Oklahoma football: A look inside the Sooners' Harlem Shake video

NORMAN, Mar 17, 2013 (The Oklahoman - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Aaron Colvin and some teammates sat in Oklahoma's locker room, laughing at YouTube clips of the latest Internet pop-culture phenomenon.

A shirtless LeBron James in a king's crown, Dwyane Wade in a bear costume and Chris Bosh in a cowboy hat and bathrobe, clutching a gold boom box with his left arm.

Kansas basketball coach Bill Self drew up plays on a white board, erased them and wrote "HARLEM SHAKE!!!" before his squad danced around -- star guard Ben McLemore in a chicken costume -- its locker room.

The OU players showed those videos to coach Bob Stoops.

"He said, 'Aw, yeah. We've gotta do that,'" Colvin remembered, doing his best Stoops impression.

So after practice Tuesday, Stoops shut down Jenkins Avenue, called in Sooner legends and cheerleaders, and OU did the Harlem Shake.

The videos -- which are set to Baauer's 2012 song "Harlem Shake" -- generally begin with one person dancing alone, with others around him not paying attention for about 15 seconds. Then the video cuts to a huge crowd dancing sporadically and wearing funny costumes.

The sensation began in early February, and by Valentine's Day, around 40,000 versions of the viral sensation had been uploaded to YouTube, according to the website's YouTube Trends blog. At that time, the videos had been viewed 175 million times.

Oklahoma shot its video Tuesday at Heisman Park, just east of the football stadium. As the Sooners are lined up stretching, with Stoops standing before them, Colvin rises from his stretch wearing an alien head and dances around between his teammates.

When the video cuts, Steve Owens is dancing on his own Heisman statue. Billy Sims is wearing a giant Afro wig. Roy Williams sports -- what else -- a red Superman cape.

Front and center is legendary coach Barry Switzer, in a fur coat with the OU-Texas Golden Hat atop his head.

"You see all these athletes having a great time," Switzer said. "They're all dressed up like all these creatures, and sci-fi guys. Some of them are so damn talented, dancing and doing back flips, and dancing on the ground. All these guys are great athletes, and they've got athletic moves.

"It was a fun thing. It was a morale thing. They loved it." Switzer, Stoops and OU athletic director Joe Castiglione flew to Omaha, Neb., for a dinner to honor retiring Nebraska legend Tom Osborne last Saturday.

During the event, the Nebraska football team's Harlem Shake video was shown.

"Coming back, Bob said to me, 'Let's do that,'" Switzer said.

"When we got back, we were together somewhere, and he said, 'You and Billy Sims and Steve Owens, and (Brian) Bosworth, get over here and we'll do the Harlem Shake after practice over at Heisman Park.'" Near the front of Oklahoma's dance party is an unidentified dancer wearing a horse head and the same clothes Stoops wore in the video's intro.

But a few Twitter pictures from those who watched the filming seem to prove Stoops isn't the mystery dancer.

"I still don't know; I'm trying to find out myself," Colvin said when asked who it is. "I don't know if it was Coach Stoops or what, but I don't think Coach Stoops can move like that." Sophomore receiver Sterling Shepard is wearing an Eeyore costume in the middle of the crowd.

Senior wideout Lacoltan Bester has on a green hulk suit without the mask, instead wearing his football helmet.

Fullback Trey Millard wore a full monkey costume and danced with Owens on his Heisman statue; the do-it-all senior is only identifiable by the No. 33 jersey stretched over his outfit.

Millard came to post-practice interviews Tuesday with the whole outfit still on, minus the mask.

"We had a good time out there," Millard said.

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