Oklahoma basketball: Better days ahead with Porter Moser at the helm
By Connor Pasby
The story of 2021-22 men’s Oklahoma basketball season: Battling but falling just short.
Many could argue that the Sooners should’ve had an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament. Instead, the Oklahoma men were awarded a No. 1 seed in the National Invitation Tournament.
Oklahoma finished the season with a record of 19-16, after a second-round NIT loss to St. Bonaventure.
"“I hate to see it end for these guys,” Moser said after the heartbreaking two-point loss to St. Bonaventure. “We asked so much of this group, new coaching staff, new teammates coming together… they gave everything they could.”"
It was a roller-coaster season for Porter Moser’s first year in Norman, but the Sooners have the right guy for the job. The Sooners started the season 11-2 with a pair of top-15 wins over Florida and Arkansas, then it took a turn southward. After an 11-2 start to the season, the Sooners endured a prolonged stretch in which they would lose 12 of their next 15 games.
To make matters even more difficult for OU as the season was winding down, the Sooners lost the services of senior starting guard Elijah Harkless to a season-ending undisclosed injury with five games remaining in the regular season.
Despite losing Harkless, Oklahoma managed to win its last three games in the regular season, defeating Oklahoma State, West Virginia, and Kansas State. The strong closing stretch of games earned the Sooners the No. 7 seed and a first-round bye in the Big 12 Tournament, where they continued their winning ways with a 72-67 upset of the No. 2-seeded Baylor Bears.
The tournament win over the Big 12 co-champions gave the NCAA Tournament selection committee something to think about, but it wasn’t quite enough to get OU into the Big Dance. Even with the win over Baylor, it wasn’t enough for Oklahoma. It turned out the Sooners needed a semifinal win over No. 3 Texas Tech to secure an NCAA Tournament bid, but they fell just short of getting the job done, falling 56-55 to the Red Raiders.
It was am up-and-down season to say the least, but Moser will have his first offseason to shake up his team, and hit the recruiting trail.
"“We’ll have spring workouts with whoever’s coming back, and then in the summer, when everybody gets together, you get a foundation of older guys helping the new guys,” Moser said."
Before the 2021-22 season, Moser has managed to get 2022 commitments from Milos Uzan and Otega Owen.
Uzan is a 6-foot, 4-inch, four-star point guard from Glendale, Arizona. Owen is a 6-foot, 6-inch, four-star guard from Blairstown, New Jersey, and is ranked the No. 2 player in the state of New Jersey.
With the offseason approaching, Moser hopes to continue bringing in elite talent to Norman. It was an exciting and memorable first season for new Sooner head coach. He was able to get the most out of the seriously purged roster he inherited and blended with nine newcomers.
Oklahoma basketball not only should but will continue to grow and get better with the culture that Moser is instilling and the strong leadership he is providing to the program.