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Oklahoma Head Coach Brent Venables Gives Update on Wife's Cancer Treatment

Julie Venables, the spouse of Sooners' head coach Brent Venables, was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this summer.

Randall Sweet

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NORMAN — At Brent Venables mid-week press conference on Tuesday, Oklahoma's head coach gave reporters an update on the health of his wife, Julie Venables. 

At OU's media day in early August, the Sooners' head coach revealed that Julie had been diagnosed with breast cancer on June 16 and that she underwent successful surgery within the past month. 

On Tuesday, at his first mid-week media availability of the 2023 football season, the second-year head coach gave another update on his wife's health.

"Julie, she’s doing good," Venables said. "Probably looking at some point in time here in the near future will probably have to do some chemotherapy. But things have gone well up to this point, all things considered."

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OU fans have poured out their well-wishes to the Venables' family on social media, going so far as to mention wearing pink at the team's first home game against Arkansas State on Sept. 2 at 11 a.m. CT.

Venables' initial statement on Aug. 4 was emotional for him.

“Julie, we got a diagnosis on June 16," Venables said then. "It was a knock you off your feet (diagnosis), one that takes me back to talking to my mother in January 2005 and having a Stage 4 conversation. It’s one of those where there’s no blueprint for you to handle that. Our real sanctuary and our true shelter is our faith and the power of prayer. We’ve gotten so much support. I appreciate everybody here that has reached out. It’s been nothing short of amazing. The group of people that have helped. Whether it’s the doctors or administration people, the people I work with, our staff, our players, our player’s parents and certainly so many friends. It’s been great."

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Randall Sweet
RANDALL SWEET

Randall is a recruiting analyst and staff writer at AllSooners focusing primarily on OU Football and the recruiting trail. Working as a journalist, Randall has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and high school sports across the state. A 2022 University of Oklahoma graduate, Randall hails from Lubbock, TX. While in college, Sweet wrote for the OU Daily in addition to working with Sooner Sports Pad and OU Nightly. Following his time at OU, Sweet served as the Communications Coordinator at Visit Oklahoma City before leaving to join the team at AllSooners. The West Texas native has bylines in the Norman Transcript and is a Staff Writer for Inside the Thunder. Randall holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. 

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