Oklahoma basketball: Elijah Harkless named Big 12 Newcomer of Week
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma basketball junior guard Elijah Harkless enjoyed a breakthrough week for the Sooners and became the second OU player to earn Big 12 weekly honors this season.
Harkless, a transfer from Cal State Northridge, is the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week.
Harkless got his third and fourth starts of the season last week in the Oklahoma wins over Kansas State on Tuesday and the upset win against No. 9 Kansas on Saturday.
In a 76-50 win against K-State, Harkless pulled down a career-best 13 rebounds to go along with six assists, three steals and eight points in 31 minutes of action. He followed that up with a seven-point, seven-rebound performance in 23 minutes on the floor in the Sooners’ seven-point win over Kansas. He also posted three assists and three more steals in the latter game.
Oklahoma is 3-1 since Harkless became a member of the OU starting five. His aggressiveness has enabled the Sooners to have a 63-32 advantage in creating turnovers, creating offensive out of defense. In the four-game stretch in which Harkless has been in the starting lineup, Oklahoma has held its opponents to 41-percent shooting and 27 percent from three-point range.
Harkless for sure will be in the starting lineup again when Oklahoma is at No. 5 Texas on Tuesday.
Two Oklahoma players, both newcomers to the team, have received Big 12 weekly honors this season. Umoja Gibson, who transferred to OU from North Texas, was Big 12 Player of the Week and Newcomer of the Week on Jan. 4.
Baylor junior guard Jared Butler was honored as Big 12 Player of the Week. Butler averaged 26 points and 7.0 assists in a pair of wins last week by No. 2-ranked Baylor.