Oklahoma Basketball: All-Time Sooners Men’s Basketball Team
By Chip Rouse
Mar 22, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Oklahoma Sooners team members warm up prior to the game against the Dayton Flyers in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
Ryan Minor (1992-96), Third Team Forward
Ryan Minor was a two-time All-American (1995 and 1996) who starred on Sooner basketball teams the first two seasons that Kelvin Sampson was OU head coach.
He started every game his junior and senior seasons at Oklahoma, averaging 24 and 21 points per game, respectively, and was named Big Eight Player of the Year in the 1994-95 season. You can view a highlight clip of Minor in a 1995 game against Kansas by clicking on this video.
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Minor was good enough to be drafted by the NBA Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the 1996 NBA Draft, but he turned it down for a professional career in baseball. As good a college basketball player as Minor was, he was even better at baseball. He and his twin brother Damon played college baseball at OU, and both played on the 1994 Sooners team that won the College World Series.
Ryan was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 33rd round of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft, and made his major league debut with the Orioles in 1998. He is best known in MLB circles as the player who replaced 19-time American League All-Star Cal Ripken at third base when Ripken’s record consecutive-game streak ended.
Minor played four seasons in the major leagues. He spent his final season with the Montreal Expos in 2001. After his playing days ended in baseball, he became a minor league manager in the Orioles organization.
Next: Gerald Tucker (1942-47), Third Team Center