Oklahoma Basketball: All-Time Sooners Men’s Basketball Team
By Chip Rouse
Mar 22, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Oklahoma Sooners players celebrate in the locker room after the game against the Dayton Flyers in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Nationwide Arena. Oklahoma won 72-66. Mandatory Credit: Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
Mookie Blaylock (1987-89) First Team Guard
Born Daron Oshay Blaylock, the player everyone remembers as “Mookie” was another of the highly regarded Billy Tubbs recruits, when he earned National Junior College All-America honors at Midland (Texas) College.
Known best for his quick hands and disruptive, ball-hawking defensive play, Blaylock was a two-year starter at Oklahoma and earned First Team All-American honors his senior season. He was Big Eight Newcomer of the Year his first season as a Sooner.
In addition to his defensive excellence, Blaylock averaged 20 points a game his senior season. Twice while at Oklahoma, he had 13 steals in a game, an NCAA record. He is the career leader at OU in steals, with 281 in just two seasons, and still holds the NCAA single-season (150) record for steals.
Blaylock was a first-round pick of the New Jersey Nets in the 1989 NBA Draft, the 12th player selected overall. He enjoyed a 13-year NBA career: three seasons with the Nets, seven as a member of the Atlanta Hawks and his final three seasons with the Golden State Warriors. Blaylock averaged 13.5 points and 2.3 steals per game during his NBA career, and led the league two seasons in a row (1996-97 and 1997-98), one of only five players (Magic Johnson, Alvan Robertson, Allen Iverson and Chris Paul are the others) to accomplish that feat.
Blaylock was named an NBA All-Star in 1994 and twice was name to the NBA All-Defensive First Team (1994 and 1995). He is the Atlanta Hawks’ all-time scoring leader in three-point field goals (1,050), three-point field-goal attempts (3,023) and steals (1,321).
The former Oklahoma All-American’s jersey number (10) was retired in 2001.