Gallon says he'll return to OU
Published: 3/9/2010 5:25 PM
Last Modified: 3/9/2010 5:25 PM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Tiny Gallon, the enigmatic freshman who has flashed his potential this season for Oklahoma, has decided he’ll build on that potential as a sophomore.
“I’m going to come back another year,” Gallon declared Tuesday, the day before OU’s Big 12 first-round game against Oklahoma State. “That’s for sure.”
Ten days earlier, he wasn’t so certain. He said he would decide his future at the end of the season.
What happened since then?
“I talked to my mother and I talked to Coach (Jeff) Capel. I promised them I wasn’t just going to be out (of college) easy like that,” Gallon said. “I’m not going to lie, the schoolwork and stuff is very hard. But I decided when I talked to (Capel). He can make me a great player. Right now I’m just a good player. Really, I consider myself average right now. And I don’t want to just be average. I want to be a great player.
“So I talked to him and told him I’d get another year in.”
Gallon averaged 10.3 points and 8 rebounds this season, decent numbers that could have been much higher. Consider OU’s two regular-season games against OSU, in which Gallon went from 13 points and 18 rebounds in the Norman game to not even making the trip to Stillwater because of a suspension.
“If I try to come out right now, I wouldn’t be mentally ready,” he said. “The NBA is very tough. Coach Capel knows what he’s doing, obviously. He had Blake, and he knew what he was doing with him. If I do another year, I think I’ll be OK.”
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
