Bob Stoops says he's not involved with recruits' background checks
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said Tuesday he has no association with background checks the school performs on prospective football players.
Stoops’ comments on background checks come days after a thorough Tulsa World report that noted Biletnikoff Award-winning wide receiver Dede Westbrook was arrested twice on domestic violence complaints before he joined the Sooners.
Westbrook came to Oklahoma before the 2015 season from Blinn Junior College. Per the report, Westbrook was alleged to have thrown the mother of his two kids to the ground in 2012 and accused of biting her and punching her in 2013. Both incidents happened before Oklahoma recruited him.
Stoops was asked about Westbrook’s history Tuesday and had this to say (via the World as well).
“We have extensive background checks,” Stoops said and then added, when asked if Westbrook’s history slipped through the cracks, “I’m not part of that. I’m not sure how that happened. We do a thorough job and it’s helped us in many occasions make different choices. In the end, how that happened, I can’t speak to it.”
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According to Sooner Scoop, the background checks the school performs are done by an outside agency and the checks have flagged incidents that have previously caused the school to stop recruiting players. While Stoops clearly isn’t a part of an outside agency, it would be quite surprising if he wasn’t aware of past accusations vs. Westbrook until the Tulsa World’s story.
#Sooners athletic department says background checks on prospects are done by outside agency. Also told less than half of Big 12 perform them
— SoonerScoop.com (@SoonerScoop) December 13, 2016
#Sooners athletic department official tells us they have ended recruitment of several prospects due to information from background checks.
— SoonerScoop.com (@SoonerScoop) December 13, 2016
But, apparently, not in the case of Westbrook, who developed into one of the best wide receivers in the country in 2016. He had 74 catches for 1,465 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2016 and averaged over 20 yards a catch in eight of 12 games. Westbrook was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy along with teammate Baker Mayfield.
The revelation of the accusations against Westbrook — he didn’t face charges regarding the first accusation and the second case was dismissed after the woman apparently did not respond to court communication — comes a week after the Oklahoma Supreme Court ordered the release of the surveillance tape that recorded OU running back Joe Mixon punching a woman in 2014. Mixon was suspended for the 2014 season and allowed to rejoin the team in 2015.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
