Tag: Porter Moser

Oklahoma Sooners land transfer guard Kobe Elvis

It took them a while but the Sooners land a talented veteran guard from Dayton.

It’s been a crazy offseason for [autotag]Porter Moser[/autotag] and crew as they have to replace at least five key players from last year’s team. That could be six if [autotag]Jalon Moore[/autotag] decides to stay in the NBA Draft.

So far the Sooners have been active in the transfer portal but haven’t had a lot of luck landing guys. That was until Tuesday when they picked up their first transfer of the cycle.

[autotag]Kobe Elvis[/autotag] is a 6-foot-2 guard who spent the last three seasons at Dayton after transferring from DePaul. Last year, he averaged 9.4 points per game and shot 37% from three. That’s where the Sooners hope he can provide a lift to next year’s team.

The biggest thing Elvis adds is experience. He’s played in 105 games, 84 of which he has started. That includes starting 50 of the last 54 games he’s played. Overall, he’s not a prospect that is going to blow fans away, but he’s a solid piece to get, as they need to have some experience for next season.

If you can pair him with some of the big fish the Sooners are after, that makes it an even better pick-up. Even still, this is similar to the moves we’ve seen Moser make in the past to get his team some veteran leadership. That can be valuable if the Sooners can figure out how to make it back to the [autotag]NCAA Tournament[/autotag].

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Oklahoma Sooners land prediction for 2025 4-star defensive end from Oklahoma

The Sooners landed a prediction to keep a talent in-state defensive end home in 2025.

The Oklahoma Sooners are off to a much faster start on the trail for the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag] than they were the last two cycles. They already have 10 commits and are the favorites for a couple of blue chip prospects announcing decisions next week.

This week the Sooners have received several predictions for [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag] and [autotag]Maliek Hawkins[/autotag]. On Thursday evening, Parker Thune of OUInsider and Rivals issued a futurecast predicting four-star defensive end [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag] to land with the Sooners. Out of Weatherford, Okla., Nickson is ranked as a top 50 player in the country, according to 247Sports. He’s also ranked as the No. 5 EDGE in the country.

There is no question that would be a huge get for the Sooners in the class. Plus, it’s always good to keep talented in-state products home. But for Nickson, he’s a guy many think could be a dual sport athlete. He’s also a talented basketball player. He earned all-state honors and starred on the AAU circuit. He helped lead Weatherford to a 29-2 season and averaged over 21 points per game as a sophomore.

 

So, this could be beneficial to not just the football team but also [autotag]Porter Moser[/autotag] and the basketball team as well if he chooses to play both sports.

The Sooners have to keep building that defensive line depth as they head into the [autotag]SEC[/autotag]. The SEC won’t let teams get away with it if they don’t have the talent up front.

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Sooners guard Javian McCollum to enter the transfer portal

After leading the Oklahoma Sooners in scoring, Javian McCollum set to enter the tranfer portal. Another big portal loss for the Sooners.

The exodus continues for the Oklahoma Sooners men’s basketball program. After just missing out on the NCAA Tournament for the third season in a row, [autotag]Porter Moser[/autotag] and the Sooners have another rebuild ahead of them.

Oklahoma had already lost [autotag]Rivaldo Soares[/autotag] and [autotag]Le’Tre Darthard[/autotag] to eligibility and have now lost [autotag]Otega Oweh[/autotag], [autotag]John Hugley[/autotag], and [autotag]Milos Uzan[/autotag] to the portal. Well add Javian McCollum to the list of portal entries from Oklahoma as Joe Tipton of On3 reports McCollum will depart OU after just one season.

McCollum was a big addition for the Sooners, coming over after a nice career with Sienna. McCollum led Oklahoma in scoring at 13.3 points per game and also averaged 3.4 assists per game, sharing point guard duties with Uzan.

Though his time in Norman was short-lived, McCollum made an impact. He’ll be most remembered for the shot he hit against Oklahoma State at the buzzer to help the Sooners beat the Cowboys in overtime and secure the Bedlam sweep.

