NORMAN — Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops announced the signings of two junior college transfers to National Letters of Intent on Wednesday and both the signings should fill huge needs heading into next season.
The Sooners received signed letters of intent from Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College defensive tackle Quincy Russell. He was a first-team NJCAA All-American this past season after recording 75 tackles, including five for loss and two sacks. Russell, who originally signed to play at Texas out of Sam Houston High School in San Antonio is a three-star recruit as ranked by ESPN, Rivals and Scout.
OU also inked Laney (Calif.) College punter Jed Barnett. Barnett spent his rue freshman season (2010) redshirting at Cal. As a senior at Union High School in Comas, Wash., he earned all-state honors after averaging better than 50 yards a punt with 56 touchbacks.
The Sooners have also received a pair of oral commitments for the 2013 class.
Russell’s Trinity Valley teammate, Josiah St. John, announced on Twitter Wednesday that he has committed to the Sooners. St. John, a 6-6, 300-pound offensive tackle, is a three- or four-star recruit with all three major recruiting outlets.
The second commitment came from Houston Stratford offensive lineman Christian Daimler. The 6-6, 270-pound tackle had previously committed to Arizona State. He is also a three-star recruit.
Norvell avoids suspension: The Associated Press reported Wednesday that OU receivers coach Jay Norvell was nearly suspended for one game over impermissible tweets to recruits.
The NCAA rules enforcement staff initially wanted to suspend Norvell for one game after he had inadvertently publicly offered scholarships to six high school juniors last spring. The offers were also made before schools were allowed to make “written offers” to potential recruits.
Norvell thought he had made the offers through private direct messages, but they went out publicly on Norvell’s Twitter timeline. The coach also believed “written offers” could only be made through “official correspondence.”
The NCAA initially ruled Norvell would have to serve a one-game suspension in September. OU appealed and learned it had won its appeal earlier this month. Norvell will be on the sideline Jan. 4 when the 12th-ranked Sooners face No. 10 Texas A&M in the AT&T Cotton Bowl.
Stills weighing options: Junior wide receiver Kenny Stills said Wednesday that he will wait until after the Cotton Bowl to decide whether he will return for his senior year.
“There’s a lot of things to think about,” he said. “I’ll make the decision when I’m ready.”
Stills said he filed paperwork with the NFL draft advisory board to be evaluated, but didn’t think his grade would weigh heavily in his decision. Norvell said he’ll compile all the information Stills wants from the NFL.
“We’ll try to help them and give them all the information they need, so they can make the right decision, and we’ll use all our resources to do that,” Norvell said. “We know a lot of people in the league that can give us information and tell us where he stands. It’s something he’ll weigh and we’ll help him as much as we can.”
John ShinnFollow me @john_shinnjshinn@normantranscript.com
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