TicketsRadioLive StatsLive AudioMobile AppsSoonerSports.TVSocial MediaPhotosBoomerblastLive WebcastsInfoShop OU
Go Sooners!
 
  • print
  • email
  • font +
  • font -
  • rss

Super Sooner Siblings

Breaking down some of the top sibling student-athletes to play at OU

While the Harbaugh brothers and Super Bowl XLVII will provide plenty of headlines this week, the University of Oklahoma has its own proud tradition of prominent siblings. In the seven days leading up to the "big game" in New Orleans, SoonerSports.com will chronicle the careers of some of Oklahoma's most accomplished "Super Sooner Siblings." Each day, we'll look at a different pair of brothers or sisters that played at OU.

  Dewey, Lucious & Lee Roy Selmon | Football | Photos Pics


Video Can't See the Video? Watch on SoonerSports.tv
 
Probably the most famous set of siblings in University of Oklahoma history, the Selmon brothers anchored one of the nation's fiercest defenses for the Sooners during the 1970s. The pride of Eufaula, Okla., the Selmon trio of Lucious, Dewey and Lee Roy became synonymous with bone-jarring hits and OU championships.
 
Lucious began the Selmon pipeline to Norman and earned consensus All-America honors playing nose guard for Barry Switzer's 1973 squad. The Sooners won the Big 8 title that year with a 10-0-1 record, boasting a defense regarded as one of the finest in OU history. Lucious was named the Big 8 Athlete of the Year, the conference's top defensive player, the Chevrolet Defensive Player of the Year and finished second in the Outland Trophy balloting in 1973. After a one-year stint in the World Football League, he returned to OU as an assistant coach before entering the NFL coaching ranks with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1995.
 
Dewey and Lee Roy Selmon were born 11 months apart, but entered OU in the same class to enjoy two seasons playing alongside their elder brother in 1972-73. This dynamic duo of defensive linemen became the defensive centerpiece of back-to-back national championship squads in 1974 and 1975. The 11-0 squad in 1974 pitched three shutouts on the season as Dewey earned All-America honors from The Football News in 1974 and Lee Roy earned that distinction from the Newspaper Enterprise Association. Both brothers were consensus All-America picks in 1975 as Lee Roy won both the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award.
 
When the Selmons graduated in 1976, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers kept this prolific pair of brothers in tandem, selecting Lee Roy with the first overall selection and tabbing Dewey in the second round. In 1988, Lee Roy was named to the College Football Hall of Fame. He became the first Sooner to be inducted into the GTE/CoSIDA Academic Hall of Fame in 1994, and in 1995 he became the first OU player to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. While Lee Roy passed away in 2011, the legacy of the Selmon brothers continues to shine brightly in Eufaula, Norman and everywhere the Sooners' flag proudly flies.
 
  Casey, Kyle & Kevin Bookout | Multiple | Photos Photos


Video Can't See the Video? Watch on SoonerSports.tv
   
Mention the names Casey, Kyle and Kevin to just about any Sooner fan and there's no mistaking the last name of "Bookout." From the small town of Stroud just up the Turner Turnpike, these well-mannered Oklahoma natives are considered one of the most beloved and accomplished sets of siblings in OU athletics lore. Their varied skills were impressive.
 
The first Bookout to attend OU, Casey was one of the most prolific hitters in Sooner baseball history. A four-year letterwinner (1996-99) and two-time All-American, Casey is OU's career home run king, blasting 60 round-trippers.
 
In 1998, he put together one of the greatest seasons by any player to ever don the Crimson and Cream, smashing a school-record 26 dingers to go along with 74 runs scored, 76 RBI and 38 extra-base hits en route to garnering third-team All-America honors. Famous for his power, Casey hit for average as well. He still ranks third at OU in career extra-base hits (119), fourth in runs (193), doubles (57) and RBI (220), fifth in career hits (275) and sixth in career batting average (.381).
 
A three-time All-Big 12 pick, he was also a star in the classroom, earning third-team Academic All-America recognition in 1997. He was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the ninth round of the 1999 MLB First-Year Player Draft and spent two seasons competing in the minor leagues.
 
