.
Starting out
It took a while to get Okie Records up and running, but Krebs and Heid didn’t give up.
One of the first concerts Kreb helped out with turned into a muddy fiasco. Rain the night before threatened the show, but a piece of advice turned the night around.
As Heid and Krebs wondered what to do, the man setting up the stage told them to call Tumbleweed. Within minutes, Heid and Krebs moved the concert
to the famous country dance hall, and “Jammin’ at the ‘Weed”, was born, Okie Records’ signature event.
“I don’t even know if they were open that night, and they did that for us,” Krebs said. “They saved the show, and that show is really what propelled Okie Records to where it is now.”
Krebs and Heid work daily to help new artists find their voices and audiences, always looking for new talent. Recently, they contacted Katie Bardwell, an OSU student with a voice, guitar and a dream.
Stepping stone Bardwell grew up making music and has her sights set on playing in Nashville, which is what Heid and Krebs like to hear.
The record label is a passion project for many, and Heid said the ultimate goal is to give artists the platform they need to move on to bigger and better things.
“I always tell people to picture a professional baseball or hockey team, whatever you want to do, there’s tiers to everything,” Heid said.
Krebs said Okie Records is for people who need a little guidance.
“That’s what Okie Records is all about, helping people who truly don’t have the money, knowledge and time,” Krebs said. “Their dream is to play in front of a huge crowd. We’re their stepping stone.”
Tumbleweed debut
Thanks to Okie Records, Bardwell got her first gig at Tumbleweed.
“It actually kind of hasn’t hit me fully yet,” Bardwell said. “I was up on stage, and I was like, ‘How is this real? How am I playing Tumbleweed right now?’”
Heid and Krebs’ ability to seek out local talent paid off for everyone, giving Bardwell the opportunity to rise in the industry.
“If you had told me I would be playing Tumbleweed with a full band, I probably would have laughed in your face because I wouldn’t have thought that would actually be something I would get to do,” Bardwell said.
Making it in the business is not easy. As a female artist in the industry, Bardwell said she has to fight for every note.
“I’ve had a harder time booking live music in Stillwater as a girl,” Bardwell said. “I’m not saying it’s any easier for
guys, but as a girl in the country music scene, if you’re trying to pursue music, you’re going to have to go about it with as much grit if not more than the boys have.”
Bardwell said she was thankful Okie Records seeks out artists and gives them the opportunity to build their careers.
“It’s not always easy for everybody else,” Bardwell said. ”It’s really great for artists to be able to support each other and meet up with each other at different gigs and events.”
For the love of music
Okie Records is a philanthropic endeavor, but it’s worth it to Krebs and Heid. The pair pays out of pocket to secure venues and donates their time to make it work. Fame and fortune are not part of the equation.
Kreb said every moment and dime is worth it to see artists succeed.
“At the end of the day, the fact that I get to watch people pursue their dreams and have fun knowing that I have to help is what Okie Records is all about,” Heid said.
Keep it local
Finding a foothold in the music scene is difficult, but Okie Records hopes to make a difference. Bardwell, Heid and Krebs highlight the importance of tuning out of the mainstream and finding talent in the community.
“I think that there are so many different talents that different people have and so when you support small artists, you’re supporting somewhat they love and hopefully they can do for the rest of their life,” Bardwell said.
For those trying to break into the industry, Bardwell said to never back down and be bold.
“Keep doing it,” Bardwell said. “You need to show why they (venues) should book you instead of the artists contacting them.”
Okie Records is keeping it local, and while Heid and Krebs hope to grow the company, they are happy where they are now — helping people find their way.
“It truly doesn’t matter how talented you are,” Krebs said. “We’ll make you a stage, and we’ll give you a chance.”
news.ed@ocolly.com
Raynee Howell
Katie Bardwell performed at Okie Records’ signature event “Jammin’ at the Weed.” Her new single “Don’t Call me Darling” releases on Feb. 28.
Meylan’s Nebraska roots run deep;
she’ll
reconnect with them as a Cowgirl
BY PARKER GERL I SPORTS EDITOR I @PARKER_GERL
Ruby Meylan’s last name is in a place most people’s never will be.
Her grandfather’s name is on the facade at the top of the North side of Nebraska football’s Memorial Stadium as a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. Meylan’s grandfather, Wayne, was a star middle guard for Nebraska in the 1960s, and her father, Wayne Jr., played two seasons for the Cornhuskers. “Meylan” has a longstanding his -
tory with the University of Nebraska, and the family will be reconnected with the school Friday.
Oklahoma State softball faces the Cornhuskers at 12:30 p.m. in Wichita, Kansas, as part of the Shocker Invitational. In her first season as the Cowgirls’ ace pitcher, Meylan will potentially throw against several familiar faces with close friends and family in attendance.
“It’s always exciting when you see Nebraska on the schedule,” Wayne Jr. told The O’Colly this week. “There’s
How OSU’s Schubart is balancing MLB Draft hype
brothers joined in. But Nolan, Mike said, remained consistent with it.
The actions became natural for Nolan. He routinely made hard contact, which made Mike realize even then, “this isn’t normal.”
just too much history there for us not to get excited about it.”
Meylan never met her grandfather or saw her father play live, but she quickly learned how successful her family was because “Nebraska football is like the only thing in town,” Wayne Jr. said with a laugh. Wayne was a two-time All-American and set Cornhusker records for most tackles in a season and career.
He later played for the Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns. Wayne Jr., suited up for Wyoming after two seasons at Nebraska.
“As a little girl, (Ruby) sees the trophies and the pictures and the newspaper clippings and everything that’s scrapbooked,” Wayne Jr. said. “I’m sure it was insightful to know, ‘Hey, this is some of the lineage that our family has.’ And it probably inspired her to carry the torch in the next generation (of being an athlete).”
See MEYLAN on page 2B
Mike Schubart remembers the routine.
