OU Men Start Season Saturday at 4 p.m.

GAME INFORMATION
Picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 by both the league's coaches and media, Oklahoma opens the 2004-05 regular season on Saturday when it hosts Cal State Northridge at 4 p.m. at Lloyd Noble Center. Both teams went 2-0 during the brief exhibition season. Saturday's game will air on the Sooner Radio Network (flagship KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City) with Chuck Cooperstein (play-by-play) and Mike Houck (analyst) announcing. It will be televised by the Sooner Sports Network (KAUT Channel 34/Cox Cable 13 in Oklahoma City) with Bob Carpenter (play-by-play) and Charlie Spoonhour (analyst) calling the action. In addition to the Oklahoma City area, the game will also air in Tulsa (KWBT Ch. 19), Woodward (KOMI Ch. 24), Lawton (KSWO Ch. 7) and Kansas City (Metro Sports/Time Warner Cable 30).

TICKET AVAILABILITY
Upper-level reserved seats for Saturday's game are still available for $15 and $20 at the OU Athletics Ticket Office (800-456-4668) and online at SoonerSports.com. Lloyd Noble Center's north and east ticket windows will open at 2 p.m. on Saturday. OU students may purchase tickets for $5 prior to Saturday.

Game Notes in PDF

NCAA CHAMPIONS CHALLENGE
The NCAA Basketball Champions Challenge will visit Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday from 2-4 p.m. (prior to the OU men's basketball game vs. Cal State Northridge) and Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. (prior to the OU women's basketball game vs. Texas State). The event is free and provides fans of all ages with the opportunity to experience hands-on what it's like to be an NCAA Basketball player while having the chance to win great prizes courtesy of NCAA Basketball. The Champions Challenge, located at Lloyd Noble Center's east entrance, will feature basketball shooting games, a Kids Court and a video game zone, as well as many other interactive activities.

Also on hand for Saturday's men's basketball opener will be the Mavs ManiAACs from the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs ManiAACs will perform at halftime.

PROJECTED CSU NORTHRIDGE STARTERS (Stats from exhibition games)
F 4 Etoagwara Onyenegecha (6-6, 204, Sr., 11.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.0 apg)
C 24 Thomas Shewmake (6-10, 265, So., 8.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.5 apg)
G 11 Ian Boylan (6-6, 215, Sr., 10.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 6.0 apg)
G 20 Joseph Frazier (6-2, 185, Sr., DNP)
G 34 Davin White (6-1, 185, Sr., 12.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 5.5 apg)

PROJECTED OKLAHOMA STARTERS (Stats from exhibition games)
F 21 Taj Gray (6-9, 235, Jr., 13.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 0.5 apg)
F 34 Kevin Bookout (6-8, 259, Jr., 16.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.0 apg)
G 2 Jaison Williams (6-3, 181, Sr., 11.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.0 apg)
G 3 Drew Lavender (5-7, 153, So., 14.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.5 apg)
G 20 Terrell Everett (6-4, 185, Jr., 9.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 6.5 apg)

OKLAHOMA UPDATE
Oklahoma posted exhibition wins last week against a pair of NCAA Division II teams. The Sooners defeated Cameron (91-56) on Nov. 10 before beating Central Oklahoma (95-71) three days later. After shooting .408 from the field last year its worst mark in 40 years OU posted a combined .500 field goal mark last week. Kevin Bookout led the way by shooting .750 (15-for-20) from the floor and was followed by Taj Gray (.692) and Johnnie Gilbert and Longar Longar (.667 each). The Sooners outrebounded their outsized counterparts by an average of 15.5 boards and limited their foes to a combined .393 field goal effort. OU also forced an average of 24 turnovers.

Bookout paced the team in scoring and rebounding with 16.5 and 8.5 averages. Point guard Drew Lavender averaged 14.0 points and 4.5 assists while Gray averaged 13.5 points and 6.5 boards. Gray turned in a stellar effort versus Central Oklahoma with 21 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots in 19 minutes. Senior guard Jaison Williams averaged 11.0 points and knocked down six 3-pointers while fellow senior Gilbert averaged 10.0 points and 5.0 boards. Junior newcomer Terrell Everett saw some time at the point and averaged 9.5 points and a team-high 6.5 assists.

Making the most of his minutes was Longar, a 6-11 true freshman. He played just 12.5 minutes a game but averaged 7.0 points and 6.0 rebounds. Seven of his 12 boards were offensive.

Sophomore wing Brandon Foust did not play in either exhibition game due to academic issues, but is expected to see the court on Saturday. Foust was one of OU's top contributors the final six games last year.

ABOUT CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE
Cal State Northridge is a veteran team that also boasts talented youth. The Matadors return four starters from last year's 14-16 squad that just missed out on an NCAA Tournament trip by losing to Pacific in the Big West Conference Tournament title game, 75-73. CSUN finished 7-11 in the Big West, 7-6 at home, 4-9 in road games and 3-1 at neutral sites.

