The Oklahoma Sooners will search far and wide throughout the Transfer Portal to find talent, but sometimes they don't even have to look far or wide.
League Ready's Sam Kayser recently reported that the Sooners were one of many teams to show interest in Tulsa transfer guard Tylen Riley, who was vital in the Golden Hurricane just accomplishing one of their best seasons in program history with a 30-8 overall record and runner-up finish in the NIT. Riley's next stop will be his last with only one year of eligibility left.
Kayser's reported list of Riley suitors included OU, Auburn, Nebraska, Iowa, Cincinnati, USC, Georgetown, Maryland, UCLA, Rutgers, Marquette, Utah, Ole Miss, Grand Canyon and High Point, as of Saturday. Riley wouldn't have to move far from Tulsa to Norman, but he's from Las Vegas, so that might not actually matter much.
Oklahoma reportedly interested in Tylen Riley after breakout season
In his only season with Tulsa as a junior, Riley was second on the team with 15.0 points a game, plus 4.4 assists and 3.9 rebounds while starting all 38 games. He also shot 38.9% from beyond the arc with 28 makes.
Riley started his career at Cal Baptist, where he was actually rather lackluster in two seasons before breaking out with Tulsa. He averaged 7.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 19.2 minutes a game as a sophomore in 2024-25. He made just 13 total starts for Cal Baptist.
Read more: Who’s in and who’s out?: Oklahoma basketball’s 2026 Transfer Portal tracker
The hope for the Sooners would be that Riley's junior season was a launching pad for an even better senior campaign, rather than an outlier. Regardless, Riley would likely come off the bench at OU in his first Power Four experience. He would still be a valuable scoring threat off the bench, though, to provide a spark.
The Sooners have landed one addition from the portal so far with Louisville forward Khani Rooths' commitment on Monday. Rooths, listed at 6-foot-10, is expected to start for the Sooners next season while bringing much-needed size to the lineup.
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