After a standout high school career in which he earned three state titles in the discus and two in the shot put (also captained basketball and football teams), middle brother Kyle competed in the shot and discus for the Sooner track and field team. Battling through an injury-plagued career, Kyle saved his best for last, advancing to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the discus as a senior.
 
As an at-large selection, Kyle recorded a personal-best throw of 190-9, good for third on OU's all-time outdoor performance list. He was a two-time top-15 finisher at the Big 12 meet, and added a sixth-place effort in the discus to conclude his junior outdoor season. As a senior, he cracked the top 10 when he threw the discus 184-11 to finish fourth in the event.
 
One of the nation's top hoops recruits, Kevin joined the OU family as a freshman in the fall of 2002 and promptly started 33 games for a Sooner basketball team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight. He helped OU to the 2005 Big 12 title as a junior and to a third NCAA Tourney appearance in 2006.
 
Kevin started all but one of his 108 career games on the hardwood (he yielded as a freshman on Senior Day) and finished his career ranked No. 2 in school history in field goal percentage (.574), No. 14 in rebounds (682) and No. 26 in points (1,108). Although most fans knew him for his hoops exploits, he was more accomplished in track and field with his three All-America honors in the shot put (2003, 2005 and 2007).
 
As a senior, he claimed the Big 12 Indoor and Outdoor shot put titles and was the Midwest Region champion in the event. He was a four-time All-Big 12 honoree, performing in both the shot and discus. He holds the OU outdoor shot put record with his toss of 64-2.50 and is second all-time in the indoor shot put with a distance of 61-11.75.
 
Last summer, Kevin finished 10th in the shot at the U.S. Olympic Trials, missing the final qualifying round by two spots. Excelling in the classroom like his brothers, he earned third-team Academic All-America honors his senior year in basketball.

 
  Damon & Ryan Minor | Baseball/Basketball | Photos Photos


Video Can't See the Video? Watch on SoonerSports.tv
   
Few brother combos have had a greater impact on OU athletics than Damon and Ryan Minor. From the tiny town of Hammon in western Oklahoma, the Minor twins emerged as elite talents on the baseball diamond, played big parts in the Sooners' back-to-back College World Series appearances in 1994 (won the national title) and '95, and went on to play in the Major Leagues. Ryan was also a superstar on the basketball court.
 
Damon put together one of the most prolific careers in OU baseball history. A four-year letterwinner, he garnered honorable mention All-America honors as a senior in '96 and still ranks second in school career history in walks (139), seventh in RBI (171) and extra base hits (90), eighth in home runs (39) and tied for ninth in games played (202).
 
He saved his best for college baseball's biggest stage, belting a three-run home run in the '94 CWS title game to help propel the Sooners to a 13-5 victory over Georgia Tech and clinch the second national championship in program history. Damon was selected in the 12th round of the 1996 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the San Francisco Giants. He competed from 2000-04 and helped the Giants to the '02 National League pennant , seeing time in 83 games while smashing 10 homers.
 
A three-year letterwinner in baseball (1993-95), Ryan earned NCAA College World Series All-Tournament Team honors in '94 following OU's championship run. He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 33rd round of the 1996 MLB First-Year Player Draft and went down in baseball history on Sept. 20, 1998, when he started at third base for the O's, ending Cal Ripken Jr.'s ironman streak of 2,632 consecutive games played.
 
As good as he was on the diamond, Ryan was better known collegiately for his exploits on the basketball court. OU's No. 6 all-time scorer with 1,946 points, he was named the AP Big Eight Player of the Year after his junior season when he averaged 23.6 points and 8.4 rebounds, and was runner-up in conference player-of-the-year balloting as a senior.
 
Ryan finished his career ranked No. 2 at OU in 3-pointers (170), No. 7 in free throw percentage (.798) and No. 9 in rebounds (767). He was the 32nd overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers and is currently the baseball manager of the Delmarva (Md.) Shorebirds, the Orioles' Class "A" affiliate.
 
  Matt & Nick Lester | Wrestling | Photos Photos


Video Can't See the Video? Watch on SoonerSports.tv
   
Matt and Nick Lester, identical twins from Eureka, Mo., have wrestled together since sixth grade - that discounts the obvious family fighting throughout the years. Those small tiffs transcended from middle school and high school, as the duo chose to attend the University of Oklahoma together for the 2009-10 academic year.
 
