Oklahoma Men's Basketball Tabbed as 15th in SEC Pre-Season Poll!

[OUBeliever56A]

The Oklahoma Sooners under Coach Porter Moser (4th year) are rebuilding again with six returners (2 starters) and 11 newcomers for the 2024-2025 season. With so many newcomers and questions, it is no wonder that the Sooners were tabbed to finish in 15th of the 16 SEC team in the SEC Pre-Season Polls. Here are the results of the SEC Men's Basketball Pre-Season Polls.

Place - Team - SEC Games and Location for OU
Alabama - Away
Auburn - Away
Tennessee - Home
Arkansas - Away
Texas A&M - Home and Away
Florida - Away
Texas - Home and Away
Kentucky - Home
Ole Miss - Away
Mississippi State - Home
South Carolina - Home
Georgia - Away
Missouri - Away and Home
LSU - Home
Oklahoma
Vanderbilt - Home

The SEC Men's Schedule includes 18 games with each team playing 3 teams in Home and Road series. OU's three teams toplay are Texas A&M (#5 in SEC), Texas (#7 in SEC) and Missouri (#13 in SEC). That makes the Sooners schedule a bit tougher than average in the SEC. The Sooners also have to travel to play 6 games against the Top 8 predicted teams with only 3 games at home vs those top 8 teams. But they do play 5 games at LNC vs the bottom 7 other teams vs only 3 games on the road.

The rebuilding job will be a challenge for the Sooners. I have followed the offseason proccess lightly, so i am far from an expert but I will offer some thoughts about the makeup of the team. Ony thoughts that others wish to provide, please do.

C - Sam Goodwin will start as a returning starter. He hustles and gets the most out of his skills. But he will be undersized much of the time in the SEC and will do well to play even with the opposition. He needs to stay out of foul trouble as well. I like Goodwin alot for his effort. BACKUPs - Mohamed Wague and Luke Northweather. Wague is a career backup. He has some size but will need to work hard when on the court. Rebounding should be his focus, especially on defense. Northweather has length, but has not yet shown the bulk to be a factor in the paint on defense or rebounding. He can pull the defense out with hie potential as an outside spot shooter. Improvement by Northweather could really help the Sooners.

Power Forward - Jalon Moore will probably be in the #4 spot. Moore will likely be the Sooners best player. He is very athletic and can jump well and strong. The more he scores, the more he helps. His rebounding will be important. BACKUPs - Glen Taylor, Jr - Jacolb Fredson - Cole and Yaya Keita. Taylor, Jr is a senior and he has played. He has some size and can pehaps play inside. He has a chance to play a role for the Sooners. Fredson-Cole should help I think. IF you play at Bellaire HS in Houston, you are good. He has some size and was a 4-star player. Play in the SEC will be a big challenge with his limited experience, but he hopefully has the skills and detrmination to do so. Keita has been a developing player for the Sooners for two years. It is time to play and produce. If he could provide a solid 10 minutes a game, it would be a solid contribution.

Wing Forward - This could be a couple of players. Jeff Nwankwo and Kuol Atak are the candidates I think. Both can score, Nwankwo is thicker and can help inside maybe. Atak has length but is a true freshman. This position might be the #3 scorer on the team. One of the two, or both need to score. BACKUP - Maybe Jadon Jones (6'5") can hold down some minites at the Wing Forward with his experience.

[ Edit - I was reminded of the injury to Nwankwo (achilles) in practice this summer by a fellow poster. This perhaps opens the door for Atak and Fears for more playing time at the Wing forward this season. ]

Shooting Guard - Is Duke Miles the starting guard that will be the scorer for OU in 2024-2025? I think so. He is a Redshirt-SR and has scored 17.5 pts a game but at a lesser conference. At 6'2" he better be quick and have a way to get open though. Maybe he is the point guard and handles the ball though. I think any of the four guards listed below could fill in at the shooting guard position. The better they can shoot, the more they will play.

Point or Lead Guard - I think that Kobe Elvis and Brycen Goodine will share this job and fill in at the shooting guard position. They played at Dayton and Fairfield so theydo have experience as a Grad and 6th year player. The one that handles the ball and runs the offense will play more. These two players need to gain the trust of Coach Moser.

Freshman Guards - Jeremiah Fears and Dayton Forsythe - From what I have read and heard, these two freshman can play and shoot the ball. Is it possible that they could be scorers as freshman for Coach Moser? Forsythe sounds like a point guard, ball handler and scorer. Fears sounds like a shooting guard or maybe a wing player. If Elvis or Goodine do not play well, these two should play more for experience, especially in pre-season. I think for many reasons, Oklahoma needs to let these two players play and hopefully play well. The future is now, perhaps for these two.

I do not expect that Jake Moser (SR) and Reid Lovelace (JR) will be contributors for the Sooners in 2024-2025.

The pre-season schedule will be interesting to watch as Coach Moser tries to play perhaps as many as 12 or 13 players to see how thing in games are handled.

I do not see an exhibition game on the schedule. The first action seems to be the game vs Lindenwood on Nov 4th at LNC at 8 PM.

Boomer Sooner!