Every morning, his 3-year-old son, Nolan Schubart, met him in the family backyard in Durand, Michigan, for hitting drills. For hours, they conducted a variety of hitting drills in Mike’s selfmade pseudo batting cage. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Eventually, Nolan’s two younger
“Nolan tended to be the one that was going crazy,” Mike said with a laugh. “Do with that as you will.”
Back then, Nolan was dreaming big as a young baseball player. Now, he’s fulfilling that dream as a junior at Oklahoma State.
See SCHUBART on page 4B
it
Steve Lutz needed a signature moment. It was clear the first-year Oklahoma State men’s basketball’s coach was doing it the right way before the Cowboys stunned No. 9 Iowa State on Tuesday, but it’s tough to sell a fanbase on that idea when not many
come to watch, and OSU hadn’t beat a ranked team all season. With each passing game, excluding two blowouts from Texas Tech and Kansas, the Cowboys seemed to buy in a little more, hustle a little harder and dive on the floor one or two more times. Despite these positive steps, a portion of the fanbase has been dissatisfied, evidenced by the less-than-half-full GallagherIba Arena that Lutz’s team plays in every home game.
Some of that is an unrealistic expectation of the Eddie Sutton days to return overnight.
See LUTZ on page 3B
Courtesy OSU Athletics
OSU pitcher Ruby Meylan has two generations of family history with Nebraska football and won Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year in high school.
Payton Little
Nolan Schubart is projected to be an MLB Draft first-round pick.
Payton Little
OSU coach Steve Lutz earned his first ranked win this season on Tuesday.
was an
Meylan family athletic history
Wayne Meylan: Two-time All-American, College Football Hall of Fame member and 1966 Big 8 Player of the Year.
Wayne Meylan Jr.: Offensive lineman at Nebraska and Wyoming.
Ruby Meylan: 2023 All-American pitcher at Washington. Preseason AllAmerican with Oklahoma State.
Meylan
Continued from 1
Meylan said her family’s history inspired her to pick up sports. But she was a fiery kid who didn’t just want to play — she wanted to beat her dad and granddad.
Meylan played softball, basketball and volleyball in middle school but settled in on the diamond and worked toward becoming a pitcher. She made a name for herself in the state and won Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year as a high school senior. Now, Meylan carries the family lineage on the biggest stage. She sports a No. 66 jersey like her grandfather did when he won Big 8 Conference Player of the Year.
“It’s actually just so cool to have somebody so close to me — who I’ve never even met — but have him so close to me and be so successful,” Meylan said. “(I) use him as a role model and carry that legacy.” Her grandfather’s athletic career was “100 percent” a motivation, Meylan said.
“And I’m a competitor. So, in my head, I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s my grandpa, but I’m gonna be better than him,’” she said. “And the same thing with my dad, which is obviously what he wants. You always want your kids to be better. It’s a cool family legacy.”
Meylan said she was interested “at a young age” in following her family’s footsteps and attending Nebraska. But the Cornhuskers hardly recruited her — even after she went to several Nebraska softball camps and was one of the state’s top recruits.
Wayne Jr. remembers his daughter getting a short email from his former school: “We don’t have any money for pitchers next season. Good luck with your college career.”
But by her sophomore season, Meylan said, she preferred to carve her path elsewhere, regardless of the level of recruitment. Nebraska wasn’t competing for a national championship, which was her biggest priority.
And while she might not be a Cornhusker, Meylan still proudly wears her Nebraskan badge of honor. “I was like, ‘I want to go a lot bigger than this,’” Meylan said. “I want to compete for championships,
and at that time, Nebraska wasn’t... That’s no diss on them — it’s a great program — but I’m destined for bigger things. I want to show the girls back home that you can leave the state and do something great while still representing Nebraska.”
Meylan’s collegiate career began more than 1,600 miles from her home state.
As a freshman at Washington, Meylan helped the Huskies reach the Women’s College World Series and became the first UW freshman to earn All-American honors since 2018. Last season as a Husky sophomore, she tossed 139 strikeouts and compiled a 2.55 ERA.
But after UW saw a transfer portal exodus during the summer, Meylan left and landed at OSU. Wayne Jr. said Meylan “never really had any intentions of leaving” until the Huskies saw heavy turnover.
Meylan’s drive home to Omaha from Stillwater is 17 hours shorter than when she was a Husky — much closer to the familiar faces she’ll see Friday.
She played travel ball with Nebraska star Jordy Bahl and infielder Bella Bacon and was high school teammates with Lauren and Hannah Camenzind. Meylan said at some point, she “played with or against” every Nebraskan on the Cornhuskers’ roster.
If Meylan and Bahl are in the circle Friday, it’ll be two of the best pitchers in the country — and two Nebraska kids — headlining a top-25 matchup.
In her first 34 innings as a Cowgirl, Meylan posted a 2.06 ERA with a 7-1 record. She tossed 40 strikeouts and only allowed 10 earned runs, helping OSU get to an 10-4 start despite its difficult nonconference schedule.
And while it’s unknown if she’ll pitch against the Cornhuskers, Meylan’s family, friends, former high school coach and teammates will be in Wichita, Wayne Jr. said.
“I know a lot of the girls,” Meylan said. “I know the coaching staff. I grew up around that program a lot. So, it’s just cool anytime I get to play against them.”
sports.ed@ocolly.com
Cowgirls fighting through early-season ‘calluses’ with unexpected production from bottom of lineup, baserunning
pointing to his head. “She’s good. There’s a reason we keep running her out there.
Kenny Gajewski-led teams don’t often suffer growing pains to start the season.
When Oklahoma State softball has faltered or hit a rough patch in recent memory, it’s in the middle to the latter part of the season or, even worse, in the postseason.
But the Cowgirls (10-4) have already built up “calluses,” Gajewski said. Despite going 3-0 this past weekend in Conway, Arkansas, it wasn’t easy — OSU was down 5-1 after the first inning in its final game against Central Arkansas, which the Cowgirls won 9-5.
