Oklahoma's College Basketball Crown win makes it obvious who Porter Moser has to retain

The Oklahoma Sooners have at most two games left in their college basketball season, yet freshman Kuol Atak is still having to introduce himself. And OU fans need to hope that head coach Porter Moser assures Atak is not introducing himself to a new fan base next season because of it, especially after what he just showed.

Atak, as he's usually done when given real opportunity this season, showed out off the bench Wednesday night in Las Vegas as the Sooners slipped past Colorado 90-86 in overtime in the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Crown. For coaches watching from home, they're dreaming of Atak getting in the Transfer Portal, which should make him Moser's No. 1 retention priority.

The win set up a semifinal matchup with Baylor at 12:30 p.m. CT Saturday.

Kuol Atak can't join the list of former Sooners to flourish somewhere else

With the Sooners already down bench contributor Dayton Forsythe and starting forward Derrion Reid getting in early foul trouble, Moser was forced to not only put Atak on the court, but leave him out there for a season-high 27 minutes. With that opportunity, Atak posted 16 points, three rebounds, a block and a steal, while also being the Sooners' best three-point shooter with four makes as a 6-foot-9 forward.

"Kuol had to come in and step up, and I thought he did a really good job with not just making shots -- he did a lot of other things, too, that we're really trying to get out of Kuol," Moser said during his postgame interview on FS1. "Kuol did a great job with that."

Wednesday was just the fourth time this season that Atak got at least 20 minutes of playing time. He has reached double-digit scoring in all those instances and put up a career-high 24 points against Mississippi Valley State. He ultimately averaged 12.9 minutes a game during the season while appearing in 22 games.

Atak has raised eyebrows all season when out there, and every time he broke out in a game, it seemed more playing time would come his way, but it never did. That's on Moser, especially since there were times the Sooners were desperate for a spark throughout SEC play. Now, it's also on Moser to keep Atak in Norman despite showing little faith in him, or else he'll be another player to develop into a star while wearing something other than crimson and cream.