Oklahoma Sooners

2023-24 Result: 20-12 (8-10 BIG 12)

Key Additions

Duke Miles (High Point)

Kobe Elvis (Dayton)

Jadon Jones (Long Beach State)

Brycen Goodine (Fairfield)

Jeremiah Fears

Glenn Taylor (St. John’s)

Oklahoma has had a lot of roster turnover since the end of last season, with five players who averaged more than 8.4 points per game for them. Among the biggest losses were Javian McCollum and Otega Oweh. Porter Moser did a nice job retooling the roster for the move to the SEC, bringing in Jadon Jones, Duke Miles, Kobe Elvis, and Brycen Goodine. All four of those guys were key contributors at lower-level schools, and all have experience with the youngest of the four mentioned in their 5th year. He also added two four-star recruits in Jeremiah Fears and Kuol Atak, who probably won’t make huge contributions this year, but good pickups, nonetheless. With two key returners in Jalon Moore and Sam Godwin, Oklahoma appears poised to compete in their first year in the SEC.

On the defensive end, Oklahoma’s rebounding is the most glaring issue. Especially after moving to the SEC, if they aren’t rebounding, they are going to struggle. Their biggest guy expected to get major minutes is 6 ‘10 Sam Godwin, but outside of that it is just Jalon Moore at 6 ‘7 and Mohamed Wague, a 6 ‘10 Alabama transfer. Nobody on their team averaged more than 6.7 rebounds last year (Jalon Moore). Godwin averaged 5.2 in just 18 minutes, so assuming he is in for a bigger role this year, that number will likely increase. Oklahoma is going to need their guards to step up and rebound if they really want to compete in the SEC. Moser’s teams are always very fundamentally sound on the defensive end. They finished 82nd in the country last year in defensive PPG, but it will be a different level of play this year in the SEC. This defense will not wow you and will probably prevent Oklahoma from winning a lot of games.

Oklahoma’s offense is going to rely heavily on Jalon Moore, Jadon Jones, Brycen Goodine, and Duke Miles. Moore was the third leading scorer on last year’s team at 11.2 points per game, but he will need to step up in order for Oklahoma to have a good chance to win games. Duke Miles, Kobe Elvis, Jadon Jones and Brycen Goodine should provide some nice scoring for them, with all of them shooting it over 36.1% from three last season. This will oftentimes be a guard heavy lineup which should lead to a faster pace, but the efficiency needs to keep up. Oklahoma lacks much of an inside scoring presence, which will be greatly missed in the SEC, especially against some of the bigger and more physical teams. Oklahoma’s defense will not be its strong suit, so they best hope that the offensive numbers keep up so they can win some games. Their shooting and guard-heavy lineups will carry them to some victories, but the Sooners aren’t good enough to make much of a splash this season in the SEC.

Porter Moser’s squad will be a fine team in the SEC, but likely not an NCAA tournament team due to their lack of defensive prowess and rebounding. Their offense will win them some games and put some scare into some good teams, but they will be nothing better than a middle of the pack team this season. An 18-win season would be really good for them, but the direction of the roster is in a tough spot with so many 5th and 6th year guys.