Oklahoma basketball: Lon Kruger cites versatility as strength of this Sooner squad

There may be more uncertainties  heading into this season’s men’s Oklahoma basketball team than with any other in head coach Lon Kruger’s previous eight at OU.

Meeting with reporters at Big 12 Media Days in Kansas City on Wednesday, 13 days before the Sooners will tip off the 2019-20 college basketball season, head coach Kruger said, “There are a lot of new players on the roster — only three guys on the roster that played any minutes at Oklahoma last year. Everyone is new, everyone is feeling their way around a little bit, determining roles.”

Everyone is working hard and there is a lot of energy and enthusiasm, the Sooner head coach said. “I’m excited about watching this group grow and develop and, hopefully, become a good basketball team.”

The Sooners will have more length and size, and Kruger said versatility is going to be one of the team’s strengths in the coming season. Depth will also be a strong suit.

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“(We have) a lot of interchangeable parts,” Kruger said, “a chance to play bigger or smaller depending on the opponent or the play of our guys. The two things there are versatility, flexibility in terms of moving people around, taking advantage of mismatches.”

Forwards Brady Manek and Kristian Doolittle, OU’s second- and third-best scorers from last season, return as starters. Manek averaged 12.2 points a game and Doolittle 11.3. Also back is sophomore Jamal Bieniemy, who made 17 starts his freshman season. Bieniemy averaged 4.9 points for the season, but over the final six games he averaged 10 points per contest.

The Sooners lost eight seniors and 59 percent of the offensive production from last year’s team that finished with a 20-14 overall record and 7-11 in the Big 12. The Big 12 coaches projected Oklahoma to finish eighth this season in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll.

Among the newcomers are seven players from a top-20 recruiting class that is headlined by point guard De’Vion Harmon out of Denton, Texas. Harmon was No. 43 overall and the ninth best point guard nationally in the 2019 class, according to Rivals. Four-star recruits Jalen Hill, the Nevada high school Player of the Year, and Victor Iwuakor, both 6-foot, 7-inch forwards are also members of that Sooner class.

Oklahoma will also gain the services of junior shooting guard Austin Reeves, who played two seasons at Wichita State before transferring to OU. Reeves, who sat out last season because of NCAA transfer rules, was a 45-percent three-point shooter at Wichita State.

Six-foot, 10-inch Kur Kuath is back for his senior season. The former junior college All-American known best for his shot-blocking ability, played in just six games a year ago before suffering a season-ending back injury.

Although Kruger has built a stellar career around his turnaround mastery, taking five different programs, including Oklahoma, to the NCAA Basketball Tournament, one of just two head coaches to do so, this season may be one of his sternest tests. Nine players out of a 15-man roster weren’t even at OU last season, and that includes seven true freshmen.

The Sooners were faced with a similar rebuild a year ago after losing 50 percent of their scoring as well as the early departure of All-American Trae Young. But that squad was older and more experienced, bolstered by several graduate transfers, and managed to finish 20-14 and make its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and sixth in the last seven seasons.

Oklahoma may be projected for a finish in the lower half of the Big 12 standings for the fourth season in a row, but the Sooners seven NCAA Tournament wins in the last five seasons 7 wins in 11 games) under Kruger is the second most in the Big 12.