So with six games from ThursdaySunday — the Cowgirls went 2-0 Thursday against South Dakota State and Wichita State — OSU looks to work through its calluses and dominate the Shocker Invitational in Wichita, Kansas, and their two home games Sunday against Drake and Tulsa.
“I feel like, man, we’re already callused in a lot of ways,” Gajewski said. “So, I think that’s probably good for this program and these kids on this team on this journey.”
Gajewski said most teams play “the way they’re supposed to play about 70 percent of the time.” The remaining 30 percent is split into 15s where he believes teams play better or worse than they should.
And so for his team, which has played in all three of those sections, it’s about fighting through the calluses and taking off “the emergency brake.”
“I think we’re playing a little bit with the brake on,” Gajewski said. “Trying not to lose, trying not to have bad at-bats, trying to get hits instead of just being relentless.”
Bloodworth’s offensive progress
After UCA took a 5-1 lead after the first on Monday, the Cowgirls looked shellshocked.
But senior shortstop Megan Bloodworth led OSU’s comeback, going 3 of 3 from the plate — which included a two-run home run — as she brought a season-high three runs home.
Bloodworth, an elite defensewoman, has never been known for her hitting. After one season at Alabama, she averaged .192 and .185 from the plate her first two seasons at OSU.
Twelve games into this season, she’s batting .318. Gajewski said her improved confidence is because she worked through her mental struggles.
“It’s all up here,” Gajewski said,
“... If she can keep the boogeyman out of her head when she’s batting, she’s legit. Like, she can go. She’s had a great fall, and she’s showing signs of being able to keep that guy out of there.”
Bloodworth agreed, saying she feels like she’s “finally starting” to get through her mental roadblocks.
Her development helps the rest of the Cowgirls’ lineup, too. Although players like Megan Delgadillo, Rosie Davis and Karli Godwin are producing at the top of the batting order, Bloodworth, Tallen Edwards and Tia Warsop, in particular, have performed well offensively at the bottom of the lineup though 12 games, Bloodworth and Edwards (.344) are both in the 300s, and Warsop (.429) has the highest team average in 29 at-bats.
“Getting it to the top (of the lineup),” is the goal, Bloodworth said, but if the Cowgirls can keep getting production from their bottom couple of names, their offense should keep improving.
Bunch of thefts
If OSU’s lineup gets baserunners on, expect Gajewski’s team to be aggressive, looking to steal bases.
“If we get on base more, we’d be doing it more,” he said.
The Cowgirls’ “more” would be quite a bit; in 12 games they have 26 attempts at stolen bases, and have stolen 24. Its opponents are 2-of-5 stealing against the Cowgirls.
Last season, the Cowgirls attempted 56 steals and stole 45 bags. They had already stolen more than half the amount of bases they did last season (61 games) in their first 12 games.
The Cowgirls stole 65 bases on 79 attempts in 2022, and haven’t reached their decade-high numbers since. Top-tier baserunners like Chelsea Alexander (21 stolen bases), Brianna Evans (14) and Kiley Naomi (13) paved the way in 2022 for the mindset Gajewski’s tried to emphasize in recent memory.
“It’s been an emphasis of ours for a couple years, but this team has taken it over,” Gajewski said. “So I’m really happy with the way we’re doing that.”
And it makes sense why this year’s squad has found success baserunning. Speedsters like Delgadillo (eight stolen bases) and Warsop and Bloodworth (five each) seemingly match the Alexander-Evans-Naomi trio from a couple of seasons back.
“When we start getting dialed in… you’re gonna see more stolen bags, you’re gonna see more runs scored; a lot of things are gonna happen,” Gajewski said.
sports.ed@ocolly.com
Payton Little
OSU shortshop Megan Bloodworth has showed an offensive improvement this season.
Courtesy College Football Hall of Fame
Ruby Meylan’s grandfather, Wayne,
All-American football player at Nebraska.
Hoyt looking for first win against Kansas
CAYDEN COX STAFF REPORTER
Jacie Hoyt has several notable wins during her time as a head coach.
The Oklahoma State women’s basketball coach has defeated seven top-25 teams and has an NCAA Tournament appearance under her belt.
Hoyt has never beaten Kansas, though. She’s 0-6 against the Jayhawks in her career.
In her tenure leading the Cowgirls, Hoyt has faced the Jayhawks four times. The other two came during her time at the University of MissouriKansas City.
But Hoyt will get her seventh go on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse, as her No. 21 Cowgirls travel to Lawrence to close out the regular season.
OSU is 17-1 on it’s home court this season, with the lone loss coming against the Jayhawks. After the 75-66 heartbreaker in January, the question was raised to Hoyt of just how bad it stung to drop her sixth-straight game against KU.
“Yeah, it does (sting),” Hoyt said. “It actually really does… That’s not a good feeling.”
In the most recent matchup, KU held the Cowgirls to 36.4% from the field, their third-lowest shooting percentage of the season, and nearly ten points below their average. OSU also found itself in foul trouble as it committed 22 fouls, its second-highest total of the year. This allowed KU 26 free throws for 24 points.
KU has seemed to find the keys to success against Hoyt. It has made her teams uncomfortable and unable to generate offense. Hoyt is notoriously known to have successful offenses; however, the Jayhawks defense has forced her to make quick in-game adjustments. The Jayhawks have forced at least 10 turnovers in six meetings
against Hoyt. Hoyt’s teams are known to shoot well and often, but KU has prevented her squads from doing that. Only once has a Hoyt-led team shot better than 40% against the Jayhawks, contributing to an average 11-point differential.
Not only has KU found a defensive advantage against Hoyt’s teams, but it has also seen success inside the paint. Of the six meetings in Hoyt’s career, five were controlled by a strong interior presence by the Jayhawks.
In addition to its familiarity on the court, KU has personal ties to Hoyt.
In the 2016-2017 season, KU assistant coach Karyla Knight played for Kansas State, where Hoyt was serving a short stint as an assistant. Knight took a position with the Jayhawks several years later, just before Hoyt started her tenure with the Cowgirls.