With McCollum gone, the Sooners have lost nearly 50 points per game in departures this offseason.

A third straight year of roster turnover will put a bigger spotlight on Moser and his staff as they prepare for their first season in the SEC.

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State of the Oklahoma Sooners Men’s basketball program

Can the Oklahoma Sooners continue to live in the transfer portal?

Another year and another offseason of roster turnover for [autotag]Porter Moser[/autotag] and the Oklahoma Sooners men’s basketball team. The Sooners are coming off a year of growth but not enough to make the NCAA Tournament.

This marks the third straight season the Sooners have not gone dancing in March, which is unacceptable for a program like Oklahoma. The Sooners also now have their work cut out for them because they have to replace five key pieces from this past year’s team.

[autotag]Le’Tre Darthard[/autotag] and [autotag]Rivaldo Soares[/autotag] are out of eligibility. Milos Uzan, John Hugley and Otega Oweh have all entered the transfer portal. The writing seemed to be on the wall as the season was coming to a close but they still create a big hole to fill this offseason.

The Sooners did add two players to this past year’s recruiting class meaning they have four spots to fill in the transfer portal.

Some of the names the Sooners have reportedly been linked to are [autotag]Brandon Garrison[/autotag] from Oklahoma State, [autotag]Sean Pedulla[/autotag] from Virginia Tech and [autotag]Kevin Overton[/autotag] from Drake. What do they all have in common? They all played high school basketball in Oklahoma.

But right now, the state of the program is not good.

Does that mean those guys aren’t buying into Moser’s message? Are they not buying into the vision he has for the program or for them as individual players? What is the disconnect so far?

In this day and age, you can build a great team in the portal. North Carolina State and Alabama both did it. They both have several key pieces that transferred in this year or the year before. It can be done, but Oklahoma and Moser have to start hitting on the big fish.

I get Oklahoma isn’t a “basketball school” and is much more of a “football school”. A lot of people say Purdue is a basketball school and not a football school. Did you know since the 1980-1981 season, Purdue has made one Final Four, whereas Oklahoma has made three? Purdue ended their final four drought this season.

It’s time for the university and the people who support the school to start showing more support to the basketball team. Start raising NIL so they can be competitive in that space in the portal. If the Sooners will start getting competitive, they’ll have no problem getting fans into seats.

But it starts with the school taking it a little more seriously than they have to this point.

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Porter Moser speaks on turning down NIT invitation

Porter Moser talks about why the Oklahoma Sooners decided to not play in the NIT tournament.

On Sunday, the Oklahoma Sooners found out they would not be getting into the [autotag]NCAA Tournament[/autotag]. Shortly after that, it was announced they would not be playing in the [autotag]NIT[/autotag] either.

Porter Moser held a press conference on Tuesday where he talked about the devastation his team felt after being snubbed from the tournament. He also said they were given 10-15 minutes to decide if they wanted to participate in the NIT.

“It never was a thought,” Moser said. “It’s absolutely not to disparage the NIT. I think a storied tournament. That’s not to say some coaches wanted to start on the portal. That’s not where we were. It wasn’t even about those two things. I will coach until the last bounce that I can possibly coach and I told my guys that. I said I would coach; I would develop, I would compete for this school until the last bounce. So nobody can confer what it is. It was an incredible raw emotion that these kids had to make a decision in 15 minutes after heart-breaking news where some of the guys will never have a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament again.”

That was particularly the case for [autotag]Rivaldo Soares[/autotag]. It was well documented how he had never made an NCAA Tournament and was using that as motivation. He was arguably playing like the Sooners’ best player at the end of the year but continued to battle an ankle injury.

Moser said he ultimately didn’t feel they’d have enough guys to field a team. Now the Sooners are back to where they were a year ago, trying to figure out how to build a team to make the NCAA Tournament while also going to a new conference.

How they respond to this will determine how good of a year they will have next season.

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Porter Moser speaks on the ‘devastation’ his team is feeling after NCAA Tournament snub

Porter Moser opens up about the Oklahoma Sooners feeling snubbed from the NCAA Tournament.

