OSU Athletics Update: Baseball, Band (Location) and a Football Update
STILLWATER -- Tomorrow's an exciting day for Oklahoma State football as they're holding a mid-day pep rally in the student union. That's right, we're three weeks into January, a month removed from a Texas Bowl loss to Texas A&M and the program's as energized as it's been in years.
Tylan Wallace, Chuba Hubbard and Rodarius Williams all announced their return for another season and Mike Gundy pulled off a massive coup in keeping one of the best coaches in college football, Kasey Dunn, in Stillwater.
The entire Pokes Report staff will be on hand at the pep rally on Tuesday to bring you every angle.
Band (Location)
We're not giving an update on band activities, although I did have a full ride scholarship for music when I was in college. No, we're giving an update on the band as it pertains to their game day location this fall.
According to Bill Haisten of the Tulsa World, a decision has been made to move the band a few sections to the north. The band will be positioned smack dab in the middle of the student section, which should help in amplifying the sound and energy in the stadium.
While I enjoyed the aesthetics of the band in the middle of the end zone, I can certainly appreciate some change.
Baseball Preseason Poll
The news came out Monday morning that Cowboy baseball checks in at No. 16 in the preseason poll released by Baseball America. That marks the highest preseason ranking for the Pokes this year as they check in at No. 19 by Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game and No. 22 by D1Baseball.com.
The Cowboys have had a rather magical offseason as they added two former major leagues to the coaching staff in Matt Holliday and Robin Ventura.
Holliday was a seven-time MLB All-Star, was the NL Championship Series MVP and was easily one of the best hitters in baseball during his time in the big leagues. He's also the brother of head coach Josh Holliday. He joins the staff as a volunteer assistant.
As for Robin Ventura, he joins the staff as a student coach as he's returned to Oklahoma State to finish his degree. It's a brilliant move by Holliday to add Ventura as a student coach. I don't care what program it is, if you have a former Major League manager on campus taking classes, you find a way of getting him on the staff.
Of course, we all know that Ventura is still considered one of the best hitters in the history of college baseball as he posted a career .428 batting average, a program record, and he is also the Cowboys’ career record holder in hits (329) and runs (300) while ranking second in doubles (71), home runs (68), total bases (608), RBIs (302) and slugging percentage (.792).
Cowboys Say Aloha
Over the weekend, two Pokes were announced to play in the Hulu Bowl: defensive end Mike Scott and offensive lineman Johnny Wilson.
For those of you that might not know what the Hulu Bowl is, it's similar to the East-West Shrine game or the Senior Bowl in which players can play in front of pro scouts and GMs one last time before pro days, the Combine and the Draft.
The Hulu Bowl was established in 1946 and ran all the way up until 2008, but that was the last time it was played until this season.
You can also read about the other Cowboys that shined in postseason All-Star game here.
