Sad news: Oklahoma star player sidelined for six months, Brent Venables provides update.

On March 27, Troy Everett suffered a right knee injury. A week later, he had surgery. It is anticipated that he will be sidelined for Oklahoma’s 2024 season opener.

Troy Everett, Oklahoma’s anticipated starting center, suffered a serious knee injury during spring practice on March 27 that necessitated surgery, severely hurting the offense line. At the SEC’s annual spring meetings in Destin, Florida, on Tuesday, OU coach Brent Venables gave a quick update on Everett’s recuperation following his surgery on April 3 for his right knee.

“Troy’s mindset is that he’ll be back sometime in September and ahead of schedule,” Venables stated.

Venables’ update gave us a more precise timeline on when to expect Everett back in the fight. After confirming on April 2 that Everett had sustained a serious injury requiring surgery, Venables projected that the redshirt junior would be cleared to play again by the conclusion of fall camp.

Everett’s return for the season opener against Temple on August 30 seemed unlikely, even with that early timeline. It is now official that his expected return date is after the season begins.

The Sooners’ prospects in the trenches—and especially at center—have improved in the two months following Everett’s knee injury, despite the fact that his injury put Oklahoma in a difficult situation at center during an offensive line rebuild during the offseason. With Everett out, Oklahoma had no experience at center and decided to use redshirt freshman Josh Bates to handle first-team reps for the rest of spring practice. Despite Bates’ impressive growth at the position and his ability to adapt to new challenges, the SMU transfer Branson Hickman was added to Oklahoma one day later. Bates played especially well in the spring game on April 20.

Before the program’s first-ever SEC season, Hickman, a three-year starter at SMU and one of the best-graded centers in college football last season, gives Oklahoma plenty of experience and leadership at center. Because Hickman is projected to hold down the starting center position, the Sooners will have the opportunity to take their time healing from Everett’s injury. Oklahoma will also have the option of inserting Everett at guard should the situation call for it.

Though he has spent most of his time playing center, Everett also boasts guard experience. He concluded the previous season as Oklahoma’s starting center in the Alamo Bowl and was the team’s presumptive starter going into the spring. His first season with the Sooners came after he transferred from Appalachian State, where he competed in 13 games and started six seasons at center. He made three starts at left guard last season and 247 of his 398 snaps at the position.

Troy is still a fantastic leader, according to Venables. “And Troy will be back.”