For the first time since taking over as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, [autotag]Porter Moser[/autotag] held a postseason press conference. This was in light of the Sooners missing the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season.

The Sooners and Moser felt they had a pretty compelling case to be in the NCAA Tournament, seeing they were 18-6 when fully healthy. But the committee thought otherwise, with Oklahoma as the first team out of the tournament.

More: Social media reacts to the Sooners NCAA Tournament snub

Moser spoke about what the last 48 hours have been like for his team.

“This is me speaking from the heart about our guys,” Moser said. “About the devastation and the hurt they are going through. Roughly a year ago today I was reminiscing with Los (Milos Uzan), Sam (Godwin) and Otega (Oweh) yesterday. A year ago today, when guys went into the portal, who were left were Yaya Keita, Luke Northweather, Sam Godwin, Otega Oweh, and Milos Uzan.  That was our roster after the portal. My incredible staff sat around and said we are going to build an NCAA Tournament team the right way with guys that represent Oklahoma.”

Moser went on to say they recruited a group of men that he would go to battle with at any time. He even admitted that every single day since Dec. 1, 2023, his young players would look at a bracket and Oklahoma would be in the field. The first time they looked up and were not included was Selection Sunday. Moser said he will not talk bad about other teams that got in and steal their joy but he will defend his team.

“I will talk about the complete hurt and how dumbfounded I am that Oklahoma was not included,” Moser said. “I have not been told a reason.”

There is no question Oklahoma surprised a ton of people by making a run at the tournament based on preseason projections. I think that is probably what hurts the most for this team, they felt they overachieved and made a run they felt was good enough.

But ultimately, they didn’t make it, which caused Moser to call the system “flawed” because of no consistency of why a team made it or didn’t make it.

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Were the Oklahoma Sooners snubbed from the NCAA Tournament?

The Oklahoma Sooners missed out on the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year but were they snubbed?

We’ve now had a couple of days to digest what went down on Selection Sunday. The Oklahoma Sooners found out they would not make the [autotag]NCAA Tournament[/autotag] and instead would be the first team left out.

They then declined to participate in the NIT tournament. But were the Sooners snubbed from being in the tournament? The short answer is, yes. The Sooners should have been over both the [autotag]Virginia Cavaliers[/autotag] and the Michigan State Spartans. Both of them got in due to their recent history in the NCAA Tournament in my opinion.

More: Social media reacts to Oklahoma Sooners NCAA Tournament Snub

Let’s look at Virginia first. Oklahoma had a higher net rating (46 to 54). They had more Quad 1 wins (4 to 2). Virginia went 21-3 in Quad 2-4 games. Oklahoma went 16-0. So, the things the committee claims to look at the most, Oklahoma was better than.

Now, let’s look at Michigan State. Michigan State did have the better net rating (24 to 46). But Oklahoma had more Quad 1 wins (4 to 3). Michigan State went 16-5 in Quad 2-4 games and as I said earlier, Oklahoma went 16-0.

If you want to argue Oklahoma played more Quad 1 games and that’s why they had more wins than both, that’s fine. But neither of the three had a good Quad 1 record.

But if you are Oklahoma and are upset by not getting in, don’t put it in the committee’s hands. Win one more game. Don’t blow a nine-point lead with 7:30 left against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Do what everyone in the conference but yourself and Oklahoma State did and beat the Kansas Jayhawks on your home court. Close out that close game against the No. 1 ranked Houston Cougars. Don’t lay an egg vs. an average at best [autotag]UCF Knights[/autotag] team.

The Sooners had their chances but ultimately left it up to other teams and the committee to decide their fate. When you do that, you have no one else to blame but yourself.

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Oklahoma declines NIT invite, ends season

Oklahoma declines NIT offer and officially ends it’s season.

In the immediate aftermath of the selection committee’s decision to exclude Oklahoma from the 2024 NCAA Tournament, the focus immediately shifted to the Sooners next move. Would they accept an invitation to play in the NIT? Or would they decline and end their season?

