BREAKING: Oklahoma's Bijan Cortes 'Taking Time Away from Basketball'

Cortes posted a mysterious message on social media Tuesday that he'll be stepping away from the Sooners due to "personal reasons."
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Sophomore guard Bijan Cortes is stepping away from Oklahoma basketball β€” for now.

Cortes posted on his Twitter account Monday that due to personal reasons, he'll be "taking some time away from basketball."

Although his absence is indefinite, according to the post, he said he will "look forward to returning as soon as I can."

The message was posted about two hours before the Sooners' home game against Texas Tech.

Cortes is in the middle of his second season as a Lon Kruger recruit from nearby Kingfisher. The 6-foot-3, 194-pound Cortes played in 30 games as a true freshman, averaging 11.5 minutes and 2.0 points per game.

This season, his playing time and contributions have increased: in 26 games so far, he's averaging 17.2 minutes and 3.2 points per game. 

Cortes' best game in his two seasons came on Jan. 4, when he scored a career-high 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, which included two 3-pointers and a career-best four rebounds. 

On Jan. 24, he dished out a career-high six assists against TCU, and on Nov. 27, he recorded a career-best four steals against Ole Miss.

In his career under Porter Moser, Cortes is shooting .467 from 3-point range (14-of-30) while averaging 2.6 points and 1.4 rebounds.


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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.