How the Sooners lost Scottie Reynolds
Published: 3/26/2008 1:27 PM
Last Modified: 3/26/2008 1:27 PM
Scottie Reynolds, the former Oklahoma signee released from his letter of intent after Kelvin Sampson left for Indiana, is tearing it up at Villanova. The sophomore point guard scored 46 points in the first two NCAA tournament rounds to lead the Wildcats into Friday's Sweet 16 matchup with top seed Kansas. It was a national coming-out party, prompting a look back at how Reynolds wound up in Philadelphia, and not Norman, in the first place.
And what do you know -- the real culprit behind the change of heart wasn't Sampson, or Sampson replacement Jeff Capel, or Nova coach Jay Wright.
Local fans cursing the fact Reynolds couldn't team up with Blake Griffin to take the Sooners to the Sweet 16 last weekend should direct their profanity at Kyle Lowry, a Nova guard who decided to turn pro about the same time Reynolds was deciding whether to give Capel a shot.
Allow Brendan F. Quinn of the Philadelphia newspaper The Bulletin to explain...
"In May 2006, Reynolds was graduating high school in Virginia with tired eyes, closely cropped hair and no college home. His original plan - to bring his explosive talent to the Oklahoma Sooners - was dashed when head coach Kelvin Sampson split town to fill the available position at Indiana.
"Reynolds was released from his letter of intent to Oklahoma and, for a second time, became one of the most hotly recruited point guards in the country. But he needed to find a good fit.
"That's when Reynolds and his Herndon High School coach Gary Hall decided that Villanova - which featured stud guards Allan Ray, Randy Foye and Kyle Lowry - would be a perfect home. And with the decision, Hall called Wright to inform him that the Wildcats just landed one of the country's premier players, without having ever recruiting him. But the answer on the other end of the phone caught Hall off-guard.
"'He called me up and I said, 'We don't have a scholarship for you, but Kyle Lowry might go to the NBA, so I'll call you in a week,' Wright recounted.
"With that, Reynolds decided to give Oklahoma another chance. He visited with newly hired coach Jeff Capel and Wright thought he'd heard the last of him.
"'I said, 'You should go play for Jeff Capel. He's a great guy,' and we still didn't have a scholarship,' Wright said.
"The rest of the tale comes together like a storybook: Lowry declares for the draft, Wright calls Reynolds back, both parties come together, Reynolds becomes a Wildcat."
Well, if it's a storybook, the ending wasn't real happy to the Sooners.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
