It was the luck of the draw, but not the luck of the Irish.
Sometimes when two things are too close to call, someone might jokingly suggest one draw a name out of a hat. As it turns out, Caleb Kelly -- one of the nation's top linebacker recruits -- took that advice quite literally leading up to his national signing day ceremony, where he signed with Oklahoma.
Kelly found himself deciding between Oklahoma and Notre Dame, with the two schools too close to call for his services. Kelly admits he struggled to decide which school to attend, in part because his heart pulled for Notre Dame while his head told him the relationships he had with coaches at Oklahoma would be more valuable.
What's a torn top prospect to do? Cue the hat and paper slips.
"I got a piece of paper and wrote Oklahoma and Notre Dame and split in half. My mom was in the other room, I called her in -- or I crinkled the paper up before -- and then called my mom in and said, 'Mom, I'm going to get two hats, you're going to put the balls of paper into the hat, and when I pick that's the school I'm going to go to,' " he explained.
"I went away, gave her the hats, she put the balls under the hat and then I remember I picked up the hat and picked up the ball of paper, and I thought, 'This is Notre Dame' because I felt the size of it. I said, 'I guess we're going to Notre Dame,' but I didn't say it [aloud], I just said it in my head."
But that internal conversation led him to his final choice, even though that choice wasn't located in South Bend.
"I opened up the piece of paper and it was OU, and I just felt a weight get lifted off of my shoulders. I was like, 'That's it mama, that's where I'm going.' I knew just by my reaction when I thought it was Notre Dame that I didn't want to go there, and I really wanted to go to Oklahoma, and that's what I did."
The rest, as they say, is history, with most of it still to be made. Now we know why Kelly's future will be made in Norman, Okla., rather than South Bend, Ind.
Got Shaq's number
Shaquille O'Neal helped the Miami Heat put up their first championship banner, and soon another banner will sway over the team's home floor in his honor.
The Heat announced Tuesday they will retire O'Neal's No. 32 at the beginning of next season.
Miami is the second team to retire an O'Neal jersey, after the Los Angeles Lakers did so with the No. 34 he donned for that franchise.
"Shaquille O'Neal is one of the truly elite players in the history of the game and one of the greatest players to ever wear a Heat uniform," Heat President Pat Riley said. "He took us to another level as a basketball franchise while leading us to our first NBA championship."
They said it
From theonion.com:
• "Peyton Manning declares he has at least one more surgery in him"
From sportspickle.com:
• "Knicks offer head coach job to LeBron James"
Sports quiz
Besides Shaquille O'Neal, name the other two former Miami players' jerseys retired by the Heat?
Sports answer
Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway
Sports on 02/10/2016