University of Oklahoma Athletics
OU Picked Fourth by Big 12 Coaches
October 21, 2004 | Men's Basketball
NORMAN, Okla. The OU men's basketball team, coming off a 20-11 season that saw it finish in seventh place in the Big 12 Conference, is picked to finish in fourth place in this year's league preseason coaches poll. Oklahoma earned 94 points in the poll, three fewer than third-place Texas.
Kansas and Oklahoma State both garnered 116 points and six first-place votes to share the honor of preseason Big 12 No. 1. Both teams return four starters from last year. The Jayhawks reached the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight while the Cowboys participated in the Final Four.
Trailing Oklahoma on the preseason list are Missouri (80 points), Iowa State (68), Texas Tech (61), Nebraska (47), Kansas State (42), Colorado (31), Texas A&M (29) and Baylor (11). Eleven points were awarded for first-place votes, 10 for second-place votes, etc. Coaches were not allowed to vote on their own team.
Kelvin Sampson's Sooners return three starters from last season in junior forward Kevin Bookout and sophomore guards Drew Lavender and Lawrence McKenzie. Senior forward Johnnie Gilbert also started in more than half of OU's games last year. Among the players new to the squad this season are junior college All-Americans Taj Gray (first team) and Terrell Everett (second team). Gray is a forward and Everett a guard.
The preseason All-Big 12 Team will be announced on Tuesday, Oct. 26, one day prior to the Big 12 Basketball Media Days held in Kansas City, Mo.
Oklahoma will hold its annual Baseline Bash in conjunction with a homecoming pep rally Friday night at Lloyd Noble Center. A 60-minute men's and women's basketball autograph session will start the evening at 6 while the on-court activities will begin closer to 7 p.m.
The Sooners play two home exhibition games (Nov. 10 and 13) before beginning the regular season with a home game against Cal State Northridge on Nov. 20 at noon.
Preseason Big 12 Coaches Poll
1. Kansas (116)
1. Oklahoma State (116)
3. Texas (97)
4. Oklahoma (94)
5. Missouri (80)
6. Iowa State (68)
7. Texas Tech (61)
8. Nebraska (47)
9. Kansas State (42)
10. Colorado (31)
11. Texas A&M (29)
12. Baylor (11)
(Poll points in parentheses)
