Oklahoma was the only Power Four team in 2025-26 to have the same starting five all season, and they all got to Norman from the Transfer Portal. But that's college basketball today as Michigan also became the first national champion with an entire starting lineup of transfers.
But, what if the Transfer Portal never opened and created this world of constant roster turnover where recruits finishing careers with the same program was an anomaly? Like every college basketball program, the Sooners have experienced give and take from the portal. And sometimes it seems like there's a lot more take than give.
In theory, with no portal, every recruit that signed with OU would have been a Sooner their entire career. That would obviously reshuffle recruiting classes and targets, but in what's an imperfect exercise based on all the unpredictable moving pieces, here's what the Sooners might have looked like this season if there was no Transfer Portal, including the starting lineup and who's coming off the bench.
Also keep in mind this doesn't negate Jeremiah Fears leaving early for the NBA last year.
Milos Uzan would be the veteran leader of this group while running the point after signing with the Sooners as their top 2022 addition. Instead, he spent two seasons in Norman before heading to Houston, where he was a catalyst in the Cougars making the national championship game last year under Kelvin Sampson. This season, Uzan averaged 11.1 points and 4.0 assists for a Houston team that made the Sweet 16. Between two stops, Uzan finished his career with 133 starts, but only 56 were with the Sooners.
Otega Oweh would be this squad's greatest scoring threat, but instead, he led the Kentucky Wildcats while taking down his old team three times in the last two seasons. Like Uzan, Oweh was a top 2022 recruit who spent two seasons at OU before leaving. As a senior, he averaged 18.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals a game.
Four years of Oweh and Uzan together likely would have brought much greater results to Oklahoma than reality.
With no transfer addition to get in the way in this hypothetical situation, Dayton Forsythe cracks the starting lineup as a sophomore. He averaged 5.3 points in 28 games this season while battling an injury.
However, even with a Transfer Portal, Fosythe should be a lifelong Sooner coming from Dale, Oklahoma, which should also be rewarded in this exercise.
In a world with no Transfer Portal, freshmen like Kuol Atak get more opportunity to start instead of programs finding a starter from the portal. Despite flashing tremendous potential, Atak appeared in 24 games and averaged only 12.3 minutes this season while playing behind transfers Tae Davis and Derrion Reid. Fans would be pumped about Atak next season if he had a year as a starter under his belt already.
Luke Northweather never started in his two years at OU, but as a 6-foot-11 junior, he would be the Sooners' best option at center based on this roster. He did start twice for Missouri this season while appearing in 20 games. He averaged 3.0 points and 2.4 rebounds.
Basically, no Transfer Portal or not, Moser still struggles to find a dominant big man.
Bench
Kaden Cooper, G - Louisiana Tech
Jacolb Fredson-Cole, G/F - McNeese
Jake Hansen, G - Oklahoma
Andreas Holst, C - Oklahoma
Jeff Nwankwo, F - Oklahoma
Kai Rogers, C - Oklahoma