Oklahoma basketball: Say it ain’t so, Mo
By Chip Rouse
The leading scorer of the Oklahoma basketball team this past season may be on the move.
Sooner starting guard Umoja Gibson revealed his future plans on Friday, announcing via Twitter that he was going to explore the NBA Draft process. While he intends to go through the process, Gibson said he will not hire an agent, which leaves him with the option to return to OU for a final year of eligibility in the 2022-23 season.
The 6-foot, 1-inch shooting guard appeared and started in all of Oklahoma’s 35 games and led the Sooners with a 13.3 scoring average this past season, including 26 double-digit games.
The Waco, Texas, native was the only Sooner to score as many as 30 points in a game in the 2021-22 season and recorded the four highest OU scoring outputs of the season. He was especially effective from long range, ranking third in the Big 12 averaging 2.63 made three-point shots per game.
Gibson transferred to Oklahoma after playing two seasons at North Texas. In two OU seasons, he averaged 11.5 points and shot nearly 40 percent from three-point range.
Oklahoma has already lost four players to the transfer portal, and if Gibson were to leave, he would be the second starter.
"“Playing professional basketball has always been a dream of mine,” Gibson said in a Twitter message, “and I work hard to duty that dream into reality daily.“After much thought and consideration, I have chosen to not sign with an agent and still go through the NBA Draft process. Fortunately, I will be keeping my NCAA eligibility throughout this process with the intent to come back to Oklahoma. I intend to gain next-level feedback from professionals.”"
Every Sooner fan wants what’s best for Mo Gibson, but having him back for another year would be a big plus for OU in the second year of the Porter Moser era.