Former RB commit Eric Gray transferring to OU
Former Michigan running back commit Eric Gray, who avoided visiting Michigan and then flipped to Tennessee, is now heading to Oklahoma. Gray was one of the few bright spots for the Volunteers in 2020, but there's been a mass exodus.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma has lost a couple solid running backs over the past couple years (Trey Sermon, Rhamondre Stevenson), so they do what they do really well:
They got a solid player from the transfer portal.
There have been rumors about Gray being a part of the investigation at Tennessee. I'm not sure if anything will come of that, but for now, Gray should be a pretty good addition there in Norman.
January 27th, 2021 at 8:00 PM ^
Trick-or-treating with a McDonalds bag in Norman huh?
January 27th, 2021 at 8:04 PM ^
That's probably a good landing spot for him.
January 27th, 2021 at 8:07 PM ^
Will he have to return his Tennessee signing bonus?
January 27th, 2021 at 8:24 PM ^
Sort of a “Billy the Kid” situation, no? Grab the money and run off to Oklahoma. Should’ve went to Okie State that way he could’ve been a real cowboy.
January 27th, 2021 at 8:25 PM ^
WOTS is that the Tennessee guys won’t clear compliance at UM. I don’t think we will see any transfers from there.
January 27th, 2021 at 8:36 PM ^
Hell, we can’t get Worthy past admissions with a 3.5 gpa so this doesn’t surprise me in the least.
January 27th, 2021 at 9:01 PM ^
Over 1,000 players in the portal and Michigan won't pick up any of them.
January 27th, 2021 at 9:36 PM ^
2,800. That’s enough to start an entire new division
January 27th, 2021 at 8:34 PM ^
3 Tennessee players ended up transferring to Oklahoma: Former 5 star OT Wanya Morris, Former Top 100 S Keyshawn Lawrence, now RB Eric Gray.
January 27th, 2021 at 8:39 PM ^
Sooners running a classic case of poaching 101.
January 27th, 2021 at 9:30 PM ^
Wow! Wanya Morris was Trente Jones' HS teammate.
January 27th, 2021 at 9:50 PM ^
Wanya Morris? Wasn’t he the lead singer of Boyz 2 Men? Looks like it’s the End of the Road for him at UT.
January 28th, 2021 at 12:58 AM ^
It’s so Hard to Say Goodbye.
January 28th, 2021 at 8:32 AM ^
It really was One Sweet Day
January 28th, 2021 at 5:00 PM ^
I don't know any Boyz 2 Men songs, which means you guys are losers and I feel pretty good about myself.
January 27th, 2021 at 8:47 PM ^
Good luck to him in Oklahoma.
I was there for 6 years one summer.
January 27th, 2021 at 8:58 PM ^
You’re not kidding. I was stationed there for four years and have not set foot in that state since. As a son of the mountains who went to college in Colorado, I was used to it cooling down at night so much so that it was weird for it to be warm at night. Imagine my surprise when summer hit and it was still over 100’ at midnight, and then the wind would hit and it would feel like a fucking hairdryer. Never, ever again...
January 27th, 2021 at 9:13 PM ^
Man I’m the exact opposite. I lived in Enid for 3 yrs and absolutely loved it. Working in the grain industry my slower time was in the falls finally so that may have helped, but I’d rather have it 100 than 20 any day of the week...The spring storm season and warmer winters were awesome in my opinion. I’d definitely go back, but here I am moving to Wisconsin for work in 5 days...
January 28th, 2021 at 3:11 PM ^
20? Welcome. You're dreaming. +20 is the typical high up here for most of the winter. I won't disclose the typical lows until after you've moved.
January 28th, 2021 at 5:27 PM ^
Haha, the cold doesn’t bother me, just not my kinda weather. I spent a year in South Dakota, had 45 straight days where the high was below zero, that was terrible...I definitely prefer the warmer climates...
January 27th, 2021 at 9:54 PM ^
That’s how I felt in Texas for the UM vs. Bama game. Wanted to puke it was so hot and the wind was worse. Like sticking your head in a furnace.
January 28th, 2021 at 6:20 AM ^
What were you doing up after midnight?
I was at that UofM Bama game at Jerry World. Holy Shit was that hot. Insane to be outside for five minutes.
January 28th, 2021 at 7:39 AM ^
I was in my early 20’s it would have been weird if I wasn’t up after midnight....
January 28th, 2021 at 10:38 AM ^
That had to be out Lawton way I imagine.
There are two Oklahomas. That Oklahoma and Green Oklahoma, the east side of the state. Beautiful country.
Was there for 2 years and I've never lived any place better in my life. Good good people. Like a cross between the best of southerners and midwesterners all rolled together.
Hottest day ever in my life was at the Porter Peach Festival. World largest peach cobbler (they said). Not even sure they needed the fire on to cook the thing.
