Brent Venables’ goal each football season is to win the national championship, but his goal each day is much more than that.

The WR room just got a bit deeper for the Sooners.

Led by Brent Venables, the Oklahoma Sooners are continuously adding more pieces to the offensive puzzle recently after adding QBs Davis Beville (Pitt) & General Booty (JUCO). But also adding receiver JJ Hester (Mizzou), and now another wide receiver in LV Bunkley-Shelton from Arizona State. For the offense, this off-season’s immediate position needs were offensive line, quarterback, and wide receiver after Riley’s departure and Lebby has been able to secure some depth in the QB room and even more quality depth in the wide receiver room.

So, who is Bunkely-Shelton? Or, better just known as LV. He was rated as a 4 star receiver, the 158th best player overall, and the no. 17 player in the state of California. After that, he played two seasons with the Arizona State Sun Devils where he was the second leading wide receiver both seasons that included the 4 game season for the PAC12. This past season, he hauled in 33 receptions for 418 yards and 2 touchdowns.

LV likely left Arizona State because the Sun Devils have a run heavy offense as they were ranked 11th in the PAC12 in passing yards this past season. Despite returning to ASU this upcoming season would’ve meant he would be the leading receiver, he sought opportunities elsewhere and it is now complimenting the wide receiver room at Oklahoma nicely. Oklahoma lost a few receivers to the portal but had a decent core returning in Mims, Wease, Farooq, and Stoops. Oklahoma now adds JJ Hester, another big bodied receiver that fits Lebby’s offense on the boundaries, but also now LV Bunkley-Shelton as a slot where he’ll very likely be a contributor right away just as he was at Arizona State. He’s a great route runner, has excellent hands, but is more of a water bug in the idea that he’s quicker than he is fast. However, he is explosive off the line and in/out of his breaks while having the ability to catch the ball through contact. I’d say Oklahoma should feel more comfortable about who Dillon Gabriel is throwing to now more so than they should have a couple of weeks ago.

The Sooners were in desperate need of depth at quarterback after spring practices.

The Oklahoma Sooners closed spring practices last month in dire need of depth at quarterback. The situation has changed dramatically in the course of a couple weeks, with two signal callers taking two significantly different paths to join the squad. Neither is going to push Dillon Gabriel at the top of the depth chart, but the two newcomers fill glaring holes in the roster.

Davis Beville

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Background: OU head coach Brent Venables likely became acquainted with Beville when he was a three-star recruit out of Greenville, South Carolina. After enrolling at Pittsburgh in the summer of 2019, Beville sat behind Kenny Pickett for three years. He took a redshirt in his first season and then rarely saw the field in 2020 and 2021.

Beville’s most extensive action with the Panthers came against Michigan State in the Peach Bowl at the end of last season. He completed 14-of-18 pass attempts for 149 yards with a touchdown and an interception versus the Spartans.

Biggest question: Why did Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi recruit USC transfer Kedon Slovis to join the Panthers?

There’s no shame in waiting your turn behind a QB like Pickett – the Pittsburgh Steelers just selected him in the first round of the NFL draft. The Panthers welcoming Slovis this offseason, on the other hand, hints at concerns among the program’s coaching staff regarding Beville’s development. It’s also worth mentioning that Beville sat third on the Pitt depth chart last season, behind both Pickett and upperclassman Nick Patti.

If Narduzzi felt comfortable playing Beville or Patti this year, it wouldn’t make much make sense for the Panthers to add Slovis. Right?

Outlook at OU: Beville has the inside track for the second line on the QB depth chart once preseason practice starts. He looks like a solid passer with good size (6-6, 235 pounds), and he can probably run well enough to call the zone read on occasion if he’s in the game.

If Gabriel decides to return in 2023, Beville may opt to look for another home.

General Booty

Background: In addition to headlining college football all-name team, General is the latest member of the Booty lineage to emerge in the college football world. His father, Abram, played wide receiver at LSU in the 1990s. His uncle Josh was coveted in high school as a prospect in both football and baseball when the Florida Marlins selected him fifth overall in the 1994 Major League Baseball draft, and he later played QB at LSU. Another uncle, John David, started at QB for USC in 2006 and 2007 before the Minnesota Vikings selected him in the fifth round of the NFL draft in 2008.

General played at multiple schools before eventually settling in at Texas powerhouse Allen High School for his senior season in 2020. Last year, he quarterbacked Tyler Junior College.

Biggest question: Can Booty play at this level?

According to the 247Sports profile of OU’s newest QB commit, he has held scholarship offers at different points in time from schools like New Mexico, Presbyterian and Liberty. He’s coming joining the Sooners after a season in junior college, which seems rare these days for QBs playing on the FBS level. He played at one of the elite prep programs in the country, and his family is well-known in college football circles.

To put this diplomatically: If Booty develops into a Sooners-caliber starting quarterback, it would represent an all-time misevaluation by an untold number of football coaches and scouts.

