Oklahoma baseball coach Skip Johnson sent even more players to the pros with eight Sooners getting selected in the 2025 MLB Draft this week. OU’s eight picks were tied for the fourth-most among all schools.

Since Johnson took over the OU baseball program in 2018, 48 players have been taken in the MLB Draft. Four of those selections were first-round picks, including Kyler Murray (2018), Cade Cavalli (2020), Cade Horton (2022), and most recently, Kyson Witherspoon on Monday.

All-time, 315 Sooners have went in the MLB Draft.

Here’s a look at every Sooner drafted this year, plus there was OU signee Eli Willits, who went No. 1 overall to the Washington Nationals.

8 Sooners drafted to MLB

Good morning, BBN,

College basketball has certainly changed since Doron Lamb won his championship in 2012 with the Kentucky Wildcats.

The title wouldn’t have happened without Lamb, who poured in a game-high 22 points against Kansas, finishing the tournament with six straight double-digit outings and two 20-point games.

Over 78 games in Lexington, Lamb averaged 12.3 and 13.7 points his first two years, shooting an impressive 49/48/81.

A very key piece throughout his time here, and according to him, it could have been longer if NIL were a thing back then.

“I would’ve stayed… after one championship, I would have stayed because I would have gotten a big bag.”

He certainly would have, and who knows, maybe he could’ve gotten the 2013-2014 team over the hump against UConn in that Championship game.

But alas, we will never know. Still, fun to think about!

Tweet of the Day:

These are awesome!

Headlines:

Josh Kattus Named Nominee for Allstate AFCA Good Works Team – UK Athletics

Love to see it!

Kentucky’s Ethan Walker Selected in 2025 MLB Draft – UK Athletics

Good luck, Ethan!

Arch Manning at 2025 SEC Media Days: Texas QB tempers Heisman expectations while maturing into leadership role – CBS Sports

An answer we have come to expect from a Manning.

Sources: Jets, CB Sauce Gardner reach 4-year, $120.4M extension – ESPN

The CB market has skyrocketted.

‘What’s the point?’: Scottie Scheffler gets introspective ahead of The Open – NBC Sports

A really thought-provoking five from Scheffler.

Home cooking: In plug-and-play transfer era, SEC leans on in-house QBs to key league’s return to dominance – CBS Sports

So much talent in the SEC.

Sources: Chiefs, guard Trey Smith agree to 4-year, $94M deal – ESPN

Big deal for Patrick Mahomes’ health.

NBA Summer League Day 5: Johnny Furphy’s legendary dunk, Kyle Filipowski, Jazz put on a show – NBC Sports

The Jazz could be a sneaky successful team this year.

MLB All-Star Game rosters, starting lineups: Aaron Judge vs. Paul Skenes matchup set, 81 total players picked – CBS Sports

Excited for this.

Commanders’ Terry McLaurin frustrated by lack of contract talks – ESPN

Pretty surprising the Commanders haven’t locked up their WR1 yet.

By EDDIE PELLS
Associated Press

Less than two weeks after terms of a multibillion-dollar college sports settlement went into effect, friction erupted over the definition of a “valid business purpose” that collectives making name, image and likeness payments to players are supposed to have.

The new College Sports Commission sent a letter to athletic directors last week saying it was rejecting deals in which players were receiving money from collectives that were created solely to pay them and don’t provide goods or services to the general public for profit.

A lead attorney for the players responded by saying those instructions went against settlement terms and asking the CSC to rescind the guidance.

“This process is undermined when the CSC goes off the reservation and issues directions to the schools that are not consistent with the Settlement Agreement terms,” attorney Jeffrey Kessler wrote to NCAA outside counsel Rakesh Kilaru in a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

Yahoo Sports first reported details of the letter, in which Kessler threatens to take the issue to a judge assigned with resolving disputes involved in the settlement.

Kessler told the AP that his firm was not commenting on the contents of the letter, and Kilaru did not immediately respond to the AP’s request for comment.

Yahoo quoted a CSC spokesman as saying the parties are working to resolve differences and that “the guidance issued by the College Sports Commission … is entirely consistent with the House settlement and the rules that have been agreed upon with class counsel.”

When NIL payments became allowed in 2021, boosters formed so-called collectives that were closely tied to universities to work out contracts with the players, who still weren’t allowed to be paid directly by the schools.

Terms of the House settlement allow schools to make the payments now but keep the idea of outside payments from collectives, which have to be approved by the CSC if they are worth $600 or more.

The CSC, in its letter last week, explained that if a collective reaches a deal, for instance, for an athlete to appear on behalf of the collective, which charges an admission fee, that collective does not have a “valid business purpose” because the purpose of the event is to raise money to pay athletes, not to provide goods or services available to the general public for profit.

Another example of a disallowed deal was one an athlete makes to sell merchandise to raise money to pay that player because, the CSC guidance said, the purpose of “selling merchandise is to raise money to pay that student-athlete and potentially other student-athletes at a particular school or schools, which is not a valid business purpose.”

Kessler’s letter notes that the “valid business purpose” rule was designed to ensure athletes were not simply being paid to play, and did not prohibit NIL collectives from paying athletes for the type of deals described above.

To prevent those payments “would be to create a new prohibition on payments by a NIL collective that is not provided for or contemplated by the Settlement Agreement, causing injury to the class members who should be free to receive those payments,” Kessler wrote.

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President Trump intends to sign an executive order in the coming days establishing national standards for the NCAA’s Name, Image and Likeness program, which has reaped millions of dollars in revenue for top college athletes, according to multiple people familiar with his plans.

College athletes can now make millions before ever going pro thanks to a set of NCAA rules enacted in 2021 that relaxed previous restrictions on being compensated for playing or accepting endorsement deals. Student athletes can now profit from merely showing up to play, or from jersey sales, autographs or serving as spokespeople for companies ranging from global brands to car dealerships near campus.

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Mr. Trump is engaging on an issue that has quickly reshaped and, in many ways, roiled college athletics after a House subcommittee on Tuesday advanced a bill along party lines that would establish national standards for sponsorships. The legislation, called the “SCORE Act,” would supersede a patchwork of state laws regulating Name, Image and Likeness, or NIL.

While the bill has bipartisan support, there is also bipartisan concern it would give too much power to the NCAA and do little to protect the interests of college athletes.

The NCAA’s decision in 2021 to let athletes earn money from NIL deals followed years of political and legal pressure on the collegiate sports giant. For decades, the NCAA imposed steep limits on compensation for student athletes, which it argued were necessary to insulate college athletics from commercial pressures. But opponents — including many college athletes — had long argued the rules unfairly cut them out of the millions in revenue that sports like football and basketball can bring in for universities.

Last month, in a massive shakeup, a federal judge signed off on a legal settlement in which the NCAA agreed to let schools pay student athletes directly.

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Trump has regularly engaged with professional and college sports of all sorts since and even before retaking office. Whether attending the storied Army-Navy football game last December or stealing the spotlight at last Sunday’s Club World Cup championship, the future of sports is a frequent presidential concern.

The White House didn’t immediately return requests for comment late Tuesday.

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