Barnes, 40, was 141-109 in eight seasons at Mississippi and took the Rebels to the NCAA tournament three of his first four seasons at his alma mater. He was fired in March as Ole Miss neared the end of its fourth consecutive losing season.

"I've always had a lot of respect for Coach Barnes," Capel said in a statement. "When I was at VCU I had the opportunity to coach against him and his teams were always very good defensively. They got after you, they were tough, they were disciplined and they played with passion. I respected the way his teams played. I feel like this is a great hire for OU."

Betts was 51-39 at South Carolina State and led the Bulldogs to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title in 2004. He has also been an assistant at College of Charleston and South Carolina State.

Betts, 37, was an assistant for Capel for one season at Virginia Commonwealth and had been the head coach at South Carolina State for the past three seasons.

"Ben is incredibly passionate about the game of basketball and about teaching it," Capel said. "He's a very good recruiter, partly because he communicates so well. The knowledge and the energy he'll bring to our program will be incredibly beneficial. Also, because of the type of man he is, players here will enjoy being around him. They will learn a lot about life from him."

Capel earlier brought assistant Mark Cline with him from Virginia Commonwealth and hired Bucknell assistant Bryan Goodman as his director of basketball operations.

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Kevin Wilson will take over as Oklahoma's offensive coordinator following the departure of Chuck Long to San Diego State, Sooners coach Bob Stoops said Saturday.

Stoops said Wilson, who has been a co-offensive coordinator on Oklahoma's staff since 2002, will be in charge of the offense when Oklahoma (7-4) meets sixth-ranked Oregon (10-1) in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 29.

"Kevin Wilson will be the offensive coordinator for the Holiday Bowl and will be our offensive coordinator after that as well," Stoops said in a statement. "I will decide fairly quickly how we will complete the staff.

"I have a direction in mind and I will work towards that."

With Long as the play-caller and quarterbacks coach, Wilson has focused on coaching the offensive line and coordinating Oklahoma's run game.

Before coming to Oklahoma, the 44-year-old was the offensive coordinator at Northwestern and Miami (Ohio). He has also been an assistant at North Carolina -- his alma mater -- as well as North Carolina A&T and Winston Salem State.

Stoops said Long -- the Sooners' offensive coordinator since 2002 _ will assist the team as it practices at San Diego State for the bowl at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

Stoops said Oklahoma's staff would meet Sunday and determine who would coach the quarterbacks in Long's place leading up to the Holiday Bowl.

Stoops said he took over for Long during practice Saturday.

"I coached them the whole time, and boy they looked better, too. I don't know why I let Chuck do it this long," Stoops joked with reporters.

Stoops said he doesn't expect any other coaches to leave Oklahoma's staff.

"On our end, we don't anticipate a major disruption," Stoops said. "We have always felt that the sum of our parts is greater than any one individual. Our players understand how college football works and they also know that this is a positive reflection on them as well."

PLAYERS TO WATCH: RB Adrian Peterson -- With another month to heal his tender ankle, Peterson could be terrific in the bowl game. He set an OU record for most rushing yards in a half with 210 after the break in the Nov. 26 win over Oklahoma State. The performance pushed Peterson over the 1,000-yard mark despite missing all, or most, of four games because of his injury.

QB Rhett Bomar -- The Oklahoma coaches expressed satisfaction all season with the progress of Bomar, a redshirt freshman who's matured in his position and benefits from Peterson's ability to run at full strength. Bomar is coming off a three-touchdown passing performance against Oklahoma State.

PRO POTENTIAL: DT Dusty Dvoracek -- One of the most difficult interior linemen to block in the Big 12, Dvoracek ranks among the conference leaders with 12 tackles for loss.

OT Davin Joseph -- The leader of the Oklahoma line, Joseph is not only a solid blocker, but also possesses the versatility NFL teams like after playing different spots while with the Sooners.

ROSTER REPORT: LB Demarrio Pleasant was arrested Dec. 2 on a domestic abuse complaint and released on $1,000 bail. When asked about the situation, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said he still needed to gather facts before addressing the matter. ... C Jon Cooper underwent surgery to repair a broken right ankle he suffered Nov. 19 at Texas Tech. While he'll miss the bowl game, Cooper is expected to participate in spring practice. ... Defensive coordinator Brent Venables announced he was not interested in the coaching vacancy at his alma mater, Kansas State. Venables initially expressed interest in the job, but was never contacted by K-State officials. It was also speculated that offensive coordinator Chuck Long might be a candidate, but he too was never contacted by K-State.

GAME OF THE YEAR: Although the 45-12 loss to Texas on Oct. 8 ended an infamous five-game winning streak in the series for the Sooners, the setback was far from devastating. Oklahoma not only recovered, it almost ran the table the rest of the way. A controversial touchdown on the final play by Texas Tech was all that prevented OU from winning its last six games. Granted, the outcome against Texas is always magnified, but credit the Sooners for not folding when they were 2-3.

MATCHUP TO WATCH: Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson vs. Oregon DT Haloti Ngata -- The Ducks have a pair of outstanding defensive linemen in Ngata and DE Devan Long, which could make matters difficult on Peterson, who was hemmed in the box on numerous occasions this season. Still, if Peterson keeps churning, he's capable of breaking long gains against anyone.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "The guy's just getting his ankle back. He's running better and better, but I still don't think it's all the way back." -- Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops after RB Adrian Peterson rushed for 237 yards in a Nov. 26 win over Oklahoma State.

To rebound and gain a spot in the third bowl in the Big 12 hierarchy was not only a noteworthy accomplishment, it stamps the 7-4 Sooners as a squad that could challenge Oregon (10-1) in the Dec. 29 matchup in San Diego.

"We've got a chance to play a really good team," said Oklahoma DT Dusty Dvoracek, "and we've got a chance to make a really big-time statement."

This is the first time the Sooners are destined for a bowl lower than the BCS since 1999, when Bob Stoops was in his first season and Oklahoma landed in the Independence Bowl, where it lost to Ole Miss on a late field goal. The next season, Oklahoma captured the national championship in the Orange Bowl.

Could the same route unfold beginning with the Holiday Bowl? It's possible. Oklahoma fielded one of the youngest teams in the country, yet won five of its last six games following the loss to Texas.

A return to national prominence may soon await, but until then, a little diversion in sunny San Diego doesn't sound all that bad.