Oklahoma basketball: North Texas sharpshooter transferring to Oklahoma
By Chip Rouse
Men’s Oklahoma basketball loses just one player from its nine-deep 2019-20 rotation, so there will be few new faces on the Sooners’ 2020-21 roster.
One of the new faces, however, will belong to former North Texas sharpshooter Umoja Gibson, who has announced that he is transferring to Oklahoma after two seasons in Denton, Texas, playing for coach Grant McCasland and the North Texas Mean Green.
The 6-fooot, 1-inch redshirt sophomore averaged 14.5 points, 1.9 assists and 2.2 rebounds a game, starting all 31 games for North Texas this past season, and led the Mean Green with 86 made three-pointers. Gibson shot nearly 40 percent from long range in 2019-20, and should give Lon Kruger’s team additional firepower from the perimeter.
Gibson’s 86 made three-point shots this past season was 15 more than Brady Manek, who led the Sooners with 71.
The news that Gibson is coming to Oklahoma was very timely. Sophomore guard Jamal Bieniemy, who started all but one of the Sooners’ 31 games this season, announced last week that he was entering the transfer portal.
Gibson was an All-Conference USA Second-Team selection this past season and was North Texas’ second leading scorer. He scored 21 points in the game against Oklahoma, which the Sooners narrowly won, 82-80.
Because Gibson is not a graduate transfer (he will have two years of eligibility remaining), he would ordinarily be required to sit out a year. Because the NCAA, however, is considering granting a one-time transfer waiver, because of the COVID-19 crisis, that would allow players who transfer this year to gain immediate eligibility.
Gibson’s best game during his sophomore season was a 27-point effort in a 20-point North Texas win over the University of Texas-San Antonio. Seven times this past season he scored 20 or more points.