Leading the Matadors is 6-6 senior guard Ian Boylan. The Norman, Okla., native played at Norman High School and led Cal State Northridge in scoring with his 14.5 points a game last year. Boylan also averaged 4.2 rebounds and team highs in assists (3.6) and steals (2.6) while making 48 3-pointers and shooting .805 from the free throw line. CSUN's second-leading scorer last year, senior forward Etoagwara Onyenegecha is the brother of OU football's junior defensive back Chijioke Onyenegecha. The elder Onyenegecha averaged 13.0 points and 6.0 rebounds last year. Also back from last season are starters Davin White and Thomas Shewmake. White averaged 12.7 points and knocked down a team-high 50 3-pointers a year ago while Shewmake, a 6-10, 265-pound center, averaged 8.9 points and a team-high 6.6 rebounds. True freshman guard Jonathan Heard started both exhibition games this year and averaged a team-high 17.5 points in just 19.5 minutes a game. He shot .765 from the field (13-for-17).

Bobby Braswell is in his ninth season as a college head coach, all at Cal State Northridge. Braswell, a 1984 Cal State Northridge graduate, owns a 125-110 (.532) record with the Matadors. He coached CSUN to a 20-10 record in 1999-00 and to a 22-10 mark in 2000-01. The 2000-01 team won the Big West regular season and conference tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament where it lost to Big 12 opponent Kansas.

SERIES WITH CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE
Saturday's game will mark the first meeting between Oklahoma and Cal State Northridge in men's basketball.

OPENING STATEMENT
Last year's 69-59 Sooner Invitational victory over Eastern Washington improved Oklahoma to 9-1 in season openers under head coach Kelvin Sampson (OU lost to Alabama, 68-62, in 2002-03 in New York). The Sooners have won 17 of their last 19 season-opening games with the only other loss during the span coming to Massachusetts (84-83) on Nov. 28, 1993. Oklahoma has won its last 10 home openers and 24 of its last 25.

SAMPSON SIGNS THREE
Kelvin Sampson announced the signing of three players to national letters of intent Thursday, Nov. 11. Joining the OU program next year will be junior college All-American Mike Neal and high school standouts Taylor Griffin and Austin Johnson. From Mesquite, Texas, the 6-4 Neal was a second-team juco All-American at Lon Morris College last year when he averaged 21.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.1 steals a game. The guard shot .398 from 3-point range and is regarded by recruiting analyst Van Coleman as the nation's No. 2 junior college player. A 6-7, 225-pounder, Griffin attends Oklahoma Christian School in Edmond and averaged 15.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game as a junior. The first-team All-State performer shot .612 from the field and led his team to the 3A state title. Johnson, at 6-3 and 170 pounds, is rated as the nation's 45th-best high school senior and the 12th-best shooting guard in the country. From Amarillo, Texas, Johnson averaged 27.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 3.9 steals a game last year for Palo Duro High School. He registered 46- and 44-point games as a junior and earned first-team All-State recognition.

“We're ecstatic about this class,” said Sampson. “This was a little bit of a tricky recruiting class because we're going to have five starters back next year. We had to plug holes where we think we're going to need players. On top of their ability as basketball players, Mike, Austin and Taylor are excellent students. They're great character kids. We're excited. We feel like we've made Sooner Basketball better.”

NEW STAFF MEMBERS
With seven new players on the team, Kelvin Sampson obviously spent a great deal of time replenishing the OU roster in the offseason. But the OU boss also attracted several key staff members to Norman. Joining him on the coaching staff this season as assistants are longtime head coaches Bob Hoffman and Ray McCallum. Raised in Oklahoma City, Hoffman came to OU from Texas-Pan American where he served the past five years as head coach and earned two Independent Coach of the Year awards. He spent nine seasons as head coach at Oklahoma Baptist in the 1990s and took his teams to the NAIA Tournament six times (OBU advanced to the Elite Eight four times, the Final Four three times and the national title game twice). Hoffman also mentored the Southern Nazarene women's team for three seasons and won the 1989 NAIA national championship. McCallum served as Houston's head coach the last four years and spent the previous seven seasons as the man in charge at Ball State, his alma mater. The 1983 Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award winner as the nation's most outstanding senior 6-feet or under, McCallum has taken four teams to postseason play (two NCAA Tournaments and one NIT at Ball State and one NIT at Houston).

Also new to the staff this year is strength and conditioning coach Darby Rich. A basketball player for three SEC championship teams (1989-91) at Alabama, Rich arrived in Norman after spending the past two years as men's basketball strength coach at South Carolina for head coach Dave Odom. Rich has also worked for the Dallas Cowboys, Sam Houston State and Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College. Video coordinator Josh Moser is back with the OU program after spending last season as the video coordinator at Fresno State. Moser was a student manager at OU for three seasons (2000-01 through 2002-03).

