Daily Bullets (February 7)

The Davon Dillard Story

Incredible story here on No. 24.

Whether it was Brooklyn, Queens, or the famed Rucker Park in Harlem, Dillard took his dunking skills all over the city. When college teams such as Cal, Indiana, Purdue and others came knocking, Dillard had developed a swagger. While initially committing to the Golden Bears, he changed his mind after a visit to Stillwater.

“I just fell in love with it,” Dillard said. “I had never met more nicer people in my life. The coaches were great and everything. Just Oklahoma period, I felt like I was home.” [Stillwater NewsPress]

Dillard has been an enigma, but that is a great look into his past and his present in Stillwater. I’ll be rooting for him more than ever. I also love listening to Underwood talk about him — like, he’s the kid you have that is clearly the most engaging, gregarious etc. And he’s also the one that drives you the most insane.

Parity In College Hoops

Last weekend was a bloodbath. What does it mean?

But is equality more prevalent than usual this season? Do the past two weeks tell of a campaign more unpredictable than those past?

Not necessarily. Through six weeks of conference play, top-10 teams have lost 31 games. That pace lags behind last season, which saw the AP top 10 lose 58 times over the 10 weeks of conference play, and 34 times through the first six weeks. No 12-day stretch a year ago gave us anything quite like this most recent string of upsets, but college basketball isn’t fundamentally more egalitarian in 2016-17. [Yahoo]

I’m with whoever said this recently (maybe Gottlieb) — college basketball should be played from January-May to give it the limelight it deserves. The sport is fun (again, thanks Underwood) and its parity-laced nature is one of the best things it has going for it. But people are just now starting to tune in.

Which Win Was Most Important?

Bill Haisten on which OSU W mattered most. I don’t necessarily disagree.

More recently, there was a 28-point rocking of Arkansas and road wins at Oklahoma and then-No. 7-ranked West Virginia. Significant. It could be argued, however, that Oklahoma State’s most important victory thus far occurred on Jan. 21 at Texas Tech. Before that 83-64 triumph (made possible by 55 percent shooting overall and 69 percent efficiency from 3-point range), the Cowboys were 0-6 in Big 12 play. [Tulsa World]

Also, this seems relevant to the winning streak.

Number of times #okstate has collected 40%+ of available offensive rebounds against top-100 opponents by season pic.twitter.com/cXu82gQrWB

— Oklahoma State Stats (@OSUStats) February 6, 2017

5 Stars, Where Art Thou?

The 2017 season looks like it could be one of the best seasons for the Big 12 in a long time with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas State and West Virginia all showing a lot of promise. However, if the conference can’t capitalize on their success this year by landing strong 2018 classes, then the Big 12 is going to continue to struggle. [LGG]

This is stunning. The Big 12 has signed 18 5-star players since 2010. The SEC has signed 114.

Post-Signing Day Rankings

Jake Trotter on how the Big 12 shapes up after signing day.

The Pokes bolstered their already loaded group of receivers by adding ESPN 300 wideout Tylan Wallace and four-star receiver Shamond Greenwood. Oklahoma State also brought in help for Justice Hill by signing four-star Canadian running back Chuba Hubbard. With so much firepower on offense, the Cowboys are equipped to reach 10-plus wins for a third consecutive season for the first time in school history. [ESPN]

OSU and NCAA Notes

Good look at some preseason Big 12 awards (Tyler Buffett is included) … Where the 2017 Big 12 recruits come from … I hate that OU is out-recruiting OSU so egregiously … This is amazing.

200 DAYS TIL KICKOFF pic.twitter.com/pISNiuDqxO

— Pick Six Previews (@PickSixPreviews) February 6, 2017

What You Missed On PFB

• The transformation is underway.
• Good stuff here on in-state recruiting for 2018.
• New pod talking Super Bowl 51 and that WVU game.
• OSU as an 8 seed — let’s get to a 5!
• OSU already has an all-name team guy as well as its third commit for 2018.
• Baylor S&C coach arrested for soliciting a prostitute. Wut?

Oh, and this is true.

A reminder that not hearing about your football team until mid-August is ideal.

— Adam Kramer (@KegsnEggs) February 7, 2017

More Stuff I’m Reading

Brady as the GOAT, my dude Kevin Van Valkenburg was there … I wrote on Big Cat and aging gracefully … Why do Patriots fans excuse a cheating past?

“It’s trash. And the person who wrote it is trash!”