Trio of Former Oklahoma Players Flourishing in the ACC

Alondes Williams was selected as the ACC Player of the Year with Kameron McGusty and Brady Manek also earning honors.

A trio of former Oklahoma starters have taken the ACC by storm in 2022.

Wake Forest’s Alondes Williams, Miami’s Kameron McGusty and North Carolina’s Brady Manek, all former Sooners, were included in the league’s all-conference selections on Monday, with Williams picking up the hardware of ACC Player of the Year.

🌟 ACC MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR 🌟

Alondes Williams, @WakeMBB! 🏀🎩

📰: https://t.co/eVgjCoRews pic.twitter.com/7Pdpd1UeTR

— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) March 7, 2022

While McGusty moved on from the Sooners to head to Miami several seasons ago, both Williams and Manek hit the transfer portal to find new homes just last offseason.

With Oklahoma on the fringe of the bubble, it is going to be difficult for OU fans to not ponder what keeping even one of the two in house for the first year under Porter Moser could have done to help the Sooners’ cause.

Especially so in the case of Williams after his playing time continued to wane down the home stretch of last season after returning from COVID-19 protocols despite having been a regular starter previously.

The Wisconsin native’s raw athleticism was enough to draw attention as a player who seemingly had loads of upside, but never found a consistent groove in Norman.

Something that Williams has evidently found in his new home at Wake Forest.

“I finally got the opportunity to be myself and play my game and bring happiness back to basketball for me,” Williams wrote on Twitter.

Whether or not that comment is a shot at former Oklahoma head coach Lon Kruger and the OU coaching staff is up to the reader to read into, but either way it seems obvious Williams is much happier in his current situation with the Demon Deacons —and it’s not hard to see why.

In 31 games this year, Williams is averaging 19.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. That is a vast jump in all three categories from his time in Norman where he averaged just 6.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game last season.

Alondes Williams / Dawson Powers-USA TODAY Sports

What is exactly to blame for why Williams’ production was so watered down in Oklahoma as opposed to with Wake Forest is hard to place a finger on, but it goes without saying that the Demon Deacons unlocked something in him that the Sooners were unable to find.

A somewhat similar sentiment goes for McGusty, who saw his third straight scoring increase this season averaging 17.5 points per game for Miami.

All three of McGusty’s seasons for the Hurricanes have been noticeably more productive than his two with the Sooners, earning himself a first-team all-ACC selection this year.

Kameron McGusty / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The same goes for Manek, although not as extreme of a case, with North Carolina where the Oklahoma native is putting forth quite arguably his best collegiate season.

Manek has matched his career-high in scoring averaging 14.4 points per game and has seen an uptick in his assist numbers to go along with consistent rebounding production.

His play has been a steadying force for the Tar Heels in the first year under a new coaching regime, scoring 20 points with 11 rebounds just two days ago to help UNC topple No. 4 Duke on the road.

Brady Manek / Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

For one reason or another, all three former Sooners have found themselves playing the best basketball of their careers at their new ACC homes with eyes on the NCAA Tournament while Oklahoma battles to work their way back onto the bubble.

There is absolutely no guarantee any of the three would have the same level of production had they still been in Norman this season, but that won’t stop many from speculating what could have been.

In a year where the Sooners took so many close losses, any one of which could have been the difference in being much closer to an at-large bid right now than where they currently stand, it’s hard not to ponder what the addition of Williams, McGusty or Manek would have meant to this year’s squad.

So, while there are still games to be played and bids to the big dance to be earned, the losses of the ACC trio hang over OU in a unique way that is hard to describe.

Where is Oklahoma right now with Alondes Williams or Kameron McGusty in the backcourt or Brady Manek helping things in the paint?

Unfortunately for Sooners fans, these are answers that will never be known. Instead, Oklahoma will have to continue to ponder what could have been.