Oklahoma basketball: Austin Reaves won’t be returning next season
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma basketball star Austin Reaves has made his future choice.
The Big 12’s second-leading scorer this past season has elected to forgo the extra year of eligibility he would have been granted by the NCAA because of the coronavirus pandemic year and is declaring for the NBA Draft.
Reaves led the Sooners in scoring in 2020-21, averaging 18.3 points a game and 86 percent at the free-throw line. In addition to his scoring ability, the 6-foot, five-inch senior guard also averaged a team-high 5.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists a game. He is the first OU player in 40 years to lead the team in all three categories in the same season.
While under a new NCAA rule, draft-eligible players are allowed to test the NBA waters by declaring for the draft and determining through NBA sources what their draft status and professional prospects might be. they can still return to school after going through the process as long as they do not sign with an agent.
Reaves has eliminated the possibility of a return to the Sooners by declaring that he intends to retain an agent, according to multiple media reports.
Reaves came to Oklahoma in 2018 as a sophomore transfer from Wichita State. With the Shockers he was known primarily as a three-point sharpshooter, but his game evolved in two seasons at OU under head coach Lon Kruger, who was an all-conference guard and two-time Big Eight Player of the year at Kansas State in the early 1970s.
At Oklahoma, Reaves’ became a more all-around player, who became a much greater scoring threat with patented floater in the lane and on dribble drives to the basket, which often resulted in trips to the free-throw line, where he was almost automatic.
Reaves joins Sooner teammates De’Vion Harmon and Kur Kuath, all of whom have announced they are declaring for the NBA Draft. Brady Manek and Alondes Williams, both seniors, have yet to reveal their future plans. If they also elect to try their luck at the next level, it will leave the new Oklahoma head coach with plenty of holes to fill in next season’s roster.