Drake Stoops is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

wide receiver for the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Run ...

. He is the son of former

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

head coach

Bob Stoops Robert Anthony Stoops (born September 9, 1960) is an American football coach. He was the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1999 through the 2016 season, and on an interim basis during the 2021 Alamo Bowl. He led the Oklahoma ...

High school career

Stoops, along with his brother Isaac, played football at

Norman North High School Norman North High School is a public, co-educational secondary school in Norman, Oklahoma. It was established on August 21, 1997, on the grounds of what had been Longfellow Middle School since 1972. Longfellow Has now been relocated to the build ...

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma C ...

. As a junior, he caught 86 passes for 1,536 yards and 20 touchdowns to help lead Norman North to the state championship game. In his senior year, he caught 67 passes for 1,093 yards and 15 touchdowns in 10 games. Stoops ended his high school career with 201 catches for 3,390 yards and 39 touchdowns, being named as a two-time first-team all-state selection by ''

The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th larges ...

''. Rated as a three-star recruit by major recruiting services 247Sports and Rivals, Stoops received scholarship offers from

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, Memphis,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

. However, he decided to join

as a preferred walk-on.

College career

Coming into

, Stoops was joined by his brother Isaac, also a wide receiver. However, Isaac left the team before their freshman season. Head coach Lincoln Riley acknowledged that Stoops was not highly recruited due to his size and lack of track speed, but acknowledged that Stoops' name gave him some pause too. Stoops entered his first year at

, appearing in the first two games where he caught two passes for 16 yards against

Florida Atlantic Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce. FAU belongs to the 12-cam ...

. He is believed to be the first true Sooner freshman walk-on to record a catch in a season opener. As a sophomore, Stoops played in all 14 games as a reserve receiver and punt returner where he totaled eight receptions for 95 yards. In his first bowl game, he caught two passes for a career-high 28 yards against

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

in the

2019 Peach Bowl The 2019 Peach Bowl (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2019 Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl) was a college football bowl game played on December 28, 2019, with kickoff at 4:00 p.m. EST on ESPN. It was the 52nd edition of the Peach Bowl, and was on ...

. With the departure of

CeeDee Lamb Cedarian DeLeon "CeeDee" Lamb (born April 8, 1999) is an American football wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oklahoma where he was a consensus All-American in 2019 and w ...

, Stoops played in 10 games and made seven starts, recording 15 receptions for 219 yards and two touchdowns. After missing the season opener, he caught three passes for 93 yards, which included a career-long 51-yard touchdown in a loss against Kansas State. In a four overtime win against

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, he scored a game-winning touchdown on a 20-yard reception from

Spencer Rattler Spencer Michael Rattler (born September 28, 2000) is an American football quarterback who plays college football for South Carolina. Rattler began his college career with Oklahoma before transferring to South Carolina in 2021. High school caree ...

. After the Sooners spring game, Stoops was awarded a scholarship by head coach Lincoln Riley prior to the 2021 season. As a junior, he recorded 16 receptions for 191 yards and two touchdowns despite missing three games. Against

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

, he had a career high-tying three receptions for 57 yards and a touchdown. After head coach Lincoln Riley departed for

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

, Stoops' dad, former Oklahoma head coach

, was named interim head coach for the

2021 Alamo Bowl The 2021 Alamo Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 29, 2021, with kickoff at 9:15 p.m. EST (8:15 p.m. local CST) and televised on ESPN. It was the 29th edition of the Alamo Bowl The Alamo Bowl is an NCAA Divisi ...

. In the Alamo Bowl, Stoops had one reception for a touchdown playing under his dad. Under new head coach

Brent Venables Thomas Brent Venables (born December 18, 1970) is an American football coach who is the head coach at the University of Oklahoma. He previously served as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Clemson University from 2012 to 2021. V ...

, Stoops played in all 13 games and made ten starts in the 2022 season. As a senior, he tied for second on the team with 39 receptions and totaled 393 yards and three touchdowns. Against

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

, he set a career high with six receptions for 89 yards and a touchdown. A week later against

again, he topped last year's performance by tying a career high six receptions for 55 yards. Stoops enjoyed his best year averaging 10.1 yards per catch with his receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns all marking career highs.

Professional career

Statistics

References

External links

Oklahoma Sooners bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoops, Drake Living people American football wide receivers Players of American football from Norman, Oklahoma Oklahoma Sooners football players 1999 births