Kristian Doolittle’s No. 21 has scored well in Sooner hoops history
By Chip Rouse
The framed No. 21 jersey of Oklahoma basketball star Kristian Doolittle was on prominent display for all to see as OU lone senior player was honored during Senior Night at Lloyd Noble Center on March 3.
Doolittle didn’t venture far from home when he came to Oklahoma from nearby Edmond, just 32 miles straight north of the Norman campus, as a member of Lon Kruger’s 2016 recruiting class. He was rated the No. 1 overall player in the state of Oklahoma.
His decision to remain in-state and go to OU was no doubt influenced to some degree by Jordan Woodard, who preceded Doolittle by several years at Oklahoma and also played high school basketball at Edmond Memorial.
The 6-foot, 7-inch forward knew that March 3 would be his last college home game at the LNC. What he didn’t know at the time was that his next game, that Saturday at TCU, would be his final college game.
On March 12, as the Sooners were in Kansas City, Missouri, preparing for the Big 12 Tournament, where they were the No. 3 seed, the Big 12 and the other major conferences cancelled their conference tournaments because of the national health emergency created by the rapid spread of COVID-19.. Five days later, the NCAA pulled the plug on the NCAA Tournament.
Just like that, Doolittle’s final college season came to an abrupt and unprecedented close.
Doolittle led the Sooners in scoring this season, averaging 15.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, both career bests and fourth best in the Big 12 in 2019-20. He averaged a team-best 18.2 points in his final four games this season.
Over the years, the Sooner player wearing the No. 21 jersey has been a scorer, and Doolittle has fit that mold perfectly, especially over his junior and senior seasons. In four years as an Oklahoma Sooner, Doolittle averaged double digits in scoring (12.1 points per game) and 6.6 rebounds.
Other players who had strong final seasons at OU while wearing No. 21 include Bobby Jack (1972, 16.5 points), Mike McCurdy (1975, 11.2), Eduardo Najera (2000, 18.4), Taj Gray (2006, 14.2 points) and Cameron Clark (2014, 15.6).
Doolittle officially said good-bye to college basketball on Monday, when he signed with an agent in hopes of continuing his career at the next level. The NBA Draft is scheduled for June 25.
Here are a few notable numbers that defined Doolittle’s career playing for his home-state Sooners:
1 — Doolittle was the only Big 12 player this season to post four 20-point double-doubles (at least 20 points and double-digit rebounds in the same game).
3 — He was named Big 12 Player of the Week three times in the 2019-20 season, tying Devon Dotson of Kansas for the most from any one team.
7 — The four-year starter from Edmond, Oklahoma, was credited with seven double-doubles this season to lead the Sooners.
10 — Doolittle is one of 10 Sooners to be named to the All-Big 12 First Team since the Big 12 was formed in 1996.
15 — He is one of 15 players in OU basketball history to score at least 1,000 points and 700 rebounds in his career.
30 — The OU senior forward made 30 three-point shots this season. His junior season, he attempted only four three-pointers all year, missing all four.
31 — Doolittle’s 1,188 career points ranks 31st on the Oklahoma career scoring list.