Men's Basketball Opens Exhibition Season Saturday

K. Sampson Press Conference Video

Game Information
Oklahoma, ranked 21st in the ESPN/USA Today top-25 poll, starts its 2000-01 campaign with a home exhibition game against the California Southwest All-Stars 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 will describe the action.

About the Opponent
The California Southwest All-Stars is a nine-member squad coached by Pete Cassidy that includes former OU player Eric Martin. Also on the team is former UCLA standout Kris Johnson, son of former NBA player Marques Johnson. The team is 2-0 with wins over Arizona State and Utah entering its Friday game versus Northern Arizona.

The All-Stars staged an 85-77 victory in their first matchup of the preseason against Arizona State Wednesday night. Johnson scored a game-high 27 points on 9-for-15 field goal shooting and added eight rebounds and a pair of assists. Guard Derrick Higgins, a CSU Northridge product, added 21 points. Martin, who played for the Sooners during the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons, contributed four points, six rebounds and a game-high three steals in 28 minutes of action.

On Thursday, Johnson scored 27 points again to lead the All-Stars to an 88-81 triumph over 16th-ranked Utah. Keith Higgins scored 13 points while Martin canned a pair of three-pointers and finished with 12 points. The All-Stars trailed by five at halftime but outscored the Utes 49-37 after the break.

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.

Oklahoma Player Personnel

Probable Starters
F	13	Aaron McGhee (6-8, 250, Jr.)	First-team junior college All-American
F	34	Jameel Heywood (6-6, 230, Sr.)	Lone returning frontcourt player
G	5	Nolan Johnson (6-4, 220, Sr.)	Scored 20 or more points in 3 of last 6 games
G	10	Hollis Price (6-1, 170, So.)	Member of last year's Big 12 all-frosh team
G	14	Tim Heskett (6-1, 175, Sr.)	OU's career three-point percentage leader

Reserves (Listed Numerically)
G	3	Michael Cano (6-1, 175, Jr.)	Has shed "walk-on" label
F	4	Ronnie Griffin (6-9, 235, Jr.)	A first-team all-league pick in junior college
G	12	Blake Johnston (6-1, 175, Fr.)	An honorable mention McDonald's All-American
G	14	J.R. Raymond (6-2, 175, Jr.)	Serving team suspension, will not play Saturday
G	20	Richard Ainooson (6-3, 180, Jr.)	A second-time walk-on
G	22	Kelley Newton (6-2, 190, Sr.)	Shot .398 from three-point land last year
F	24	Daryan Selvy (6-6, 215, Jr.)	First-team junior college All-American
F	32	Johnnie Gilbert (6-7, 220, Fr.)	Minneapolis City Player of the Year
C	42	Jozsef Szendrei (6-9, 240, Jr.)	Recovering from a torn ACL injury

Exhibiting Success
The Sooners have compiled an impressive exhibition record over the last 13 years. OU has won its opening exhibition game the last 11 seasons and owns a 25-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 Thursday, 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:

Big 12 Media Poll

Team (first-place votes)		Points
1.	Kansas (17)	258
2.	Oklahoma (4)	235
3.	Missouri (1)	214
4.	Texas	193
5.	Iowa State	190
6.	Oklahoma State	159
7.	Colorado	116
	Nebraska	116
9.	Texas Tech	75
10.	Texas A&M	66
11.	Baylor	62
12.	Kansas State	38

Big 12 Coaches' Poll

Team (first-place votes)		Points
1.	Kansas (11)	121
2.	Oklahoma	102
3.	Missouri	100
4.	Iowa State (1)	93
5.	Texas	82
6.	Oklahoma State	78
7.	Colorado	57
8.	Nebraska	45
9.	Texas Tech	39
10.	Texas A&M	28
	Baylor	28
12.	Kansas State	13

More Preseason Picks
Oklahoma is picked as high as 11th nationally (Blue Ribbon Yearbook) in preseason publications. Here's a quick sampling:

Publication	OU's Nat'l Ranking
Blue Ribbon Yearbook	11
ESPN Magazine	18
Street & Smith's	19
Dick Vitale's	21
The Sporting News	23

Long-Range Weaponry
The Sooners have been a strong three-point shooting team under Coach Sampson and last year was no different as guards J.R. Raymond, Tim Heskett, Kelley Newton and Hollis Price posted an aggregate .407 mark from beyond the arc. The good news for OU is that all four guards return this season. Here's a quick look at their individual performances last year and a quick note on each:

Tim Heskett - .417 (75-for-180), Needs 76 three-pointers to become the school's all-time leader and his .420 career three-point percentage is already tops at OU.

J.R. Raymond - .413 (95-for-230), Ranked third in the Big 12 with his 95 makes, which also the second-highest total in OU single-season history.

Kelley Newton - .398 (49-for-123), Shot .540 from long distance the first half of the season.

Hollis Price - .373 (25-for-67), Made 9-of-17 attempts during a six-game stretch late in the year.

OU Boasts Nation's Fourth-Longest Postseason Streak
Oklahoma has made 19 consecutive postseason appearances (15 NCAA and four NIT), the fourth-longest streak among Division I programs. Only North Carolina, Georgetown and Indiana own longer postseason streaks. The last time Oklahoma did not compete in the postseason was in 1980-81. The four longest current postseason streaks are as follows:

Team	Streak	NCAA	NIT	Started
North Carolina	34	30	4	1966-67
Georgetown	26	20	6	1974-75
Indiana	23	21	2	1977-78
Oklahoma	19	15	4	1981-82

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.