Porter Moser enters his sixth season as head coach at Oklahoma with an experienced roster of returnees and transfers. The Sooners return two of their top four scorers from last season in senior point guard Xzayvier Brown and junior forward Derrion Reid. There are six incoming transfers, including experienced 6-foot-10 forward Duke Brennan, who averaged 12.4 points and 10.3 rebounds a game for Villanova last season.
Brown averaged 15.4 points per game
last season and was among the SEC leaders with a 2.00 assist-to-turnover ratio (122 assists, 61 turnovers). He averaged 3.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals. ... Reid averaged 11.7 points and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 50.9% from the field. ... Brennan has played 133 college games, starting 97 in a row and appearing in the past four NCAA Tournaments for three different teams. He shot 65.8% from the field last season. ... Transfer guard B.J. Edwards, who came from SMU after getting a fifth year of eligibility, led the Atlantic Coast Conference with 2.3 steals a game last season, when he also averaged 12.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists.
Nijel Pack, the SEC's top 3-point shooter at 44.7% last season, exhausted his eligibility after playing in six college seasons. Pack started all 37 games last season, as did departed forwards Tae Davis (13.0 ppg) and Mohamed Wague (6.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg). ... Like Brennan and Edwards, incoming transfer Tyler Hendricks was a double-figure scorer last season, at 11.8 points per game for Utah Valley. The 6-6 guard spent the three previous seasons at UCF and is a career 42.5% shooter from 3-point range. ... Guard Pop Isaacs is with his fourth school in as many seasons. He averaged 9.8 points and 2.6 assists last season at Texas A&M.
The Sooners open at home on Nov. 2 against East Texas A&M. Their only true road game in 14 games before opening Southeastern Conference play will Dec. 22 at SMU, when Edwards will face his former team. They play Purdue in a tournament Thanksgiving week and also host Syracuse. They will jump right into SEC play, hosting No. 23 Kentucky on Jan. 2 and playing at top-ranked Florida four days later.
Oklahoma has made the NCAA Tournament only once in the past five seasons with Moser. ... The Sooners have had a winning record in conference play only once in the past 10 seasons. They were 9-8 in Big 12 play in 2020-21. In their two seasons since moving to the SEC, they are 13-23 in league games.
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