Oklahoma basketball: What if two former Sooners had stayed put?

It’s been a rough second half to the 2021-22 Oklahoma basketball season.

What had the Sooners going strong before the start of Big 12 play is now showing the wear and tear of a long season and the rugged competitive level present in the best conference in college basketball.

The Sooners began the Big 12 portion of the schedule on Jan. 1 with a 10-2 record. Since then, they have gone 4-12, including losses in seven of their last eight games. OU has had a problem with turnovers the entire season, and because of a height disadvantage head coach Porter Moser’s crew isn’t the strongest rebounding team.

What most enabled Oklahoma to win 10 of its first dozen games was offensive efficiency and a high shooting percentage. The Sooners play adequate defense, but it was their ball movement, shot selection and ability to get the ball in the basket that was the biggest reason they were able to defeat four top-15 teams this season.

But over the past eight games, the Sooners seemingly have lost their touch on the offensive end, and when that started to go south, it magnified their other shortcomings on the court.

With just three regular-season games remaining, it’s debatable whether we’ll see Oklahoma return to its earlier level of performance. Perhaps we drew a sense of false security from OU’s impressive first month and a half of the season.

With as many as nine newcomers on the roster when the season started, it was natural to think that it might take some time for the Sooner players to get comfortable and used to playing together and that that might lead to some hiccups in the early going. But as things have transpired, just the opposite has occurred.

All this has prompted me to ponder what it might have been like had Oklahoma not lost two of its starters from last year’s team to the transfer portal, and a third starter to the NBA Draft.

Shortly after last season ended, Lon Kruger, who had guided the Sooners for 10 seasons, elected to retire after over three decades in college coaching. That announcement was followed by the news that four-year OU starter Brady Manek and sophomore point guard De’Vion Harmon elected to take their game to another school. This was not an indictment against Porter Moser because he hadn’t been hired yet.

As most Sooner fans know, Manek is playing at North Carolina this season, and Harmon is a starter for the Oregon Ducks.

In four seasons at Oklahoma, Manek averaged 12.0 points a game, 5.6 rebounds and close to two made three-pointers per game. His numbers are slightly better at North Carolina, where he is averaging 13.8 points and 2.3 made three-balls per game along with close to two assists. In his last seven games for the Tar Heels, the 6-foot, 9-inch Manek, from Harrah, Oklahoma, has averaged 16.1 points, including 17 points in UNC’s week this week over Louisville.

Harmon made headlines this week, scoring 17 points in leading Oregon to a season sweep over 12th-ranked UCLA. Harmon shot five of seven from the field, including three of five from long range.

In two seasons at Oklahoma, Harmon averaged 31 minutes and nearly 10 points per game and ran the Sooner offense as the primary ball distributor. This season at Oregon, he is averaging just slightly better at 10.8 points per game. He is, however, doing better at the free-throw line and attempting and making more three-point shots.

And, in case you’re wondering, Austin Reeves, the Sooner starter and leading scorer from last season, was undrafted after declaring for the NBA Draft but was signed by the Los Angeles Lakers. Reeves averages about 10 minutes per game with a 6.2 scoring average, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists.

Reeves was gone anyway, but it sure would have been nice to have retained Manek for a fifth season as well as Harmon, who still has a couple of years of eligibility remaining if he chooses to use them.

The Sooners could have greatly benefited from their leadership and experience, not to mention their offensive skills. It’s great to see the two former Sooners doing well at their new schools, but it would have been a lot better to see them do that at the school that originally recruited them.