Hoyt’s personal connection to the Sunflower State goes deeper, as she was raised in Hoxie, Kansas, and pursued her athletic career at Wichita State University. Whether her roots have affected the outcomes of recent matchups is speculation, but it’s worth noting, nonetheless.
Whatever is contributing to the block in the road with the Jayhawks will need to take a quick turnaround before Sunday. The Big 12 is slated to have an eventful weekend, so clinching a road win is a dire need for the Cowgirls to secure a top-three spot in the conference tournament next week.
In order to get past the Jayhawks on Sunday, OSU will have to bring its offensive struggles to an end on the road and create a commanding presence on the interior. If OSU can generate the same energy it experiences at home, a win in Lawrence should be no issue for the top-25 team.
“Whether it is trying to quiet a crowd of 10,000 people, or just being in an empty gym... you got to find ways to not let your energy dip off,” Hoyt said.
news.ed@ocolly.com
Lutz
Another factor may be the reports that OSU had a chance at Bill Self before hiring Lutz.
Lutz is also known to give off a prickly vibe. His seemingly angry demeanor after most games could easily come off as off-putting to fans, but behind closed doors, he throws water on his players, holds lookalike contests and pokes fun at himself regularly.
“A couple of the referees in the league say I look like Stuart Cink,” Lutz said. “Obviously, none of those guys know who Stuart Cink is.”
Cink is a professional golfer, and he and Lutz have some striking similarities.
Whatever the reason, the support that Lutz and the Cowboys deserve relative to any realistic expectation hasn’t been there.
“I know Twitter people think sometimes that I don’t coach them, but we actually talked about it in the timeout,” Lutz said following the upset win.
The “it” Lutz was referring to was OSU’s strategy to close out the Cyclones. Lutz and his team focused on making free throws and playing smart down the stretch — the opposite of what it had done just two weeks earlier when missed free throws and miscommunication led to a buzzerbeating loss at TCU.
The difference in the endings of those games is as perfect an encapsulation of the story of this OSU season as one could imagine.
Just give the team — and more importantly, the man — some time.
OSU had multiple games where it has been run out of the building in an embarrassing fashion. Lutz and Co. made it clear they aren’t happy about that.
A lot of OSU fans remember the Sutton days. A time when GIA was feared. An era when being a Cowboy was met with a standard.
But OSU hasn’t been that program since 2005. Outside of two seasons of Marcus Smart and a COVID-19-ruined season of Cade Cunningham, coming to Stillwater hasn’t meant any more to opponents than playing a road game at Colorado or TCU.
Lutz is in the process of changing that.
The physical brand of basketball that defined OSU’s program for decades is slowly coming back. In their win over the Cyclones, the Cowboys imposed themselves on one of the Big 12’s most physical teams, bullying their guards on the perimeter and frustrating their bigs into foul trouble
“All the physical things our program stands for and we take pride in, we lost to them,” ISU coach TJ Otzelberger said. “We weren’t as focused. We weren’t as tough.”
Lutz is intentionally restoring OSU to its roots while operating with monetary assets that are inferior to those of other teams in the Big 12.
Before Boynton was fired, he said his program’s operating budget was $500,000; other Big 12 teams, he said, were spending upward of $2 million. With OSU’s NIL efforts falling behind other schools, it needed a top-notch coach.
Enter Lutz, who didn’t arrive in Stillwater until April 2024. Creighton coach and mentor Greg McDermott told The O’Colly this past August that, by the time Lutz arrived, there would have “already (been) a lot of movement in the transfer portal.”
Like most coaches taking over new schools 2024, Lutz had to rebuild a roster in his image.
On top of the financial drawbacks, Lutz was forced to replace the slew of talented players Boynton identified and brought to Stillwater, all while competing in one of the nation’s deepest conferences Lutz came in behind the eight ball, and OSU improved from last season despite losing Javon Small, Brandon Garrison, Eric Dailey Jr. and others. Plus, the Cowboys beat a top-10 team. That should suffice for OSU fans.
An improved record was already certain before OSU’s upset, but that served as validation of what everyone should’ve already known: OSU got it right.
Hopefully, the win is a jolt to an OSU fanbase that has left GIA dormant during men’s basketball games this season.
The common phrase is “If you build it, they will come.”
Tuesday’s win is evidence that Lutz is building it. Now, it comes down to whether the rowdy crowds will return.
Payton Little
Steve Lutz has already won more games in his first season than the Cowboys did last season.
Connor Fuxa
Jacie Hoyt has never beaten Kansas, despite having faced the Jayhawks six times as a head coach.
Schubart
Continued from 1
Already a two-time All-American, Nolan was named a preseason firstteam selection by D1 Baseball.
A year ago, he finished with team highs in batting average (.370) and home runs (23) to go with a .513 on-base percentage and an .838 slugging percentage. He led the Big 12 in homers, RBI (68) and OPS (1.351) and is a consensus projected firstround selection in the 2025 MLB Draft.
The hype, preseason accolades and glamour highlight his marquee pedigree as a prospect. But with immense hype come lofty expectations.
Nolan knows opposing pitchers are going to throw differently to him — and that changing his approach at the plate would only cause confusion, as a large portion of offensive success is routine-based and correlated to muscle memory.
As the old saying goes: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” And Nolan’s hitting technique is far from broken.
Instead, Nolan said, he and Cowboys coach Josh Holliday have placed immense emphasis on “taking what pitchers give me.”
“My approach pretty much stays the same,” Schubart said. “I did well last year with it, and I’m gonna keep it going. And I know the guys that are gonna be surrounded (around) me this year are just as talented as last year’s (team) and have just as much power and control of their bat as we did last year.”
A year ago, Nolan saw the secondmost breaking pitches outside of the strike zone, according to Perfect Game. That led to early-season offensive struggles a year ago.
But then, near the midseason point, he began emulating his freshman All-American form. His hot streak never faltered. There was a five-hit game against Wichita State at home and a three-hit day at Houston; his batting average got as high as .373.
