Oklahoma basketball: Jamal Bieniemy entering transfer portal
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma basketball starter Jamal Bieniemy is transferring, according to The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman and multiple southwestern news outlets.
Bieniemy played two seasons for the Sooners and averaged slightly over five points and three assists per game. This past season, he averaged 5.2 points and 2.8 assists in 31 games, 30 of them in a starting role.
A four-star recruit out of Katy, Texas, in the Houston area, Bieniemy broke into the Sooners’ starting lineup midway through his freshman season. In his first start as a Sooner, he hit three second-half three points and scored 11 points in a 75-72 loss at Texas.
Four days later, at home against Oklahoma State, Bieniemy hit all six of his shots from the field, including three from three-point range, and finished with 17 points as the Sooners overcame a 19-point deficit and posted a 70-61 win over their in-state rivals.
Bieniemy’s best scoring game at Oklahoma was a 22-point performance at home against West Virginia late in his freshman season.
His best game this past season was a 12-point, seven-rebound, five-assist performance in Oklahoma’s 29-point, 90-61 blowout win over Iowa State. His best offensive production came early in the season in wins over Minnesota and Oregon State, when he recorded back-to-back games with 15 and 13 points, respectively.
It is unknown at this time where Bieniemy might be headed. He will have two years of eligibility remaining. Unless the NCAA waives the transfer rule, which would require Bieniemy to sit out a year before becoming eligible to play at his new school, he will miss the 2020-21 season. The NCAA is considering waiving this rule for next season, however, because of the shortened 2019-20 season resulting from the coronavirus outbreak.