Oklahoma president suffers medical episode during Stoops' ceremony

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) University of Oklahoma president David Boren had a medical episode right before the unveiling of a statue honoring former Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops on Saturday morning and was taken away on a stretcher.

Boren, 76, is a former U.S. senator and has been the university's president since 1994. He had spoken earlier in the ceremony. The school did not immediately respond to a request for details regarding Boren's condition.

Stoops was being honored in front of a large crowd hours before Oklahoma's spring game. Right before the uncovering of the statue, paramedics started making their way over to Boren and talked to him near the podium where athletic director Joe Castiglione was speaking. Castiglione told the crowd the paramedics were taking precautions and then implored the crowd to pray. Boren smiled as he was being taken away.

Boren is retiring in June. The school's Board of Regents announced last month that Jim Gallogly will become the university's 14th president on July 1.

After Boren was removed from the immediate area near the statue, a concerned Castiglione proceeded.

''Well, they don't give you a script for this,'' Castiglione said. ''But I think that knowing that how much President Boren and Molly (his wife) were involved in this day, I think that we will respectfully maybe just drop the covering of the statue of Bob Stoops, and we will thank each and every one of you again for what you have done to make this program so special.''