Oklahoma's Elijah Harkless earns Big 12 honor

Sooners transfer from Cal State Northridge has added a toughness and defensive mindset to the lineup this season

John E. Hoover | Jan 25, 2021

Oklahoma’s Elijah Harkless was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Monday.

Harkless, a 6-foot-3 transfer guard from Cal State Northridge who didn’t gain his NCAA eligibility waiver until mid-December, has added a scrappy, defensive mindset to the Sooners this season.

Last week he helped power wins over Kansas State and No. 9 Kansas with six steals and 20 rebounds — both Big 12 highs in last week’s games.

Harkless averaged 7.5 points, 4.5 assists and 10.0 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the floor in the Sooners’ two victories.

Harkless played 54 minutes in the two games after playing a combined 125 minuets in the Sooners’ previous seven gamers.

According to OU research, Harkless became the first major conference player this season to produce 13 rebounds, six assists and three steals in a game.

Since Harkless joined the starting lineup, the Sooners are 3-1 (the loss was at Kansas), and OU has a 63-32 advantage in turnovers and is holding opponents to just 27.6 percent shooting from 3-point range and 41.1 percent shooting from the floor. Gibson has been a key piece of that puzzle as he's played multiple positions, from point guard to power forward, in the Sooners' four-guard lineup.

He’s OU’s second Big 12 weekly award winner this season. Umoja Gibson — also a transfer guard, from North Texas — was named Big 12 Player of the Week and Newcomer of the Week on Jan. 4.

Published Jan 25, 2021

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.