“He’s so consistent as a person,” Holliday said. “...All he can do — as would be the case with really any player — is play the pitch correctly and win the pitch. And if winning the pitch means it’s a pitch to hit, then drive it. If it’s a pitch to take, take your walk.”
And home runs came more frequently, too.
“I think at some point last year, I realized that I was trying to do too much (at the plate),” Nolan said. “I talked with coach (Holliday) and the rest of the coaching staff and went over technique. What was I doing wrong? Why wasn’t I getting the
College baseball has a double bag at first base; why, what does it mean
results that I wanted? What could I have been doing better? And I think once we went over it, I was able to see, ‘Hey, I’m trying to do too much.’ So, I started looking for pitches to hit rather than hit out of the park, and everything came together.”
Success has come aplenty for Nolan in college. But before he embarks on his journey in professional baseball, he knows self-growth is necessary.
That, however, is nothing new for him.
In Nolan’s youth, Mike was his baseball coach. Mike said he relished the father-coach dynamic — being around the sport he loved, spending time with his son — but that changed when Nolan joined a 13U travel team with a different coach.
“I think it was a humbling experience for both of us,” Nolan said. “It was awesome playing for my dad, but being able to move on and start hearing different voices and perspectives from different areas and different people, it was much needed.”
The game “almost forces you to grow up,” Nolan said, and it did so again during his recruitment. He’d committed to Michigan, his dream school, only for then-head coach Erik Bakich to leave for the same job at Clemson.
He recommitted, flipped to OSU shortly after and moved almost 1,000 miles from his hometown to begin his college career.
He’s thrived as a Cowboy, but the OSU slugger has yet to hit a home run through seven games this season.
It could be a blessing.
Nolan’s strikeout rate is low (31.82%), and his walk rate is up (36.36%); his batting average (.455) speaks for itself. He’s finding ways to reach base, and his hitting is guiding the Cowboys through the early portion of the season.
The home runs will come. Until then, if Nolan keeps finding ways to get on base, the Cowboys likely will keep winning.
“I know that the home runs will happen,” Nolan said. “That’s not really a worry for me. I’m glad to be getting on base in a different way, which is good, very good. I’m able to still drive runs in for us with the way that I’m getting on, and still score runs myself, obviously.
“If that comes with home runs, then great, it comes. But if not, and I’m hitting singles and doubles and taking my walks, then I’ll take that, too.” DANIEL ALLEN
OSU players still hold onto the bitter memory of Silvester’s injury.
STAFF REPORTER
A year ago, disaster struck Oklahoma State baseball.
On a ground ball hit in the bottom of the sixth inning of the Cowboys’ weekend opener against Michigan at Globe Life Field last February, OSU catcher Beau Sylvester sprinted toward first base. The Wolverines’ first baseman, Dylan Stanton, stood at an awkward angle, nearly blocking the bag and Sylvester’s base path.
Sylvester collided with Stanton because he didn’t have enough room to step on first base. And while Sylvester was ruled safe via infield single, it’s a play Cowboys head coach Josh Holliday said postgame “shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”
“It was a simple throw down the line — scary play,” Cowboys’ left fielder Donovan LaSalle said. “It ended Beau’s season early, and he was our starter. Big loss. So they’re just looking after us and trying to keep us safe.”
The solution? A double bag at first base.
On Jan. 28, the NCAA Division I Rules Committee instituted the rule in hopes of eliminating injuries like Sylvester’s and reducing the risk of interference calls. Each ballpark will now have the regular white bag placed adjacent to a colored bag, also known as “the safety bag.”
During any play at first, the defender must be in contact with the white bag, while the hitter runs to the safety bag, which is green or orange to make it easier for the officiating crew to see which bag the runner touches.
During OSU’s 6-0 win against Abilene Christian on Wednesday night at La Moderna Field, an orange bag was placed next to the regular base. The Cowboys joked after the game that it was a “fitting” color. All jokes aside, it served its purpose.
One awkward step on an alreadycrowded base or an overthrow from an infielder, causing the first baseman to step off and block the runner’s path, could have caused mayhem. That didn’t happen, but
“They say baseball is not a contact sport until a play like (Sylvester’s) happens,” Cowboys designated hitter Jayson Jones said. “So looking at the game tonight, honestly, who knows what could have happened without (the safety bag)?
“They’re just looking out for us. They want to make sure that everyone stays safe and has a good time playing; no problem with that.”
But it hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing.
During a game between Stetson and No. 8 Florida, home plate umpire Steve Trimper called Hatters catcher Salvador Alvarez out after review for allegedly not stepping on “the right bag.” Social media posts after the Gators’ 6-1 win showed Alvarez had stepped on the colored bag.
“It hasn’t been perfect, and I don’t know if there’s any way you can ensure controversy of some sort will never happen,” Holliday said. “But it’s obviously in the best interest of our players’ safety and health.
“(The double bag) stems from a really, really bad baseball call where a runner runs down the first base line like he’s supposed to, and then (the umpires) come back and say that he interferes with whatever. A lot of players have been getting hurt, like Beau (Sylvester) did last year, and then there’s plays where the catcher overthrows the ball and interference is called.”
Controversy is likely with any rule change. But the positives outweigh most negatives, Holliday said. And for the sake of health and longevity, perhaps change isn’t a bad idea.
“I think the whole concept is twofold,” Holliday said. “Nobody is saying that baseball has to be a single-bag sport. So, if we can make the game better, then credit to the sport for making it safer and better. Of course, when you add something new, there’s always growth and a learning curve. But if we can figure out how to navigate it and work with it, I think that it can be a really good thing for our sport.”
Bryson Thadhani
Nolan Schubart hasn’t hit any home runs yet this season, but his hitting has still helped OSU.
Three Cowboys headed to 2025 NFL Draft Combine
Nick Martin
Like Oliver, Martin missed most of the 2024 season, leaving much of his stock up to projection. However, he does have fans in draft circles.
