STILLWATER - Oklahoma State’s connection to Central Oklahoma keeps paying off, and this week it showed up in a big way for two rising Cowboys.
Running back William Mason and tight end Oscar Hammond both took roundabout routes to Stillwater, with their paths crossing first at Division II UCO before reconnecting on OSU’s offense. Mason was born in Detroit, but he grew up in eastern Oklahoma, splitting time in Haskell and Coweta.
Hammond is from Collinsville. Both were on the Bronchos roster together for a season, and both are now seeing their roles grow in orange and black.
“I think we definitely look at each other like, ‘Hey, this is definitely a step up from where we first met,’” Mason said.
Hammond is in his second year at OSU after stints at North Texas and UCO. His 2024 season was wiped out by injury, and he also missed the start of this season before finally getting back on the field. Last weekend against Colorado, he caught his first pass as a Cowboy.
Mason had his own breakthrough in that same game. A special teams contributor, he found the end zone for the first time in his OSU career.
“I just let all my emotions out right there,” Mason said. “I was really, really excited to get in the end zone.”
The Bronchos-to-Cowboys connection doesn’t stop with those two. Linebacker Jack Puckett, from Bixby, and kicker Joseph Kim, from Lawton, are also former UCO players now on the OSU roster. And last season, former Broncho standout Terrill Davis was a major part of the passing game, finishing second on the team in receptions with 29 and receiving yards with 373.
One former Thunder guard is suddenly lighting up the NBA scoreboard again. Ty Jerome, now with the Grizzlies, is averaging 29.8 points through four games, good for third in the league behind Luka Doncic at 34.3 and Anthony Edwards at 33.3. Jerome opened the season with 45 points and has only cooled a bit since then.
That production brings back a rough night from his Oklahoma City days: Dec. 2, 2021, when Jerome started for the Thunder in Memphis during the Grizzlies’ 152-79 rout, the biggest margin in NBA history. Jerome logged a game-high 35 minutes in that loss.
Afterward, Jerome drew on a college memory to put it in perspective. “My sophomore year in college, we were the first (No. 1) seed to ever lose to a 16 seed,” Jerome said after the game, referencing University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s upset of Virginia. “Like, that’s way more embarrassing than this NBA game.
“We can’t overreact to this. Yeah, it’s embarrassing.
We were embarrassed out there for sure, but you don’t just put your head down and start abandoning ship or pointing fingers. Coach said after the game, and he’s right, a crucial part of us right now is we have to stick together.”
Jerome was acquired by the Thunder in the Chris Paul trade from the Suns and played 81 games over two seasons from 2020-22 in Oklahoma City. He later broke out in Cleveland in 2024-25, is now in his second season in Memphis, and injuries limited him to 15 games last year.
There’s also movement involving two former Thunder wings now wearing different uniforms. Luguentz Dort has come off the bench in all four of his games with the Hawks, a notable change for a player who started 423 of 432 games with Oklahoma City.
Atlanta has gone with Dyson Daniels in the starting lineup, and Dort is averaging 22.8 minutes per game, his lowest mark since his rookie season. His 3-point shooting has lagged too, at 23.5%.
Aaron Wiggins, meanwhile, is also coming off the Hawks’ bench, but his early numbers are much stronger. He’s averaging a career-high 27 minutes per game and shooting 48% from 3-point range on 6.3 attempts per game. He’s averaging 15.8 points, making an early push for Sixth Man of the Year.
In the NFL, this week’s Sooner/Cowboy of the week spotlight goes to two players with both Norman and Stillwater on their résumés.
Kendal Daniels made the play of the week for the Falcons, sealing a win over the previously undefeated 49ers with an interception just one week after a frightening head/neck injury sent him to the hospital. Doctors found no structural damage and ruled out a concussion, clearing the former Cowboy/Sooner from Beggs to return. He finished with 11 tackles and a fumble recovery, and he’s tied for second on the Falcons with 40 tackles as a rookie.
Trace Ford also turned in a productive day. The former Edmond Sante Fe star spent four seasons at Oklahoma State and two at Oklahoma, and now he’s with the Giants after being promoted from the practice squad to the 53-man roster last week. Ford had three tackles in New York’s overtime win at Houston on Sunday.
As for the weekend picks, the Sooners are a 5.5-point favorite against South Carolina, and the call is Oklahoma 20, South Carolina 19. The Gamecocks have won back-to-back games at Florida and against Tennessee, and the pick leans on the idea that this one stays tight. Through seven games, the Sooners’ picks are 5-2 straight up and 5-2 against the spread.
Oklahoma State is favored by 8.5 at Iowa State, and the prediction is Cowboys 29, Cyclones 24. It shapes up as a tricky trip: the first Cyclones home game in four weeks, plus a cold and wet Halloween night in Ames.
The note here is that the game could get messy, and while OSU has been strong against the spread at 6-1, the pick is for the Cowboys to win while Iowa State covers. The Cowboys are 5-2 straight up and 4-3 against the spread on the season.
In Other News...
Oklahoma State Enters A Brutal Stretch With Little Room For Error
Oklahoma State heads into a tough Big 12 run with little margin for slipups, starting with a road trip to Iowa State and three of its next four games away from Stillwater. The Cowboys are ranked No. 24 and have leaned on an offense that leads the conference in scoring, while the defense offered a better look in the recent win over Colorado, giving the team at least some momentum as the schedule tightens.
Iowa State brings its own wrinkles into the matchup, beginning with a quarterback situation that coach Jimmy Rogers has handled carefully after recent changes under center. The Cyclones also have a few versatile pieces who can affect a game in multiple ways, which makes this an especially tricky opener for an Oklahoma State team trying to protect its early standing and avoid getting caught in the wrong kind of conference grind. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma States New Roster Just Got An Early Reality Check
Oklahoma States first real look at its new basketball roster came with a reminder of how quickly an exhibition can turn into a measuring-stick game. The Cowboys fell 82-65 to Wisconsin at the Kohl Center, spending most of the night chasing a Badgers team that controlled the tempo and kept the pressure on from the perimeter. Oklahoma State did manage to shoot the ball better after halftime, but the early hole proved too deep to climb out of.
Julius Halaifonua led the Cowboys with 16 points, and Jacob Walker added 12 as Oklahoma State tried to find some offensive rhythm against a veteran Wisconsin group. Owen Foxwell paced the Badgers with 19 points in a game that gave the Cowboys plenty to clean up before the results start to count for real. [Read more 🡒]
Former OSU QB Sees One Big Test Coming For Drew Mestemaker
Former Oklahoma State quarterback Clint Chelf liked what he has seen from the Cowboys lately, especially the way Drew Mestemaker has settled in and the way the offense has started to come together around him. The line in front of Mestemaker has been a big part of that progress, and Chelf pointed to that growth as one of the main reasons the unit has looked more comfortable and more productive.
The next challenge, though, comes in one of the toughest spots on the schedule: a Halloween night trip to Iowa State. Chelf talked about the environment and the conditions that can make that game hard to navigate, which adds another layer to an already important test for a quarterback still building his reputation. Mestemaker has already started to turn heads beyond Stillwater, and there is still real interest in how far he can carry this offense from here. [Read more 🡒]