Welcome to the SEC: Porter Moser Facing Crucial Season as Oklahoma Enters a New Conference

Time will tell if the Sooners' new transfers will be able to contribute as Oklahoma embarks on its SEC journey.

Oklahoma Sooners head coach Porter Moser / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

NORMAN — Oklahoma men’s basketball has several questions to answer in the next few months.

After peaking at No. 7 in December, the Sooners’ 2023-24 season ended abruptly in March in a 77-70 loss to TCU in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. Despite losing six of their last eight games, the Sooners were considered a likely team to make the NCAA Tournament, but a ninth-place finish and 8-10 record in the nation’s toughest conference — from which the Sooners will officially exit on Monday — didn’t pique the committee’s interest quite enough.

Much of the basketball world, and especially Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser, was surprised to see the Sooners left out of the bracket on selection Sunday.

"I feel such hurt for the young guys who put so much into it, that they don’t have answers,” Moser said after Oklahoma was left off the bracket. “Why they were left out, when every single day, the response I’m getting from people, in the media, other coaches (was), 'We had you in.' I can’t get an answer from anybody to tell me why. And I think that’s where the flaw comes in, of the process.”

As is becoming custom in college hoops for non-contending teams, a substantial majority of Oklahoma’s core left the program after the season. Javian McCollum, Otega Oweh, Milos Uzan, Kaden Cooper and John Hugley IV announced transfers. Rivaldo Soares exhausted his eligibility and is playing overseas. Between those players, Oklahoma is without 64 percent of its scoring from last year.

Jalon Moore, who averaged 11.1 points and 6.7 rebounds per game last year, salvaged some of Oklahoma’s returning production when he withdrew from the NBA Draft on May 29. He and Sam Godwin (6.7 points, 5.2 rebounds) are the team’s foremost returning players. 

Moser and staff went after several big-name recruits in the portal, any one of whom would have made this a successful cycle. They struck out. Former Virginia Tech guard Sean Pedulla will be playing for SEC rival Ole Miss; Drake’s Kevin Overton picked former Big 12 rival Texas Tech over OU; and Brandon Garrison chose Kentucky over the Sooners after leaving Oklahoma State. All three were natives of the 405 area code. None will be playing in Norman next year (at least not wearing a Sooners jersey).

New renderings of the proposed $1B Norman entertainment district development, which will include a new arena for #Sooners athletic teams.

The arena is expected to hold 8,000 fans and could house Oklahoma’s basketball and gymnastics teams as soon as 2027-28, pending passage. pic.twitter.com/ibMcE1MTXs

— Bryce McKinnis (@McKinnisBryce) June 5, 2024

The first question to answer will be whether the Sooners’ portal newcomers will make up for so much lost production. 

Kobe Elvis, a 6-foot-2 point guard from Dayton, was productive scoring 9.4 points and dishing 3.5 assists for the Flyers last year on 28.5 minutes a game. Jadon Jones, a shooting guard from Long Beach State, a 6-foot-5 senior from Long Beach State, shot 38/42/85 splits on 12.1 points. Six-foot-4 shooting guard Brycen Goodine scored 13.9 points per game on 47/50/76 splits. Duke Miles was the Big South Newcomer of the Year after scoring 17.5 points per game at High Point University. Jeff Nwankwo, a local transfer prospect from Putnam City North High School in Oklahoma City, scored 15 points per game over two years at Cowley College.

Here’s the Sooners' scholarship roster at a glance heading into their first year in the SEC:

• Kobe Elvis (Sr. Dayton transfer, 9.4p/3.5a)

• Jadon Jones (Sr., Long Beach State transfer, 12.1p)

• Brycen Goodine (Sr., Fairfield transfer, 13.9p)

• Duke Miles (Sr., High Point, Big South Newcomer of the Year, 17.5 p)

• Jeff Nwankwo (Jr., Cowley College transfer, 18.6p)

• Mohamed Wague (Jr., Alabama transfer)

• Dayton Forsythe (Tr-Fr., Dale, Okla.)

• Kuol Atak (Tr-Fr., Fort Worth, Texas)

• Jalon Moore (Sr., 11.1p/6.7r)

• Jacolb Cole (Rs-Fr.)

• Sam Godwin (Sr., 31 starts, 6.7p)

• Luke Northweather (So., appeared in 25 games)

• Yaya Keita (Jr., appeared in 11 games)

The Sooners’ roster makeup doesn’t look too bad. Getting a point guard and several off-ball guards in the portal plus Forsythe, retaining forwards like Godwin and Northweather while adding a 4 in Atak, and signing a true center in Wague makes Moser’s crew whole.

Among some fans, there was ambiguity that Moser would be retained — especially after rumors swirled for most of the back half of the season that he would take the DePaul job. Instead, the university confirmed a small raise ($100,000 for a total compensation of $2.8 million) plus a two-year extension to 2028 at the Board of Regents meeting last week in Ardmore.

"We thought given what our team accomplished this year, it was definitely important to show coach Moser that we appreciate him and what he's providing in leadership," OU Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione said. "Of course, we were disappointed not getting into the tournament, but it took many anomalies that had not been seen in the days leading up to the NCAA Tournament to keep us out. We've been either the first team out or amongst the first teams out two of the last three years.

"We are not shying away from the expectation or our goal of being in the tournament, and once getting in the tournament, being succesful. He wants that. He embraces that. And nobody was more disappointed (for) the team."

As for the long-term future of the Sooners men's basketball program, a soon-to-be approved $1 billion dollar entertainment district that will include a new 8,000 seat arena will replace the "soulless" Lloyd Noble Center where Oklahoma's basketball teams has played for nearly 50 years.

The arena could house Oklahoma's basketball and gymnastics teams as early as the 2027-28 school year, said Danny Lovell, a Henryetta native and CEO of Dallas-based Ranier Companies. The development's first phase would include the arena, retail and at least 250 of the project's expected 700 multi-family housing units.

"We are at a mode now that we need to change, and we need to move into a grown-up mode of being able to deal with Norman as the third-largest city in Oklahoma. A lot of that is already pre-patterned. We can see in Oklahoma City what this kind of pattern does. We're not going in there blind. It's not all about faith. We can see that. We can track the numbers, and we can do it," Norman mayor Larry Heikkila said. "I'm looking forward to the challenge over the next month of getting the goal made."

The necessity of a new arena as the Sooners transition into the SEC and a new era of the school's athletic programs can't be understated as Moser embarks on Year 4.