Oklahoma State football has left little for fans to look forward to in 2025.
Between a losing season and a contract dispute, it hasn’t been a year to remember for the Cowboys. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t produce some NFL talent
Ollie Gordon II, Collin Oliver and Nick Martin were invited to the 2025 NFL Draft Combine in Indianapolis. All of them are expected to be selected in April’s NFL Draft.
Oliver was off to a terrific start, recording a sack in one game before he suffered a season-ending foot injury against Arkansas in the second game of the season.
Martin wasn’t on pace to match his 140-tackle performance from 2023, but he never got the chance after suffering a season-ending knee injury late in OSU’s 42-20 loss to Kansas State. In his five games, Martin recorded 47 total tackles and a sack.
Gordon’s season might’ve been the most interesting.
After winning the Doak Walker Award in 2023, Gordon was expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy in 2024 behind a returning offensive line that played a huge part in the Cowboys’ 10-win, Big 12 runner-up season.
Instead of meeting expectations, Gordon and the offensive line struggled. After rushing for 1,732 yards and 21 touchdowns in 2023, Gordon ran for just 880 and 13 scores in 2024.
While Gordon didn’t reach the heights some expected, he showed flashes of his past brilliance, most lined up with OSU’s offensive line giving him a lane, something that it didn’t do consistently.
Collin Oliver
Multiple factors during his time at OSU impacted Oliver’s draft status.
As a freshman, he made waves as a pass rusher. He was often projected as a first-round pick, with some mock drafts projecting him in the top ten.
But OSU’s defensive coordinator Jim Knowles left, and Oliver’s role eventually evolved into an off-ball linebacker more than a true pass-rush specialist. It’s difficult to know exactly where Oliver’s stock is due to his injury, and his permanent position will take some figuring out due to the way OSU used him, but what he put on film as a freshman makes it clear that he could easily become a good pass rusher at the next level.
“He’s a natural edge rusher with outstanding fluidity and movement talent but lacks the size or length to project there as a three-down player,” Lance Zierlein wrote on NFL.com. “As an off-ball linebacker in 2023 he flashed the ability to handle the position, but he clearly lacked the seasoning and recognition that can only come with more reps. No matter the alignment, he needs to play with better composure and positioning to handle run reps on his terms and make more tackles. He projects as a designated pass rusher and developmental off-ball linebacker with the ability to jump into a special-teams role.”
As with any NFL draft prospect, some projections are higher than others, but Ryan Fowler of The Draft Network projects Oliver as a Day-2 pick in April.
Martin’s athleticism at linebacker makes him a perfect fit for the role at the next level. He flies to the football and has a nose for opposing ball carriers. He could be bigger — Martin stands just 6-foot and weighs in at 220 pounds — but his instincts jump off the screen.
“Martin fits the mold of where the linebacker position is moving at the NFL level,” Fowler wrote. “He has the instincts and tackling ability to live at LB on run downs, the athleticism to cover RBs and TEs in space and the electric trigger and movement skills to live on all three downs at varying depths. Considering his skill set/production in minimal snaps (comparatively to other draft-eligible LBs) Martin has a performance ceiling as lofty as any linebacker in the country and is someone who should be prioritized for teams in need of a dynamic athlete in the middle of a defense.”
Martin’s sample size is small, which has led to a wide array of opinions on where he should rank on draft boards.
Fowler considers Martin a Day 1 prospect, but most big boards and mock draft services have him somewhere between late Day two and early Day 3.
Martin is reportedly slated to meet with the San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Fowler reported.
Ollie Gordon II
Despite a down year, most who watched Gordon would agree that when given the opportunity he was still one of the most dynamic runners in the Big 12, if not the country. He isn’t the shiftiest guy and he’s unlikely to juke a defender out of his shoes on the way to the endzone, but he is a big, powerful runner who has showcased high-end speed in spots.
“Big-workload back with a skill set that requires a physical, downhill run scheme,” Zierlein wrote. “Gordon is tight-hipped and forced to run linear tracks. He plays with adequate decisiveness and interior vision but lacks the agility to cut sharply or slip tackles in tight quarters. When he gets going downhill he becomes a battering ram, slamming through tackles and adding tough yards after contact. He’s good in the screen game and could improve his protection in time.”
Gordon’s physical style isn’t a fit on every team. Some may prefer the shiftier backs like Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson and Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson, but if a team is looking for a tone-setter in the backfield, Gordon may be on par with the likes of Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson and Michigan’s Kalel Mullings.
Gordon’s range in the draft has yet to be determined, but there are reports that he was good at the Senior Bowl earlier this month. If Gordon can turn in a good performance in Indianapolis, his stock could rise to the point of a day 2 pick.
Interest in sitting down with Gordon is high, as the Kansas City Chiefs, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers are all planning to meet with him at the combine, Fowler reported.
The O’Colly’s way-too-early
Big 12 football power rankings
8. Utah
The Utes underperformed in 2024 with a 5-7 record, but they dealt with several injuries and had four quarterbacks attempt 30 or more passes.
The college football season ended 40 days ago. Why not start predictions now?
The Big 12 has become known for its top-to-bottom parity the last several seasons. So, here’s an early look at how it could play out in 2025:
1. Arizona State
The Sun Devils lost star running back Cam Skattebo to the NFL, but they brought in Army transfer Kanye Udoh, who rushed for 1,117 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. Quarterback Sam Leavitt is back, and so is most of the Sun Devils’ defense.
ASU won the Big 12 Championship last season and nearly beat Texas in the College Football Playoff. It gets the No. 1 spot in the unpredictable Big 12.
2. Kansas State
A second act of an Avery JohnsonDylan Edwards backfield gives the Wildcats a chance to have an explosive offense. Johnson is superbly talented, and after a full season as a starting quarterback, he should improve in Year 2.
KSU went 9-4 last season and won the Rate Bowl. And Chris Klieman-coached teams always have a shot to make a run, putting the Wildcats at No. 2.