Both Matt and Nick placed third at the 2012 Big 12 Championships in Columbia, Mo. It was the second top-three finish for Matt, who also claimed third in 2011 as a redshirt freshman.
 
Following their performance at the conference meet, both brothers earned a trip to the NCAA Championships as qualifying wrestlers. Nick went on to finish 3-3 at the tournament with an upset of Binghamton's fourth-seeded Donald Vinson, to earn the first All-American honor of his career as an eighth-place finisher, while Matt finished with a 1-2 record in St. Louis, Mo.
 
Throughout his tenure in the Crimson and Cream Nick has secured a 49-27 overall record, including a 19-13 record in dual competition. He has collected 12 major decisions, nine tech falls, including five throughout the 2012-13 season, and seven falls. With more bouts under his belt, Matt owns a 56-30 record to his name, with a 25-14 mark in dual competition. In four years, he has totaled 15 major decisions, 12 falls and six pins.
 
Now redshirt juniors on the Oklahoma wrestling team, both brothers look to place in the Big 12 Championship, again, and repeat as NCAA qualifiers in March.
 
  Ashley & Courtney Paris | Women's Hoops | Photos Photos


Video Can't See the Video? Watch on SoonerSports.tv
 
Ashley and Courtney Paris represented basketball's most formidable frontcourt during their four years at the University of Oklahoma. The Piedmont, Calif., natives combined for 4,002 points, 3,098 rebounds and 560 blocks as they led the Sooners to three Big 12 Championships and two Big 12 Tournament titles.
 
Courtney wrote her name in every page of the record book by setting 20 NCAA marks -- the most notable being a streak of 112 consecutive double-doubles -- and more than 50 Big 12 Conference records. She was women's basketball first four-time All-American recognized by the Associated Press and U.S. Basketball Writers Association and was the first college basketball player in history, regardless of gender, to record 2,500 points and 2,000 rebounds in a career.
 
Ashley remains one of only four Sooners to collect 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. She was an All-America honorable mention, first team All-Big 12 member, three-time first team Academic All-Big 12 selection and Big 12 Sportswoman of the Year. Her transformation in the offseason leading up to her senior season helped the Sooners' offense run at a record pace and was the catalyst for the team's 2009 NCAA Final Four appearance.
 
  Samantha & Keilani Ricketts | Softball | Photos Photos


Video Can't See the Video? Watch on SoonerSports.tv
 
Take one look through the Oklahoma softball record book and it will be easy to see the impact the sister combination of Samantha and Keilani Ricketts has made on the program. Samantha played from 2006-09, while Keilani's freshman season came in 2010, meaning the two never got a chance to play with each other. However, this duo from San Jose, Calif., will undoubtedly go down as one of the best sibling combinations in OU history.
 
A dominant hitter, Samantha finished her Sooners career as the school's all-time leader in home runs (48) and holds the Big 12 marks for runs batted in for a career (239) and season (81 in 2007). A two-time second-team All-American, Samantha ranks among the top 10 at OU in career hits, batting average, doubles, extra-base hits, total bases, walks, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. She was named all-region and All-Big 12 first team in each of her four seasons. In 2007, Samantha became the first player in OU history to be a finalist for the USA Softball Player of the Year. She played professional softball in 2009 and 2010 and is now entering her second season as an assistant coach at Wichita State University.
 
Not to be outdone by her big sister, Keilani has made a name for herself as a dual threat in the circle and at the plate. She has earned three All-America honors and was named the 2012 USA Softball Player of the Year. Keilani was the first player in school history to be named USA Player of the Year and joins her sister as the only other OU player to be named a finalist. In just three seasons, Keilani is already the school's all-time leader in career and single-season strikeouts and is tied for the most shutouts. She ranks among the top three in complete games, innings pitched, appearances, games started and wins. At the plate, Keilani sits in the top 10 in home runs, walks, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Last season, she set the single-season record for walks drawn. Like her sister, Keilani has been an all-region and All-Big 12 first team honoree every season on campus and was named the 2012 Big 12 Player of the Year, helping lead the Sooners to back-to-back Women's College World Series berths in 2011 and 2012.
 
