College hoops are steadily creeping closer. While college football is and will be all the rage for the next few months, it won’t be long before the two sports intersect.
For now, teams across the country are conditioning, doing skill work, scrimmaging, and putting in the necessary work to be as cohesive as possible. So when November comes, they can hit the ground running.
Outside of the daunting Big 12 schedule, the Oklahoma Sooners most significant hurdle this season may be the men in the mirror.
They’ll be taking on some of the best basketball teams in the country while being a virtually brand-new team. There’s little production returning and even less chemistry than they had the year before. Porter Moser and his staff have added eight new players after a mass departure at the end of the 2022-2023 season.
The time in the gym this offseason couldn’t be more valuable for Oklahoma. The Sooners got a major surprise as one of the program’s best of all time came through Norman, laced up his kicks, and put the youngsters to work on the court.
Love being Home! ! !
Ready to see @OU_MBBall really HOOP this year❤️🤍 pic.twitter.com/bD18fS8TNd— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) August 24, 2023
Two-time All-Star and 2022 All-NBA third-team member Trae Young stomped by his old stomping grounds and hooped with the team on Wednesday. This was a day after Blake Griffin stopped by to chat with Porter Moser’s crew.
Great seeing today @blakegriffin23 …One of the best ever to wear the ⭕️U uniform ! 💯 https://t.co/QRXbkbS7d1
— Porter Moser (@PorterMoser) August 23, 2023
As one would expect, Young did Trae Young things.
One of the best clips in the highlight put together by the Oklahoma Basketball media team was what looked like Young giving some advice to Sooners transfer Javian McCollum.
McCollum is Oklahoma’s de facto point guard this year. He’s a talented player that has a lot of potential. He’ll have the keys to the offense after transferring in from Siena.
It’s good to see Oklahoma’s point guard soaking up knowledge from one of the NBA’s best facilitators. Unlocking and opening up Oklahoma’s offense is a major key to raising this season. It all starts with your lead guard.
Since being drafted in 2018, Trae Young has led the NBA in assists. If Trae Young is talking to you about facilitating, running an offense, or passing, it’s probably important to be all ears.
You gotta see it to believe it 🤫: https://t.co/RUtcyESlIs pic.twitter.com/c6AiUW1Z43
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) August 19, 2023
With Trae and Blake stopping by to visit with OU’s squad, it would be nice to see Austin Reaves stop by this offseason for a little pickup with the current Sooners. Reaves is currently a key cog for Team USA as they look to win the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Still having a player like Trae Young stop by is great for a program looking to improve off of Porter Moser’s first two seasons. There’s a lot of talent on this year’s squad, it just needs to mesh for the Sooners to make a tournament appearance.
Working against one of the NBA’s best is fantastic experience for roster looking to put the last two years in the rearview.
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