Outlook at OU: Practically speaking, Booty probably has nothing to lose by trading in that JUCO life for a spot on the OU roster, even if the possibility of seeing meaningful snaps with the Sooners seems remote. Assuming he doesn’t develop into anything more than a reserve, he can always transfer elsewhere down the line. With a name like that, there may even be some NIL money in it for him at a place like OU.

The reality is that OU needed bodies at QB to step in for Gabriel in case of emergency and to practice. That fact alone limited the universe of QBs who would be available to the Sooners in this transfer cycle. The good news is that Beville and Booty don’t have to grow into difference-making QBs to play the roles needed at OU.

NORMAN – Brett Squires went 6 for 8 with seven RBIs at the plate in Oklahoma’s series win over West Virginia and was recognized as the Big 12 baseball co-Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday. He was named Player of the Week along with TCU’s Luke Boyers.

NORMAN — Oklahoma softball collected or earned a share of all five end-of-the-year Big 12 awards and placed seven across the All-Big 12 First and Second Teams, including a league-best six on the first team. The conference announced the honors Wednesday.

If boosters are paying players, who will pay the schools?

Ever since college athletes were granted the ability to profit off their name, image and likeness rights, the NCAA has taken a hands-off approach to the gray space between NIL deals and recruiting. Guidance issued Monday by the organization supposedly represents a new orientation towards enforcing its rules against using inducements to secure the services of high school players and those in the transfer portal.

You can read the guidance for yourself to get an idea of how the NCAA plans on policing the so-called collectives pooling money to recruit players under the guise of NIL deals. Truthfully, the “how” doesn’t matter nearly as much as the “why.”

Why would schools want to ban collectives?

You could argue that it’s not a zero-sum game, but the fact of the matter is that inducement NIL deals essentially force schools and players to compete for the same pot of booster money. The more money boosters invest in collectives to acquire talent, the less they have to spend on donations to their favorite schools and their athletic departments.

There are other possible reasons like the chaos wrought by the influence of NIL deals or a desire to keep athletes in revenue-producing sports under the thumb of the schools. Ultimately, however, schools want to control the money.

Don’t some schools gain a competitive advantage through NIL collectives?

Yes, they did – past tense.

Some booster groups that organized quickly – groups attached to schools like Texas and Texas A&M, for instance – saw their squads thrive in football recruiting this year. Anecdotally, John Ruiz’s financial commitments to NIL deals for Miami Hurricanes players seem to have lifted The U’s fortunes in the basketball transfer portal.

Keep in mind, however, that nothing is stopping boosters at other schools from forming their own NIL collectives. In fact, they are becoming standard practice at every major program. That means the competitive edge gained by early movers is vanishing.

OK, but what about the programs with the wealthiest collectives?

I’ll answer a question with a question: If all the schools form their own collectives, what will that change about the end results in recruiting? The programs at the top of the food chain already have the biggest war chests and the most committed fans.

Put another way, assuming every school has a collective operating at its expected capacity, the changes in the recruiting landscape would be minimal. A small number might see their recruiting performance rise or fall. In the end, though, the arms race among collectives would play out much like the arms race in facilities now.

Note that Jere Morehead, president of the University of Georgia, is the first person quoted in the NCAA release on the new guidance. Morehead is talking about “improper behaviors” in the NIL environment today. The Bulldogs just won a national championship in football, and their boosters have the means to build one of the most formidable collectives in the sport. That should tell you all you need to know.

Aren’t the boosters contributing to these collectives going to be pissed?

Some boosters may get heated if they pinned their hopes on collectives helping lead their favorite teams to respectability. Others might be convinced that collectives helped their programs more than others because their boosters aren’t willing to pay players under the table. (It’s probably worth mentioning that the schools with the most aggressive collectives seem to fall under the heading of “underachievers” or “former powers.”)

And in truth, the schools are probably doing boosters a favor by banning collectives. It doesn’t take a genius to see how the explosion of collectives quickly turns into an arms race in fundraising. Bagmen paying recruits under the table is almost certainly going to be easier on everyone’s wallets.

And if that money is really burning holes in boosters’ pockets, they could always donate it to the athletic department. See how that works?

Plenty of people involved in the NIL market think the NCAA’s announcement will barely make a dent in all the action.

I’d simply point out that many people who hold that opinion are profiting off the NIL system as it currently functions. They have every reason to promote the idea that collectives will be table stakes for boosters who want to ensure their favorite teams stay competitive.

Then bring on the lawsuits.

Indeed. I’m not a lawyer, but that seems like a lock.

Anything else?

Yes. Stop thinking about this situation in terms of individual schools and their ability to compete in the marketplace for talent. The people who run college sports think like a cartel. To them, booster collectives offer nothing but downsides: less control, less money and more pressure to perform despite the competitive landscape remaining status quo.