NATIONAL POLLS
For the first time since the 1999-2000 season, Oklahoma is not ranked in the AP poll's preseason top 25. The Sooners are 33rd in the preseason AP poll and 30th in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. OU finished No. 3 in the final 2001-02 and 2002-03 AP polls.

BOOKOUT ON PRESEASON WATCH LISTS
Junior forward Kevin Bookout is on preseason top-50 watch lists for college basketball's two most coveted individual player awards the John R. Wooden Award and the Naismith Trophy. Both awards will be presented in April. Bookout is one of six Big 12 representatives in contention for the Wooden Award (Kansas' Keith Langford and Wayne Simien, Oklahoma State's Joey Graham and John Lucas, and Texas' P.J. Tucker are the others), and one of five up for the Naismith Trophy (Graham, Langford, Lucas and Simien).

GRAY UNANIMOUS BIG 12 PRESEASON NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
One of the most recruited junior college players in the nation last year, junior forward Taj Gray was the unanimous choice as Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year by the league's coaches and media. The 6-9, 235-pound Gray was the runner-up in national junior college player of the year voting last season when he averaged 18.1 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.3 blocked shots for Redlands Community College in El Reno, Okla. Gray also shot .672 from the field as he led Redlands to the National Junior College Athletic Association title game.

SOONERS GOING FOR EIGHTH STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASON
Oklahoma finished 20-11 last year to post its seventh consecutive 20-win campaign. The Sooners have won 175 games over the last seven seasons for an average of 25 per year. Over the last five seasons, OU is averaging 26 wins. The school record for consecutive 20-win seasons is 12 (1981-82 through 1992-93 under Billy Tubbs).

HOME IS WHERE THE “W” IS
Lloyd Noble Center has always been extremely kind to the Sooners. Oklahoma went 14-3 at home last year and has gone 133-20 (.869) inside the building during Kelvin Sampson's 10 years as head coach. Over the past three seasons OU is 45-4 (.918) at Lloyd Noble (it finished 15-1 in 2002-03 and 16-0 in 2001-02). Oklahoma is 369-63 (.854) inside Lloyd Noble since it opened for the 1975-76 campaign and has won 51 of its last 55. OU's 37-game home winning streak (started Jan. 20, 2001, and ended March 8, 2003) was OU's longest since winning 51 in a row in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was the nation's longest streak at the time. It also stands as the longest streak in Big 12 history.

2003-04 REVISITED
The youthful 2003-04 Oklahoma men's basketball team overcame numerous injuries and a substantial amount of adversity to finish 20-11 in Kelvin Sampson's 10th year as head coach. The victory total extended OU's streak of 20-win campaigns to seven and the team's NIT appearance ran the program's string of postseason showings to 23 in a row, the longest current streak in NCAA Division I. Following is a list of team notes and accomplishments from the 2003-04 season...

Due to injuries and disciplinary reasons, Oklahoma had seven available players by the time the final horn sounded in the team's last game.
OU finished with a 20-11 overall record, giving the program seven straight 20-win seasons.
Oklahoma began the season with 10 wins (the program's best start since 1991-92) and was ranked as high as No. 6 in the AP poll (Jan. 5 version).
The Sooners competed in the NIT, extending their postseason streak to 23 years, currently the longest in NCAA Division I. The NIT appearance snapped OU's string of nine consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
Oklahoma beat Nebraska in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament to run its winning streak in the event to 10 games, tying Kansas (1997-2000) for the league record for most consecutive tourney wins.
OU led the Big 12 in scoring defense (62.1 ppg), steals (8.5 spg) and turnover margin (+4.6 per game). It ranked second in blocked shots (5.0 bpg) and fourth in 3-point field goals made (6.7).
Oklahoma's 26 steals versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 2 were the most by a Big 12 team on the year (the next highest total by a conference team was 19).
Assistant coach Jimmy Tubbs was named head coach at SMU on March 26, 2004. He became the third Oklahoma assistant under Kelvin Sampson to earn a Division I head coaching job (Jason Rabedeaux at UTEP and Ray Lopes at Fresno State).

UNDER KELVIN SAMPSON...
OU has made 10 straight postseason showings (nine NCAA and one NIT).
OU has advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 (1999), Final Four (2002) and Elite Eight (2003).
OU has posted an 88-40 (.688) regular season Big 12 Conference record.
OU has recorded a 133-20 (.869) record at Lloyd Noble Center and has won 51 of its last 55 home games.
OU has won at least 20 games each of the last seven years.
OU has averaged 26 victories over the past five seasons.
OU has won three of the past four Big 12 Tournaments and has made five title game appearances in the last seven events.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Men Start Season Saturday at 4 p.m.

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors