The best college basketball story in Norman right now lies with Jennie Baranczyk and Oklahoma’s women’s basketball.

On the latest episode of the Lederman Jacket, ESPN women’s basketball reporter Michael Voepel joins the show for a conversation on the Big 12-leading Sooners’, OU’s midseason turnaround, Jennie Baranczyk’s case for Big 12 Coach of the Year honors before diving into Caitlin Clark’s historic run at Iowa and the rest of the women’s college basketball landscape with postseason play fast approaching next month.

Episode highlights:

2:25 - Michael Voepel on the confidence charging OU’s conference-topping run
7:05 - How Jennie Baranczyk has fashioned a new-look team into one of the Big 12’s best
10:20 - Do the Sooners have a roster capable of postseason success?
12:15 - Covering Caitlin Clark and putting context on her record-setting career at Iowa
18:40 - Rapid fire questions on Baranczyk, Clark and the world of women’s college basketball

Producer: Jacquelyn Musgrove
Creative Director: Michael Lane
Social media team: Bobby Howard
Director of Content: Mike Sherman

He introduced Billy Ball to Norman and launched the modern era of Oklahoma men’s basketball from 1980-94. This Saturday, the Sooners will honor the life and legacy of the legendary coach Billy Tubbs when Kansas visits Lloyd Noble Center at 3 p.m. (ESPN+).

On the latest episode of the Lederman Jacket, Tommy Tubbs joined Eli Lederman and Todd Lisenbee for a conversation on the father and the coach who led OU to four Big Eight titles, nine NCAA Tournament appearance — including a national runner-up in 1988 — and a school-record 333 wins in 14 seasons with the Sooners.

Episode highlights:

2:16: Billy Tubbs’ upbringing and his 1980 arrival in Norman
11:23: Plans for this weekend’s festivities honoring Billy Tubbs
14:12: The fervor of the Billy Ball era
19:32: Billy Tubbs in the NIL and transfer portal era?
32:23: Ed Hightower and the night Billy Tubbs grabbed the microphone

Producer: Jacquelyn Musgrove
Creative Director: Michael Lane
Social media team: Bobby Howard
Director of Content: Mike Sherman

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Oklahoma’s pursuit of an unprecedented four-peat later this spring begins Thursday morning in the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge as the top-ranked Sooners embark on another season as consensus national title favorites.

Before OU kicks off its latest championship defense, former Sooner and two-time national Nicole Mendes joined the show to dive into OU’s roster changes, increased flexibility in the lineup and in the circle this season and the potential stumbling blocks in the program’s chase to lift another trophy in Oklahoma City in June.

Episode highlights:
11:46: Sooners searching for a new identity in the early months of the season
17:13: Filling holes left behind by Grace Lyons and Haley Lee
23:25: Managing a deep and talented pitching rotation
37:30: The biggest challenge standing in the way of the Sooners’ title defense

Producer: Jacquelyn Musgrove
Creative Director: Michael Lane
Social media team: Bobby Howard
Director of Content: Mike Sherman

We’re back to discuss Washington guard transfer Geirean Hatchett’s commitment to Oklahoma (2:00), the Sooners’ big road win at Kansas State (4:15) and the NCAA’s NIL-related investigation at Tennessee (5:30).

Then, Ben Portnoy of Sports Business Journal returns to the show for a conversation around his story on Nick Saban’s impact on the business of college football (8:00). From analyst jobs (13:02) to skyrocketing coaching salaries (18:10) to the facilities arms race (21:52) and a modern crop of athletic directors (26:45), the legendary Alabama coach’s tentacles reach all across the sports.

Episode highlights:

2:00: Washington guard transfer Geirean Hatchett’s commitment to Oklahoma (2:00)
4:15: The Sooners’ much-needed Tuesday night road win at Kansas State
5:30: The NCAA’s NIL-related investigation into Tennessee
8:00: Ben Portnoy of Sports Business Journal
13:02: Nick Saban: father of the off-field analyst staff
18:10: How coaching salaries jumped in the Saban era
21:52: The football facilities arms race
26:45: The crop of athletic directors in the Saban tree

Ben's Story on Nick Saban's impact on the business of College Football: https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2024/01/29/legacy-of-nick-saban

Producer: Jacquelyn Musgrove
Creative Director: Michael Lane
Social media team: Bobby Howard
Director of Content: Mike Sherman

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Change is coming to the Sooners’ offensive line. So Sellout Crowd’s Sam Mayes, a former All-America lineman at Oklahoma State, joined the show to assess the state of Oklahoma’s rebuild as it enters the SEC.

Episode highlights:
2:28 Detailing the OL turnover
13:15 Where transfers Spencer Brown, Michael Tarquin and Febechi Nwaiwu fit in
30:02 The challenge Bill Bedenbaugh has in front of him in the fall
39:30 What OU’s best starting offensive line could look like as of now.

Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
- Oklahoma Ford Dealers https://www.buyfordnow.com/tulsa-okc-lawton/
- 2 Fellas Moving Company https://2fellas.com/
- The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/
- MidFirst Bank https://www.midfirst.com/
- Firelake Casino https://www.firelakecasino.com/
- Oklahoma Blood Institute https://www.yourbloodinstitute.org/

Related stories:
The story behind OU receiver Brenen Thompson’s act of generosity in Amarillo | https://selloutcrowd.com/the-latest/2024/01/22/the-story-behind-ou-receiver-brenen-thompsons-act-of-generosity-in-amarillo/
OU has ground to make up on SEC men’s basketball attendance | https://selloutcrowd.com/oklahoma/2024/01/23/ou-has-ground-to-make-up-on-sec-mens-basketball-attendance/

Episode links:
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc7N6SX7tIj1OqUN6PCPAEQ
X/Twitter https://twitter.com/AllmericanMayes
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/allmericanmayes/
Sellout Crowd https://selloutcrowd.com/sam-mayes/

Show info:
Sellout Crowd https://selloutcrowd.com/category/the-lederman-jacket/
Apple Podcast http://tinyurl.com/4a7yznxc
Spotify http://tinyurl.com/yhnzxbfn
Amazon Music http://tinyurl.com/yfz6t393

Zac Alley has officially been named the Sooners’ new co-defensive coordinator. On this edition of the Lederman Jacket, Eli is joined by Jacksonville State beat writer Tyler Waldrep of the Anniston Star to discuss the Brent Venables’ latest coordinator hire and the defense Alley developed over his two seasons with the Gamecocks.

Producer: Jacquelyn Musgrove

Creative Director: Michael Lane

In this episode, Guerin Emig joins me to try to answer a simple question: Why can’t the Sooners win at Allen Fieldhouse?

We dive into Guerin’s background in Lawrence (0:50), the challenges visiting teams face on the road at Kansas (2:37), Oklahoma’s recent close class at ‘The Phog’ (6:45) and revisit Buddy Hield’s 46-point masterpiece in 2016 (10:00) as the Sooners visit the Jayhawks searching for a win at Allen Fieldhouse before they leave the Big 12.

Producer: Jacquelyn Musgrove
Creative Director: Michael Lane

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Welcome to the inaugural edition of “The Jackets”, our end-of-season Oklahoma football awards show — think low-budget Academy Awards, then think lower than.

Guerin Emig and Todd Lisenbee join me for some housekeeping on Woodi Washington’s return (1:40) before we dive into “The Jackets” (9:13) and hand out 2023 honors for the Big Mood Moment of the Year (11:54), Back to the Future award (18:50), Touchdown of the Year (25:33), Individual Performance of the Year (33:30), the Julie Andrews Award (39:37), the Landon Donovan Award (43:29) and the Odell Haggins Award (46:45) as we close the book on the Sooners’ season.

Producer: Jacquelyn Musgrove
Creative Director: Michael Lane

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