OU president's health scare brings big statue reveal to abrupt stop
Saturday was supposed to be a day of celebration for Oklahoma Sooners fans, but a ceremony planned to honor former coach Bob Stoops ended with a health scare.
Prior to the Sooners’ spring game, a statue of Stoops was set to be unveiled in his honor. One of the speakers during the ceremony was school president David Boren.
Boren, 76, gave a 15-minute-long speech. Then, while walking back to his seat, he reported feeling dizziness. Paramedics were quickly called to the scene, according to Tulsa World.
Minutes later, as athletic director Joe Castiglione delivered his own speech, Boren was taken away in a stretcher.
Scary moment this morning as OU President David Boren had to be taken away from Bob Stoops' statue ceremony on a stretcher. Joe Castiglione called it precautionary. pic.twitter.com/e1xKgsXXy3
— Dylan Buckingham (@DylanBuckingham) April 14, 2018
Castiglione paused his speech for a moment, then asked for a moment of silence.
“When they brought the stretcher out, he was talking,” Castiglione said afterward. “I was trying to determine in my mind, ‘What should we do?’
“I saw a little bit more concern in people’s eyes and the body language … he was looking at me like, “Keep going.'”
Boren was transported to OU Medical Center, where doctors determined that he suffered a minor stroke. A school spokesman told ESPN’s Jake Trotter that Boren was in “good spirits” on Saturday night and that he was “communicating with family” and the OU Medical Center staff.
The ceremony, meanwhile, continued. Stoops’ statue was unveiled alongside the statues of three other OU legends: Bennie Owen, Bud Wilkinson and Barry Switzer.
Bob Stoops' statue joined Bennie, Bud and Barry this morning. #Sooners: pic.twitter.com/HGHRsG9U1z
— OU Daily Sports (@OUDailySports) April 14, 2018
The Sooners’ spring game also went on as planned, despite a scary moment in which running back Trey Sermon went down with a knee injury and had to be helped to the locker room, according to ESPN. Sermon — the team’s second-leading rusher last season — was expected to take on an even bigger role next season with quarterback Baker Mayfield leaving for the NFL.
Coach Lincoln Riley said Sermon will undergo further tests. He also weighed in on Boren’s situation.
“It’s tough to describe. He’s a guy that I’m very close to, means a lot to me, and (it was) so tough for it to be such a great event and great thing and to see him not feeling well. It hurts me,” Riley said.
Boren is in his last year as OU’s president and will retire effective June 30.
He previously served as the governor of Oklahoma from 1975 to 1979 and was a United States senator from 1979 to 1994 before taking over as president of OU.
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