  Blake & Taylor Griffin | Men's Basketball | Photos Photos


Video Can't See the Video? Watch on SoonerSports.tv
 
The most productive brother combo in University of Oklahoma basketball history, Blake and Taylor Griffin starred alongside each other for two seasons (2007-08 and 2008-09) after Taylor played his first two collegiate seasons while Blake was still in high school. In their final season at OU, the Oklahoma City natives led the Sooners to a 25-1 start, a No. 2 national ranking and to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight.
 
Blake's sophomore season was arguably the best in OU history and earned him consensus national-player-of-the-year honors after he averaged 22.7 points and 14.4 rebounds. He set school and Big 12 single-season records for rebounds (504), rebounding average, field goal percentage (.654) and double-doubles (30; one shy of NCAA record). He finished his career ranked No. 1 at OU in field goal percentage (.618) and No. 6 in points per game (18.8). Blake was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers and is a three-time All-Star.
 
Taylor, a three-time second-team Academic All-Big 12 honoree, also played an integral role in OU's success and finished his career ranked fifth in school history in games played (129) and 10th in blocked shots (98). Increasing his scoring average each of his four years as a Sooner, Taylor started all 36 games his senior season and averaged 9.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and a team-high 1.3 steals to help OU to a 30-6 record. He played his first year of professional ball with the NBA's Phoenix Suns and this season is starring for the NBDL's Santa Cruz Warriors.
 
SIBLING SCHEDULE
Jan. 28: The Griffin Brothers
Jan. 29: The Ricketts Sisters
Jan. 30: The Paris Twins
Jan. 31: The Lester Twins
Feb. 1: The Minor Twins
Feb. 2: The Bookout Brothers
Feb. 3: The Selmon Brothers
CONNECT ON TWITTER

Interact with us on Twitter using the hashtag #SuperSoonerSiblings and let us know your favorite memory of that day's Sooners. We'll retweet some of the best from our official Twitter feed (@SoonerSportscom).

CURRENT SOONER SIBLINGS
Brianna and Ivy Brown
Sport: Rowing
Hometown: Norman, Okla.
Bios: Brianna | Ivy
 
Dalton, Dillon and Dryden Dennis
Sport: Wrestling
Hometown: Clearwater, Fla.
Bios: Dalton | Dillon | Dryden
 
Connor and Trevor Knight
Sport: Football
Hometown: San Antonio, Texas
Bios: Connor | Trevor
 
Matt and Nick Lester
Sport: Wrestling
Hometown: Eureka, Mo.
Bios: Matt | Nick
 
Jennifer and Kelsey O'Grady
Sport: Rowing
Hometown: Ada, Okla.
Bios: Jennifer | Kelsey
 
Cassandra and Emmie Preskitt
Sport: Rowing
Hometown: Broomfield, Colo.
Bios: Cassandra | Emmie
 
Olivia and Rebecca Staff
Sport: Rowing
Hometown: Phoenix, Ariz.
Bios: Olivia | Rebecca
 
Jules and Paris Townsend
Sport: Softball
Hometown: Tulsa, Okla.
Bios: Jules | Paris
FACEBOOK PHOTOS
While you can view photos of all of our Sooner siblings each day at our central page, you can like and comment on your favorites via our official Facebook page:

Photos Super Sooner Sibling Photos
Oklahoma Athletics
OU inspires champions today and prepares leaders for tomorrow by enabling its student-athletes to achieve their highest academic, athletic and personal aspirations. The OU Athletics Department sponsors 21 varsity sports with more than 600 student-athletes and is completely self-supporting.
 
OU Athletics Department | Sooner Tradition | Staff Directory | Contact Us
 
NCAA Big 12 Conference Nike Team The University of Oklahoma
Sooner Sports Properties
Sooner Sports Properties, LLC, is the multimedia rights holder for athletics at the University of Oklahoma. Sooner Sports Properties is a joint venture of Learfield Communications, Renda Broadcasting and Griffin Television.
 
Advertising & Sponsorships | Premier Partners | OU Radio & TV Affiliates
 
Premier Partners