Men's Basketball Wraps Up Exhibition Season Saturday

Nov. 10, 2000

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Game Information
Ranked 22nd in the AP Poll and 21st in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' survey, Oklahoma plays its second and final exhibition game of 2000 when it hosts Global Sports Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at Lloyd Noble Center. The game will be broadcast on the Sooner Basketball Radio Network (flagship KOMA 1520 AM in Oklahoma City). Mark Mathew and Ed Murray will describe the action.

About the Opponent A 10-member traveling squad, Global Sports is on the second half of its exhibition schedule. Coached by Bryan Gates, the team owns a 5-3 record with wins over South Alabama (74-69), Nevada (93-79), Creighton (82-74 in OT), Kansas State (78-73 in OT) and Nebraska (76-62). Global Sports has lost to Auburn (107-93), Utah State (92-71) and Iowa State (85-72). The squad's last game, its eighth in eight days, was versus Iowa State Wednesday night.

Included on the Global Sports roster is a trio of former Big 12 players. Guards Michael Nurse (Iowa State) and Jason Martin (Texas Tech) and forward Albert White (Missouri) are expected to suit up Saturday. Leading the team in both scoring and rebounding with respective 11.6 and 6.3 per-game averages is former UTEP forward Sharif Fajardo. Fajardo has scored in double figures in the last three games and in five of the last six. Jamal Faulkner, a former forward at Alabama, averages 11.3 points per contest and scored 26 versus the Cyclones Wednesday. Nurse is averaging 10.5 points per game for Global Sports and registered back-to-back performances of 20 or more points.

Oklahoma Update The Sooners are coming off a 27-7 campaign and tied for third place in the Big 12 Conference with a 12-4 record. OU advanced to the Big 12 Tournament championship game before falling to regular season league champ Iowa State. On the evening of the championship contest, the Sooners were named the NCAA Tournament's No. 3 seed in the west regional. It was Oklahoma's sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance under Head Coach Kelvin Sampson. OU, which finished the year ranked 12th in the Associated Press poll and 19th in the ESPN/USA Today version, posted its best record and registered its most wins since the 1989-90 season when Billy Tubbs' crew went 27-5.

This year's squad returns 62.5 percent of its scoring and 47.9 percent of its rebounding from last year. Five of last season's top six scorers are back, with the lone exception being third-team All-American Eduardo Najera, who is now starting for the Dallas Mavericks.

OU boasts a strong backcourt as virtually each member of last year's group is back this season. Senior Nolan Johnson (10.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg), senior Tim Heskett (7.4, 1.5), senior Kelley Newton (6.3, 1.5), junior J.R. Raymond (13.4, 3.3) and sophomore Hollis Price (7.2, 2.2) all return from last year. Junior Michael Cano is also back after seeing action in 13 games a year ago. Freshman Blake Johnston is a highly regarded recruit who is a redshirt candidate, while Richard Ainooson is in his second stint as a walk-on.

A lack of returning players has created questions in the frontcourt, but a talented recruiting class may provide some quick answers. Senior forward Jameel Heywood (3.2, 2.9) is the lone returning big body. First-team junior college All-American forwards Aaron McGhee and Daryan Selvy will look to make immediate contributions. Ronnie Griffin and Jozsef Szendrei, two more junior college transfers, are the tallest players on the squad at 6-9. Szendrei is recovering from a torn ACL in his right knee and is expected to be cleared to play in a couple of weeks. Freshman forward Johnnie Gilbert was the Minneapolis Player of the Year last season.

Head Coach Kelvin Sampson has compiled a 130-62 (.677) record in six years at Oklahoma and has guided the Sooners to NCAA Tournament appearances each season. In his 18th year as a collegiate head coach, he holds a 306-210 (.593) career record.

Recapping the First Exhibition Game The Sooners began their 2000-01 season with an 82-77 victory over the California Southwest All-Stars last Saturday. Kelley Newton came off the bench and led OU with 22 points thanks to a trio of three-pointers and a 7-for-7 performance from the free throw line. Junior college transfer Daryan Selvy recorded a double-double in his first action as a Sooner by scoring 14 points and grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds. Aaron McGhee, another junior college product playing his first game at OU, scored the Sooners' first 10 points of the game, six on a pair of three-pointers. The forward finished with 13 points and eight boards. Sophomore point guard Hollis Price added 11 points for Oklahoma and handed out a game-high five assists. OU owned the advantage on the glass, 44-30, and grabbed 24 offensive rebounds. The All-Stars' Kris Johnson, a former UCLA standout who had averaged 30.3 points in his squad's first three games, scored a team-high 19 points. Despite outshooting the Sooners .604 to .385, the All-Stars dropped to 3-1 on their exhibition tour. The team beat Arizona State, Utah and Northern Arizona in its previous three games.

Exhibiting Success The Sooners have compiled an impressive exhibition record over the last 14 years. With its 82-77 triumph over the California Southwest All-Stars last Saturday, OU has won its opening exhibition game the last 12 seasons and owns a 26-game exhibition winning streak. The last time OU lost an exhibition contest was in 1986 when the USSR national team beat Billy Tubbs' Sooners, 102-74.

Preseason Predictions In the annual preseason Big 12 media poll released Nov. 2, Oklahoma was picked to finish second in the league race behind Kansas. Among the teams the Sooners were predicted to finish ahead of were Missouri (third), Texas (fourth), Iowa State (fifth) and Oklahoma State (sixth). OU was also picked second in the league race by conference coaches. Here are both polls:

Model of Consistency Oklahoma has registered a winning record in 23 of its last 24 seasons. No other Big 12 team can boast as many winning campaigns since the 1975-76 season as the Sooners. Entering the year, OU had posted a 531-239 (.690) record over the span.

Head Coach Kelvin Sampson Now in his 18th year as a collegiate head coach, Kelvin Sampson is in his seventh year at the Oklahoma helm. He has averaged 21.7 wins per season at OU and is one of two Big 12 coaches -- Kansas' Roy Williams is the other -- to lead his team to the NCAA Tournament each of the last six seasons.

Sampson began his head coaching career in 1980 at Montana Tech when he was hired as the program's interim head coach. He recorded a 73-45 mark in four seasons and was inducted into the school's sports hall of fame three years ago.

In 1988, Sampson was named head coach at Washington State and compiled an even 103-103 record over seven years, including two 20-win campaigns.

Hired by Oklahoma on April 25, 1994, he has guided the Sooners to a 130-62 (.677) record and a 75-15 (.833) home mark. Two of his OU squads (1997-98 and 1999-00) have played in the Big 12 Tournament championship game. In 1998-99, he directed OU to an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance.

Sampson was named the 1995 national coach of the year by the Associated Press, the USBWA and Basketball Times.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Men's Basketball Wraps Up Exhibition Season Saturday

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