January 28th, 2021 at 1:22 PM ^
Yes, it was Lawton. Field Artillery Officer Basic Course. It was beyond hot that summer. We used to come back from the range (learning how to call for fire) and you could stand your BDU shirt up on its own from all the salt your body sweated out. Drank two canteens of water in the morning and then 2 in the afternoon. I guess the good part was the low humidity.
Lawton (off post) is an interesting place.
January 28th, 2021 at 6:19 PM ^
I was stationed in Enid and landed at Lawton once. I vowed to never put myself in a position where I would risk the jet breaking there(living in Enid was bad enough, I didn't feel like being in a position to spend the night at Enid II). So we would drop in at Fort Sill for an approach or two and then fly over to Oklahoma City.
In the summer we had something similar to what you described with the sweat. We called it 'Body by Tweet" as you would lose ten pounds of water weight during the summer as you sweat it all out. You could tell how many times someone had flown during the day by the salt rings on their back and putting that fucking rubber oxygen mask on was just miserable. Someone actually took a thermometer up in the cockpit of one of those hellbeast no-air-conditioning planes we flew and it hit 130 in the middle of a sortie once. There were some good things about Oklahoma, but all I think about is how miserable those summers were and it makes me stay well the hell away from that state.
Oklahoma to me was the worst of both worlds, Summer was crazy hot and winter was icy and cold, the wind coming over the plains and down the flightline would either act like a hairdryer or frostblaster depending on the season and that was how I spent my early 20's. Join the Air Force everyone!
January 27th, 2021 at 10:22 PM ^
LOL choked on my cauliflower! I spent the night in Sayre, OK before. Was with the wife (then GF) and a 4 month old, and a cat. We drove cross country from GR to Phoenix for me to attend grad school and Sayre was one of our stops. Oops.
January 27th, 2021 at 10:30 PM ^
It was not too bad. My job transferred me there in '89 and I was so bored I got my MS at OU in 3 years. My old house north of Norman, in Moore got wiped out by the '99 tornado. I was in Lubbock TX in 97, so the tornado did not get me. Living in Michigan all of my life before heading down to Oklahoma was a big shock to me, that first summer it was like 105/78 with a heat index of 120. The summers sucked but I liked the warmer winters.
January 27th, 2021 at 9:23 PM ^
Oh good it's nice to see the little guys get a little help from the transfer portal
January 27th, 2021 at 9:28 PM ^
So does Ohio State owe Tennessee a RB in this three team deal?
January 28th, 2021 at 5:01 PM ^
There probably will be an OSU RB transfer in the next 12 months.
Crowley, Chambers or Williams?
January 27th, 2021 at 9:32 PM ^
I have to assume stuff will come out at some point that he was involved in the issues at UT (though I don't particularly care if a guy gets paid playing college football, the NCAA sure seems to), and he'll wind up being deemed ineligible. But he's a good pickup for OU while he can play.
January 27th, 2021 at 10:55 PM ^
Lincoln Riley runs an offense friendly system for all positions so Eric Gray should be able to average 6-7 yards a carry in that system.
January 28th, 2021 at 9:14 AM ^
BK, Wendy's or 5 Guys bag? Will my mom get to keep her house and job?
January 28th, 2021 at 2:15 PM ^
I guess this would be the second front of the recruiting war that UM is unwilling to wage. The first, of course, is avoiding any of the same trouble that got Tennessee in trouble in the first place...any form of payments/benefits to incoming freshmen (i.e. following the rules). The second, navigating the transfer portal to avoid additional potential trouble. As stated, there are likely issues following some of these Tennessee transfers (valid or not). Obviously, Oklahoma has decided that they're going after any player who can help them, potential issues be damned. There's got to be an academic piece, too. If Gray has already been academically accepted into Oklahoma, that would have to be the fastest credit adjudication in the history of higher ed. We all know, it will take UM the entire spring semester to determine someone's status. All this will make it difficult for UM to take full advantage of the transfer portal. They're already getting outmaneuvered in the Big 10 by Indiana, Purdue, etc. Will that happen on the national stage, as with Oklahoma? Chances are it will be difficult to be a serious player in the portal without being willing to make some compromises within the program. How desperate will JH be in filling out his 2021 roster in order to win?
January 28th, 2021 at 3:41 PM ^
This is the kind of thing that makes no sense regarding fielding P5 programs in athletics. The holier than though approach is BS.
I think the fastest way to adjust this process would be for the big donors to simply say no until everyone in admissions and support services fully understands that the big athletic programs require more flexibility.
If Ross, Taubman, Zell, Munger and others forget how to write a check - I would think it would prompt changes in academic flexibility and admissions processes fairly quickly.
Given that there are some great student athetes in both football and basketball is great - but last I checked