In mid-June, Andy Bass already held numerous FBS scholarship offers, and he was fresh off an official visit with his most high-profile suitor to date. Syracuse had recently thrown its hat into the ring, and Bass had moved quickly to schedule his OV with the Orangemen.

Typically, a player in Bass’ shoes would have jumped on that offer without hesitation. He had missed his entire freshman year with an injury, and he’d had to sit out his sophomore season due to transfer regulations. Thus, he only had one year of varsity tape, and it was quarterback tape.

But mere days after returning from his all-expenses-paid trip to Syracuse, Bass showed up at one of Oklahoma’s elite camps… to work out with the running backs.

At face value, that probably didn’t make a ton of sense to the casual observer. It starts to make more sense when one becomes cognizant of Bass’ true athletic profile — and his competitive nature.

At 6 feet and a chiseled 205 pounds, Bass had recently claimed an Oklahoma state championship in the 100-meter dash as a junior. His winning time? 10.56 seconds. So though he was something of a positionless athlete in the minds of many college coaches, Bass felt he was capable of earning the offer from the Sooners. And he had no reservations about coming to Norman to prove it.

“OU’s always been my dream school,” Bass told OUInsider. “So the desire to get an offer from them was pretty much unmatched. That OU camp, I was super excited when I knew I was going to be working with Coach [DeMarco] Murray.”

By the end of the camp session, Bass had been whisked away to the Big Office, an honor reserved for an elite contingent of prospects. One does not darken Brent Venables’ door within the Switzer Center unless an offer is forthcoming. And that offer was indeed extended, albeit with a bit of nuance.

“I wouldn’t be on a traditional scholarship at OU,” Bass explained. “I also wouldn’t be the generic preferred walk-on role either. I’d be handling my tuition through NIL. So that’s a nice perk to OU for sure; that’s definitely something that’s very new. I hadn’t really heard of it before and I don’t know if I would have if I wasn’t in the recruiting world. But it’s definitely a very unique opportunity.”

In essence, Bass was assured that even if this sausage was a bit trickier to make, he’d have his educational expenses covered. His “scholarship” won’t count against the 85 athletic scholarships allotted to the football program, but he’ll receive the same benefits and treatment as every one of the players who represent one of those 85 scholarships. So though the opportunity was a highly nontraditional one, that didn’t serve as a deterrent to Bass. Once the OU staff took their pursuit to another level in July, the three-star athlete from Oklahoma City quickly shut down his recruitment and pledged silently to the Sooners.

“I chose OU because I’ve always grown up going to games,” Bass said. “It goes back as far as I can remember, going to games with friends and family, just watching and seeing all the fans go crazy. There’s nothing like it, so being able to go and play there is an absolute dream.”

It’s a dream that Bass will realize next fall, although it probably didn’t manifest in quite the same way he imagined it. In many respects, his situation is one of a kind. How often does a program of Oklahoma’s stature make a scholarship concession as unique as this one, let alone for a high school quarterback with only one year of tape, let alone with the intention of deploying that individual at a position he’s never officially played?

It’s a novel scenario, and Bass is more than grateful to be the subject.

“Coach Lebby and Coach Murray have sat with me for several hours apiece and just explained their vision for me, and I’m super appreciative of not just the opportunity, but also their plan and their vision for my future,” said Bass. “I’d be under Coach Murray in the running backs room, primarily. But Coach Lebby also mentioned me being split out wide, trying to get me one-on-one with linebackers — and even inside the goal line, being at quarterback. He said he knows that I played quarterback, so he knows he can put a lot on me. And I think I’ll really be able to fully express my skill set and my playmaking ability at all those different positions.”

Despite his sharp football mind, Bass will still have a bit of a learning curve ahead of him, as he doesn’t plan to take practice reps anywhere but quarterback this fall. His immediate mission is a second straight state championship at Heritage Hall, and he doesn’t intend to shift his focus to his future at Oklahoma until his senior season at the Hall is complete. Nonetheless, he’s admittedly eager to advance to the next chapter of his football life when the time comes.

“I’m always going to do whatever helps the team to get the win at the end of the day,” said Bass. “I think the new switch will be something that’ll kind of refresh my whole outlook on football, so I’m looking forward to it. I’ve never really played running back or receiver, so it’ll be an adjustment for sure. But I think it’s something I can handle. Going from quarterback to a different position is definitely much easier than vice versa. So I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

And in a word, that’s what he’s been presented at Oklahoma: a challenge. A high academic achiever, Bass could have attended numerous Ivy League schools and played quarterback. Harvard, Yale, Penn, Dartmouth and Cornell all wanted him. He could have taken a traditional football scholarship at places like UNLV, Kansas or North Texas. All of those opportunities offered a degree of certainty, a degree of comfort.

In the end, none of them felt like an adequate test of his mettle.

“My dad’s a Marine, so he’s always kind of instilled that hard work ethic into me ever since I was a little kid,” Bass remarked. “One of the quotes that’s always stood out to me that he’s said is, ‘Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.’ So I’ve always kind of taken that to heart, and it’s my lifestyle. I love to take care of my body, and I love to work out. It’s really what I love to do.

“I’m all about the work,” he continued. “So I’m ready to come in and get to work. I think hard work always pays off in the end. I couldn’t be more excited. Boomer Sooner!”