The Oklahoma men's basketball team gets another season of Mohamed Wague.
The Sooners on Monday announced five players who will return for next season, including Wague. His name being on the list, though, could have caused some double-takes considering he got to OU last year already as a senior.
Sooners benefitting from NCAA waiver with Mohamed Wague
The 2025-26 season will be Wague's fifth college basketball season, but only his fourth at the Division-I level, which now matters.
In December, sparked by Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, the NCAA granted a waiver that allows athletes who attended and competed at a non-NCAA school, including junior colleges and NAIA, for one or more years to remain eligible to compete in 2025-26 if they used their final season of eligibility during 2024-25. This isn't officially a long-term rule, but it does benefit former junior college athletes who just finished their senior seasons.
Wague started his career at Harcum College in 2021 and was a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division-I First-Team All-American. Although that season opened up the opportunity for Wague to become a Division-I athlete, in the eyes of the NCAA, at least for now, it never happened.
After just one year at the junior college level, Wague bumped up to the highest level of competition and headed to West Virginia for a season. He then transferred to Alabama for two years.
Wague got to Norman last year for his fourth season of college basketball. When he got to campus, it was expected to be for Wague's last and only season at OU, but the NCAA waiver altered future plans.
This past season, Wague averaged 3.9 points and 3.1 rebounds while coming off the bench most of the season. He stepped into a starting role, though, down the stretch when Sam Godwin was injured late in the season.
In four starts, including in the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament and NCAA Tournament, Wague averaged 8.25 points and matched a season-high 12 points in a win against Georgia in the first round of the SEC tournament.
Now, Wague will return to OU for his fifth season of college basketball, alleviating one less spot for Porter Moser to fill with another transfer portal addition and adding experienced depth down low for the Sooners.