The answer came in a statement from Porter Moser posted on social media:

After deliberating with the administration, the staff and the team, the Sooners declined an invitation to participate in the NIT. This decision ends Oklahoma’s up-and-down season.

Oklahoma now turns its sights on moving to the SEC next year.

Over the next few weeks, the No. 1 priority for the Sooners is assessing what players will be staying or going and figuring out a plan for constructing the roster for next year.

It seems a foregone conclusion that the Sooners will be active in the transfer portal. Hopefully, the Sooners will not have to replace seven players via the portal as they had to do last offseason.

The transfer portal opens on Monday. It’s hard to imagine the portal’s opening didn’t influence Oklahoma’s decision to pass on the NIT. The porter is a competitive time, and Oklahoma may need to focus more resources on it.

The Sooners will bring on board two high school recruits this year: four-star power forward Kuol Atak and three-star in-state combo guard Dayton Forsythe.

Oklahoma snubbed from NCAA Tournament for third straight year; dubbed first team out

Oklahoma is the first team out in this year’s NCAA Tournament, narrowly missing the cut.

[autotag]Porter Moser[/autotag] and the Oklahoma Sooners will not be participating in this year’s NCAA Tournament, as the Sooners found out on Sunday when the brackets were unveiled to the world.

The Sooners will remain in an NCAA Tournament drought for yet another year as the Sooners found out their fate.

Despite winning twenty games and finishing with zero losses to teams in Quad 2-4, the Sooners narrowly missed the cut and were ranked as the first team out, meaning the Sooners finished 69th instead of 68th.

Oklahoma sputtered to the end of the season, losing four of its last five games due to injuries, rigid scheduling, and lackluster play. However, Porter Moser and bracketologists like Joe Lunardi stood firm that Oklahoma would be good enough to make the cut narrowly.

The Virginia Cavaliers are the most surprising team to make it over the Sooners. The Cavaliers played in a weaker conference and had a lower NET rating than the Sooners.

All told, when Oklahoma was fully healthy, they were 18-6 and worthy of an NCAA Tournament spot. Oklahoma was victim over an unprecedented conference tournament weekend as teams like Oregon stole bids from right under the nose of Oklahoma. Oregon upset Colorado to win the final Pac-12 tournament. The Ducks were dead in the water before their conference tournament started, and they had only one hope: Win their conference tournament. They did that and punched their ticket.

The Sooners missing this year’s NCAA Tournament brings their tournament drought to three years.

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‘It’s just one of the gutsiest performances that I’ve seen’: Porter Moser on his team’s performance vs. the Cincinnati Bearcats

It wasn’t pretty but given the circumstances, Porter Moser felt it was one of the gutsiest performances he’s seen.

The Oklahoma Sooners are coming off a Jekyll and Hyde type of game in their win vs. the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Sooners start and really the entire first half was one to forget.

Then in the second half, they exploded, scoring 40 points and coming back to win a must-win game in overtime.

What made it even more impressive was the Sooners were without their leading scorer [autotag]Javian McCollum[/autotag]. Their other point guard, [autotag]Milos Uzan[/autotag], fouled out in the second half. He also had one of his worst games of the season.

Still, without a point guard to end the game on the court, the Sooners found a way.

Porter Moser spoke about just how crazy of a game it was.

“It’s just one of the gutsiest performances that I’ve seen under the circumstances,” Moser said. “You just look at the circumstances with senior night, obviously every game is huge, in nine days we played three of the most physical teams in the country, at Iowa State, Houston and Cincinnati, in nine days with these guys. Then they find out they lose Javian, then Los (Milos Uzan) fouls out. We’re playing with no point guard.”

One of the seniors who stepped up was [autotag]Maks Klanjscek[/autotag] off the bench. He hasn’t played a whole lot this season but he had a 7-2 run on his own late in the second half to tie the game.

Overall, it was a complete team effort. It took everyone to pull off a win they shouldn’t have and get them to that ever-important 20-win total.

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