In a Sweet 16 loss to UConn on Saturday, the Oklahoma women's basketball team suffered the consequences of not having the best player on the court. But that might be the last time the Sooners are in that situation.
The 3-seed Sooners' NCAA Tournament run ended with an 82-59 loss to the 2-seed Huskies as star Paige Bueckers dropped a career-high 40 points. Bueckers matched OU's point total as a team in the third quarter. She then scored UConn's first 19 points of the fourth quarter until she was finally pulled with 3:06 left.
Despite being a 2-seed, UConn was a top choice to win it all, and that's because of Bueckers. Usually, the best team also has the best player.
OU experienced that in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament and throughout the season. All-American Raegan Beers posted 25 points and 18 rebounds in the Sooners' first-round win over 14-seed Florida Gulf Coast. Then she had another double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds in the win against 6-seed Iowa in the second round.
On Saturday, though, Bueckers was better than Beers or anyone else on the court or even any other player in the country. She was a secret weapon for the Huskies.
But that could be the last time the best player on the court wasn't wearing crimson and cream and a Jordan logo.
The Sooners are expected to return four of five starters, including Beers. And on Tuesday, a day after OU made the Sweet 16, Aaliyah Chavez announced her commitment to the Sooners live on SportsCenter, promptly putting her new team in the spotlight.
Chavez is a consensus five-star recruit and the No. 1 player in the 2025 class. She's a McDonald's All-American, Naismith Prep Player of the Year and two-time Gatorade Player of the Year.
After Chavez committed, Trae Young, another former five-star prospect and the last big-time basketball star to come from Lloyd Noble Center, boldly stated what the Sooners' future holds with Chavez, even mentioning Bueckers specifically.
"Man, Aaliyah, Aaliyah's the next Paige Bueckers, the next JuJu Watkins, the next Caitlin Clark of college basketball," Young said during an interview. "It's gonna be exciting that she's in Norman, Oklahoma, now. We get to go and support her. I'm gonna be supporting her anytime I can."
Every player Young mentioned was a McDonald's All-American with lofty expectations. With Watkins expected to win the award this year, all would have won Naismith College Player of the Year during their careers. All, unless playing each other, have obviously been the best player on every basketball court they've stepped on.
If Chavez meets expectations, let alone exceeds, the Sooners, for the last time on Saturday, didn't have the best player.