3. Iowa State
The Cyclones get another season with Rocco Becht at quarterback after going 11-3 and reaching the Big 12 title game, and they’re in a great position to return to Arlington.
ISU’s defense allowed 22.9 points last season — fourth fewest in the Big 12 — and is always solid under defensive coordinator Jon Heacock. Give the Cyclones a good chance to make a run in 2025.
4. BYU
The Cougars surprised with an 11-2 season in 2024 and finished the season ranked No. 13 in the Associated Press Poll, marking the 20th time in the program’s history it finished a season ranked.
With Jake Retzlaff back under center, and a defense that gave up the fewest points per game in the conference, BYU has the potential to make noise in 2025.
5. Texas Tech
TTU has high expectations after bringing in the nation’s top transfer portal class, according to On3.
The Red Raiders went 8-5 last season with Behren Morton’s at quarterback. He threw for 3,335 yards and 27 touchdowns and has several talented pieces to work with. This is the team for Joey McGuire and Co. to have a real shot at winning the league.
6. Baylor
The Bears got red hot down the stretch of last season, winning six of their final seven games, and got good quarterback play from Sawyer Robertson. Their nonconference schedule features a tough back-to-back slate against Auburn and SMU, but that might help tune them up for Big 12 play.
The jury might still be out on coach Dave Aranda, but he bounced back well last season after his seat was scorching.
7. Kansas
The Jayhawks were arguably the best team in the Big 12 during the final four weeks of last season. They beat Iowa State, BYU and Colorado and lost to Kansas State by two points.
With quarterback Jalon Daniels returning and a newly-renovated stadium, KU football has things to look forward to. It’s up to Daniels, Lance Leipold and Co. to put something together.
But Kyle Wittingham’s track record speaks for itself, and assuming the Utes get better injury luck under center, they should finish as a top eight team in the Big 12.
9. Colorado
Deion Sanders won’t have his son Shedeur leading the offense anymore, and the Buffaloes will also be without college football’s best player, Travis Hunter.
Transfer quarterback Kaidon Salter (Liberty) is talented, but without players of Sanders and Hunter’s caliber, CU will need several players to step up and fill big shoes.
10. Houston In his second season as the Cougars’ coach, Willie Fritz has UH trending upward. But it still has a ways to go. The Cougars brought in Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman, who was up-and-down as an Aggie but showed talent and won multiple SEC games against ranked opponents. UH also bolstered its offensive line and finished seventh in 247 Sports’ Big 12 transfer portal rankings, giving Fritz a much better chance to field a good squad.
11. TCU
The Horned Frogs went 9-4 last season, but that doesn’t tell the entire story. Five of their six conference wins were against bottom-seven teams, and three of them were against the three-worst teams: Oklahoma State, UCF and Arizona. TCU also suffered losses to Houston and UCF which finished 12th and 14th in the conference, respectively.
12. Oklahoma State
OSU’s 2024 season was a disaster. The Cowboys brought back most of a team that went to the Big 12 Championship, yet they finished 3-9 and 0-9 in Big 12 play — the worst under Mike Gundy. Unlike last season, OSU will have new players at most positions and new coordinators on both sides of the ball.
13. Cincinnati The Bearcats have talented Brendan Sorsby returning at quarterback, but they didn’t close the 2024 season on a strong note, losing five straight games. Scott Satterfield, now in year 3, will look to have his first winning season at Cincy.
14. Arizona
There’s a lot of reasons the Wildcats don’t have momentum heading into the 2025 season. Star wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan is on his way to the NFL, and seven additional starters from last season’s team went elsewhere. Brent Brennan has a lot on his plate.
15. West Virginia WVU hired Rich Rodriguez to replace Neal Brown after the Mountaineers went 6-7 last season. Although Rodriguez coached WVU to three straight double-digit-win seasons from 2005-07, the Mountaineers are in a much different place right now and have a lot of work to do.
16. UCF Like Rodriguez at WVU, Scott Frost returned to a former employer for a second stint as head coach. The Knights finished 4-8 last season and are 5-13 in Big 12 play since joining the conference. Can Frost work some magic like he did in 2017? He guided the Knights to a 13-0 season before accepting the Nebraska job, which didn’t go well.
sports.ed@ocolly.com
Bryson Thadhani
Ollie Gordon II is one
Payton Little
OSU
Despite Iowa loss, Taylor’s first season should still be deemed a success
DANIEL ALLEN STAFF REPORTER
During his retirement press conference, John Smith outlined his vision for Oklahoma State wrestling.
There, in the Boone Pickens Stadium team meeting room, the longtime Cowboys coach touched the hearts of OSU fans. He talked about how vital it was to leave the program in a better place.
In many ways, he did just that. But David Taylor has made it better.
OSU fans have a right to be disgruntled with a fifth straight loss to rival Iowa, a 21-16 defeat, Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Cowboys haven’t beaten the Hawkeyes in Iowa City since 2012. Fans have a right to be agitated with the Cowboys’ lack of success from the middle weights over the final month of the regular season. But deeming Taylor’s first season as OSU’s coach as anything less than successful would be foolish.
First, look at the offensive dominance OSU has displayed throughout the season.
The Cowboys logged at least 30
team points in each of their first nine duals. Such offensive eruptions came against top-10 Virginia Tech and North Carolina State, Arizona State, Oregon State and Bedlam rival Oklahoma on the road. OSU even scored 43 against Air Force on Jan. 3, a win that featured eight (!) bonus-point wins.
Taylor has emphasized his philosophy of scoring points in bunches, stretching scores for bonus points at all costs. For most of the season, that mentality resonated with his wrestlers, and it showed on the mat.
OSU has eclipsed 30 just once since its Jan. 19 home win against West Virginia. But there’s something to be said for OSU’s swift offensive turnaround from a season ago — Smith’s final year — when it did so just five times. Second, there’s the recruiting element.
