NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma center Ty Darlington was at an off-campus house party two Februarys ago when a friend tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the living-room-turned-dance-floor.

“That’s Baker Mayfield there,” the friend said.

By then, Mayfield had already won over the room with dance moves.

Before long, he would go on to win over the Sooners’ locker room.

And this August, from what Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops termed the “strangest” of circumstances, the Texas Tech transfer has bucked all odds to position himself as the favorite to win OU’s starting quarterback competition.

“Everybody here loves Baker,” Sooners cornerback Zack Sanchez said. “Baker is that dude here.”

Not all that long ago, nobody at Oklahoma knew who he was. Especially not the Sooners coaches.

Baker Mayfield didn't quite earn the starting job in the spring and he still has to take better care of the ball. Rob Ferguson/USA TODAY Sports

Days after being named the 2013 Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year as a walk-on true freshman at Texas Tech, Mayfield stunningly announced he would transfer, citing communication problems with Red Raiders coach Kliff Kingsbury, who had reopened the quarterback competition with Michael Brewer and Davis Webb for the bowl game that season.

Weeks later, though, Mayfield demonstrated he wasn’t afraid of competition. He revealed he would be transferring to Oklahoma, even after Sooners quarterback Trevor Knight torched Alabama in the Sugar Bowl as a redshirt freshman.

“A lot of times at some other schools some other guys are looking for their way out, when a young guy is coming off a Sugar Bowl that (Knight) had,” Stoops said. “(Mayfield) obviously didn’t.”

Mayfield seemed to have little chance of ever playing a meaningful snap again. And not only did he not have a scholarship offer, he didn’t even have an invitation to walk on. But Mayfield grew up cheering for Oklahoma, wearing a Quentin Griffin jersey when he would drive up from Austin to Norman with his family to see the Sooners. Oklahoma was where Mayfield wanted to be.

“At that point people were calling me basically just nuts,” Mayfield said.

“But I was confident in my abilities.”

It was the same belief he showed even after failing to winning the starting quarterback job on Lake Travis’ high school freshman team because he was only 5-foot-5 at the time (he would later lead Lake Travis to a state title). The same belief led him to walk on at Texas Tech, even though he had scholarship offers from New Mexico, Washington State and Florida Atlantic, which also seemingly offered better avenues to playing time (he would win Tech’s starting job out of the preseason).

“It’s funny to see when so many people doubt him,” said Hagan Patterson, who met Mayfield in middle school and now plays football at Columbia. “Baker may get doubted, but he always finds a way to earn his spot.”

That’s what Mayfield sought to do at Oklahoma. To avoid the possibility of jeopardizing his eligibility while his release was being sorted out, Mayfield showed up to Oklahoma without contacting any of the coaches and, like any other college student, moved into the sixth floor of Oklahoma’s Adams dorm.

“That was probably the toughest part, not knowing anybody,” Mayfield said. “I didn’t really have many friends, if any.”

He worked out alone in the “Huff,” the school’s student recreation center. He joined an intramural softball team with the guys on his hall; with Mayfield playing shortstop, they won the intramural championship.

By spring, Mayfield finally was cleared to join the Sooners. He showed up to the first team meeting of spring ball, anxious to introduce himself to Stoops, who didn’t even know what Mayfield looked like.

“Maybe the strangest thing that’s ever happened in my coaching career,” Stoops said. “I was hearing the rumors that he’s transferring to Oklahoma and I had never talked to the guy. And he’s never called to ask if he could. If I said 'no,' he might be in a fraternity over here playing yard ball.

“(We) go to our first team meeting and he introduces himself and I say, ‘So you’re Baker Mayfield.’ I had no idea. Of course, I knew of him and how well he did at Tech. But it was just strange.”

Mayfield, however, quickly endeared himself to Stoops and the other coaches with his attitude, even after Texas Tech blocked him from participating in games last season.

“He ran the scout team and couldn't have been more enthusiastic and excited every day,” Stoops said. “He looked at it as a great opportunity to get better, and it made us better. He was a leader to the other scout-team guys, how to come ready to play. He was a really good leader to them doing that. Since then, everyone has appreciated his hard work, his enthusiasm and his ability to make plays.”

It didn’t take Mayfield long to bond with his new teammates, either.

“He brings an attitude that you don’t necessarily see from a quarterback,” Sanchez said. “He’s going to talk trash to you. He’s going to let you know about it when he throws a bomb on you. I love that.

“I love a quarterback that does that.”

Mayfield also became a locker-room favorite, connecting with every clique on the team while proving he could out-dance all comers. While visiting a children’s hospital during Oklahoma’s bowl game last season, Mayfield was dancing for the kids. A video of him doing the “whip” there would go viral months later.

“He’ll go to a country concert one night, a rap concert the next night and be on stage with some of the rappers,” Sanchez said. “That’s just Bake. He can adapt to any situation he’s in, and that’s what makes him such a great quarterback.”

Though he outperformed Knight and Cody Thomas this spring, Mayfield still has much to prove. He has only two Big 12 wins as a starter: one against Kansas, the other against TCU. Against TCU, it was Webb who threw the game-winning touchdown. To win the Oklahoma job, Mayfield will also have to take better care of the ball than he has in the past, underscored by the two picks he tossed in the Sooners' spring game.

“He plays with confidence, almost to a fault at times,” Darlington said. “But he really believes he can make the play, he can make the throw, he can lead the offense.

“That’s helped him get to where he’s at.”

And who knows where it will take him or the Sooners next.

“It’s been a long wait,” Mayfield said. “I couldn’t be happier.”