Oklahoma had a frustrating season, and hard decisions will come in the offseason. The Sooners will experience that firsthand this offseason. Sophomore guard C.J. Noland was the first to enter the transfer portal Tuesday afternoon.
Noland came to Oklahoma as a heralded consensus top 100 prospect out of Waxahachie, Texas. He appeared in 33 games as a freshman and was selected to the Big 12 All-Freshman team. He averaged 3.9 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 0.7 assists per game.
Oklahoma guard C.J. Noland has entered the NCAA transfer portal, per @JamieShaw5.
Noland, a top-100 recruit in 2021, played in 59 games across two seasons with the Sooners.
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He didn’t take much of a step forward this season, averaging 3.2 points per game. He started the first eight games but couldn’t hold on to the starting role. He averaged 14.2 minutes per game this season. He eventually lost his spot in the rotation to freshman Milos Uzan.
The focus on the development of guards Otega Oweh, Bijan Cortes, and Uzan put Noland in a bind going forward. All three were playing more meaningful minutes down the stretch to end this season.
That doesn’t consider that the Sooners will also welcome its highest-rated recruit since Trae Young in small forward Kaden Cooper. Cooper, at 6-foot-5, also figures to play on the ball and initiate the offense, thus pushing Noland down the depth chart even farther.
Noland was recruited by SMU, Texas A&M, and Big 12 rival Oklahoma State out and may look into revisiting one of those places for his next destination.
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