When OSU athletic director Chad Weiberg hired Taylor, it was because of his name, the impact Taylor had on college wrestling’s growth in fan investment and viewership during his five seasons at Penn State. And not to mention the bevy of recommendations coaches nationwide gave Weiberg of Taylor — i.e. Nittany Lions head coach Cael Sanderson.
Taylor credentials thoroughly illustrate his career. He was a two-time national champion at Penn State, a two-time Hodge Trophy winner, one
of six college wrestlers ever to accomplish such a feat. Taylor was a fourtime Big Ten champion, a three-time world champion and an Olympic gold metal winner.
Taylor’s name alone grasped the attention of premier recruits nationwide.
High-caliber recruits wanted to wrestle for him. It showed the moment of his hiring.
Within one month of his hiring, Taylor secured transfer portal commitments from All-Americans Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) and Cam Amine (Michigan). He retained pledges from Dean Hamiti Jr. (Wisconsin) and Caleb Fish (Michigan State).
On Feb. 2, Taylor secured a commitment from Dreshaun Ross, the No. 3 pound-for-pound recruit in the 2026 class. Shortly after came a pledge from the No. 2 prospect in the class, Jax Forrest.
And lastly, there’s the fan support.
This season, the Cowboys broke their single-season attendance average (7,597). It’s an impressive feat considering OSU wrestling is the bluest of bluebloods in college athletics — the Cowboys claim 34 team national championships.
“It does take some time,” Taylor said in September. “...I think a lot has moved in that direction in four months, and it will continue to move
forward. So, I think all of this training and competing, just our program and where we’re at right now, it’s all been really good. This is a destination that people are going to seek out.”
Safe to say they have. And a nearsold-out crowd of 10,740 on Senior Day against Missouri was a fine cherry on top.
The Cowboys are 13-1. Sure, the Iowa loss might sting. But the Hawkeyes’ lone loss of the season came to juggernaut Penn State, which is seemingly due for a fourth straight team national title in March — and likely a fifth straight after next season. OSU will likely be the favorite to win the Big 12 Championships at the BOK Center in Tulsa next weekend. The Cowboys dominated conference competition throughout, and Taylor has an opportunity to give OSU its first Big 12 title since 2021. That alone could highlight his first season. That’s not even taking into account the possibility OSU finishes top five in nationals in Pennsylvania come March, which it hasn’t done since 2021.
So, rest assured, the Cowboys are in good hands. National title No. 35 could come sooner rather than later.
Bailey Schmitz
In his first season, OSU coach David Taylor has led the Cowboys to a 13-1 start with two wins against top-10 opponents.
sports
Cowboy golf headed to Cabo Collegiate in Mexico
For the first time this season, sophomore transfers Ethan Fang and Eric Lee will face their former school.
The No. 6 Oklahoma State men’s golf team and California Berkley will play in a 14-team field at the Cabo Collegiate in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, March 2-4. Fang is looking to dominate the weekend.
“I know Cal is playing in the tournament, so the goal is to beat them by at least 30 shots,” Fang said. “We’re going to go out there and make a statement.”
As for Lee, it’s going to be good to reunite with former teammates and coaches, adding more fuel to the fire.
“It’ll be good to see them again, Lee said. “Unfortunately, I know
our head coach at Cal who coached me last year won’t be there, but I’ll see my assistant coach and some old teammates, so definitely be nice. I’m excited to compete against them; it’s our first event since I transferred we’re competing against them. So it’s something to look forward to.”
Although both guys have different approaches to the tournament, assistant coach Stratton Nolen said, the common goal of the tournament does not change.
“I think it’ll just be something interesting to kind of see how those guys play,” Nolen said. “There’s nothing really distraction wise that we really are letting bother us. Just go down there and execute our play the best (way) possible.”
After a second-place finish at the Gators Invitational, the Cowboys had some time off to recover and work on their games. Head Coach Alan Brat-
ton said the short game was the point of emphasis.
“Make sure we’re working on maintaining strengths for each individual guy and trying to mitigate weaknesses specifically again,” Bratton said. “I would say just continuing that toughness and cleaning up those up and downs. We’ll also work on speed control.”
The tournament will be played at Twin Dolphin Club, a Fred Couples and Todd Eckenrode design. The last time OSU played in the tournament, it finished second to last and only had one Cowboy in the top 20. Nolen said this tournament gives the team a chance to bounce back from both a year ago and the last tournament.
“All the guys know what happened last year, and that gives us a little bit extra feel and motivation to show how far we’ve come in a year,” Nolen said. “There’s just a lot of confidence,
I would say, this year. It’s not like the course doesn’t suit our team really well. So just one of those things, we know we got a job to do, and we’re going down there to execute it the best we possibly can.”
Preston Stout, Gaven Lane and Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson will join Fang and Lee in Cabo. Junior John Wild will compete individually and make his first appearance in the lineup since the Fighting Illini Invitational. Other than Cal, the field consists of ranked teams such as Arizona State, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss.
“Obviously, we’re trying to beat (every team) in every tournament and come out on top,” Fang said. “I mean, playing teams good strikes fear into them, every time we beat them, like we did in Hawaii. So now they know who they’re going up against.”
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Preston Stout, Ethan Fang and Eric Lee will participte in the Cabo
DALTON ARREDONDO STAFF REPORTER
Cowboys take down No.9 Iowa State
Bryce Thompson walks through the
TOP LEFT: OSU
TOP RIGHT: Oklahoma State players side-by-side during a timeout.
MIDDLE LEFT: Fans celebrate on the court after OSU’s win.
MIDDLE: OSU guard Bryce Thompson takes a contested jump shot.
MIDDLE RIGHT: OSU coach Steve Lutz focuses during play.
BOTTOM LEFT: OSU forward Abou Ousmane with a fastbreak dunk.
BOTTOM RIGHT: OSU guard Arturo Dean celebrates after a made shot.
The Cowboys defeated No. 9 Iowa State 74-68 Tuesday. Here are photos by Connor Fuxa.
guard
crowd.