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OUDAILY
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Racist texts lead to suspension OU student disciplined following UPenn incident STAFF REPORTS
OU President David Boren has suspended an OU student for involvement in an incident at the University of Pennsylvania in which black students were added to a GroupMe rife with racial slurs and graphic images.
The University of Pennsylvania said the messages appear to have originated in Oklahoma. Boren said in a statement, however, that the messages do not seem to have not originated at OU. Read his full statement below: “The University of Oklahoma has made it clear that we will not tolerate racism or hate speech that constitutes a threat to our campus or others. We have a record of taking swift action once
all of the facts are known. I have ordered the appropriate officials at our university to open immediate inquiry to determine the extent of involvement by a University of Oklahoma student in this matter. The university has already determined in its preliminary inquiry that there’s a basis for a temporary suspension of the student under our student code while we continue to gather all of the facts.
That suspension is effective immediately. It would appear this matter did not originate at The University of Oklahoma, but started elsewhere. This matter originally surfaced from messages to students at the University of Pennsylvania. We are notifying the University of Pennsylvania of our finding.” The identity of the OU student who was suspended has not been released and is unknown.
According to The Daily Pennsylvanian, the University of Pennsylvania’s student newspaper, one member of a GroupMe titled “Mud Men” posted a picture of lynchings and then said “I love America.” The same user also posted an event titled “Daily lynching” into the GroupMe, the paper reported. Staff Reports
dailynews@ou.edu
SIANDHARA BONNET/THE DAILY
DEDE’S JOURNEY Senior wide receiver Dede Westbrook turns back to the field after running the ball in for a touchdown Oct. 15. Westbrook had 184 receiving yards in the game against Kansas State.
Westbrook fought through injury, adversity before starring at OU
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t was a routine play. Dede Westbrook was lined up at the safety position, poised to move at the quarterback’s word. Down. Set. Hut! Westbrook flew down the field, neck and neck with the opposing team’s receiver. In his peripheral vision, he saw the ball coming toward him and figured he had a shot at it. He jumped and reached for the ball at the same time as the receiver, and the two collided. “I kind of landed on top of him and — me being draped over him — his knee went into my stomach and he ruptured my small intestine,” Westbrook recalled. He missed the rest of his senior high school season after playing in just seven games — but he avoided the original diagnosis: Westbrook might never play again. “The doctor told me there was a huge possibility I would never play football again,” Westbrook said. “But I overcame those odds, and here I am now.” Westbrook has come a long way since his high school days. From his high school injury to making it out of Cameron, Texas, and finally to Oklahoma, Westbrook continues prove doubters wrong. “I trained like crazy to pretty much prove everybody wrong,” he said. “And that’s what I did.” SURPRISING SUCCESS Westbrook is fresh off one of the most prolific calendar months in college football history. He finished October with 881 yards and
MADELINE ROBERTS • @MADROBS_ 11 touchdowns — both Oklahoma records — and has also taken over kick return duties. He’s started to pick up national prais e, even landing some Heisman consideration. Quarterback Baker Mayfield knows how important Westbrook’s emergence has been and has started deflecting Heisman talk toward his star receiver. In the first quarter of Oklahoma’s track meet against Texas Tech in mid-October, Westbrook made his presence known. On what looked like an overthrown pass, Westbrook scored from 49 yards out, chasing down a long, deep ball in the back of the end zone from Mayfield. “I thought I missed him, but you cannot overthrow No. 11,” Mayfield said after the game. That theory has proven true for Mayfield repeatedly this season. Westbrook got healthy over the Sooners’ bye week after playing injured through the first three games. He now has 1,100 receiving yards in seven Big 12 games and leads all power five receivers with 1,254 yards on the season. He’s also second among power five receivers with 14 touchdowns, just trailing behind Washington’s John Ross, who has 15. That’s a sharp uptick in production for Westbrook, who amassed 743 yards and four scores a season ago. According to him, that’s due to a role change. “Sterling was a workhorse. He was a guy that was pretty much
the go-to guy, and I was just sitting back waiting until my number was called,” Westbrook said. “I don’t really care about the numbers. It’s exciting, but at the end of the day I just want to play football.” But as valuable as Westbrook has been to the Sooners in 2016, he was even more necessary at Cameron Yoe High School. Westbrook’s near-career-end-
“Coming from a small town, it’s really not possible for any of us to make it out. The odds are very low for us. For me to beat the odds and come out and be good at the next level feels great.” DEDE WESTBROOK, WIDE RECIEVER
ing injury happened despite the use of special pads to protect his midsection. The injury happened when the receiver’s knee came in between the pads to rupture his intestine — but the fact he had pads in the first place meant he was a special player for the Yoemen. “They run about $75 a pair,” said Rick Rhoades, Westbrook’s high school coach. “We obviously could not afford to get every one of our players the EvoShields, so
we were pretty selective in who we gave them to.” Westbrook played multiple positions for Cameron Yoe. He primarily served as a receiver, but also as a running back and a safety; in the time he spent as a running back, he averaged 12.3 yards per carry. During his safety career, he had 72 solo tackles, three interceptions and three fumble recoveries before the accident that he calls a “freak injury.” Football wasn’t the only sport Westbrook participated in. During his junior year of high school, he came in third in the state in the men’s 200m for track and field with a 23.02, his personal best. In August of his senior year of high school, he ran a 4.57 40-yard dash. OU coach Bob Stoops said that Westbrook is the fastest Sooner receiver since Mark Clayton — high praise from a coach who has seen several impact receivers come through Norman. But success on the field was never the problem for Westbrook. SMALL TOWN, BIG DREAMS Despite his success on the football and track fields, Westbrook had hurdles to clear elsewhere in life. He didn’t receive any Division I offers out of high school because he struggled in the classroom. He attended Blinn College, a junior college in Brenham, Texas, for two years before coming to OU. “He didn’t qualify to go to a Division I school, and Blinn gave
him a chance to go and get his grades in order and get his associate degree and then move on to a Division I school or four-year school,” Rhoades said. Westbrook also dominated competition at Blinn College. In his final seven games, he compiled 1,439 yards and 12 touchdowns on 72 catches. It was enough to earn him a scholarship offer from Oklahoma, which was looking for support for then-seniors Sterling Shepard and Durron Neal. He also had some assistance in getting out of Cameron, Texas — a place few escape. “His mom was a very stable force in his life,” Rhoades said. “She was pretty strict on the kids. She would do things like, at nine o’clock, she would make them put their cell phones away and things like that.” He’s one of a handful of athletes Rhoades has seen come out of Cameron, which has a population of about 5,500. “As far as (Westbrook’s) ability to catch the ball and do things in open space, he’s got to be near the top,” Rhoades said. Westbrook has proven that time and time again in 2016. “Coming from a small town, it’s really not possible for any of us to make it out,” Westbrook said. “The odds are very low for us. For me to beat the odds and come out and be good at the next level feels great.” Madeline Roberts
madelineroberts@ou.edu