Sooners Meet High Point Thursday

GAME INFORMATION
Oklahoma (1-0) meets High Point (1-0) in the first round of the Great Alaska Shootout on Thursday. The 11 p.m. CST game will mark OU's first appearance in the event since the 1983-84 season. Thursday's contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network (flagship KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City) with Bob Barry, Sr. (play-by-play) and Mike Houck (analyst) announcing. It will not be televised.

Game Notes in PDF

ROUND TWO
The Sooners will play Utah or Washington on Friday. If OU wins its first round game against High Point, its second round game will start at 11 p.m. CST and be televised by ESPN2. If OU loses to High Point, its Friday game will begin at 5 p.m. CST and will not air on television. Alabama, Alaska Anchorage, Furman and Minnesota represent the other half of the bracket. One will be OU's opponent on Saturday.

PROJECTED HIGH POINT STARTERS (Stats averages)
F 00 Jerry Echenique (6-6, 260, Sr., 5.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.0 apg)
F 55 Danny Gathings (6-6, 205, Sr., 13.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 1.0 apg)
G 10 Zione White (6-3, 175, Sr., 20.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 7.0 apg)
G 11 Titus Byrd (5-11, 175, Jr., 8.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 0.0 apg)
G 23 Akeem Scott (6-1, 180, Jr., 13.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 5.0 apg)

PROJECTED OKLAHOMA STARTERS (Stats averages)
F 21 Taj Gray (6-9, 235, Jr., 29.0 ppg, 14.0 rpg, 4.0 apg)
F 34 Kevin Bookout (6-8, 259, Jr., 12.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 0.0 apg)
G 2 Jaison Williams (6-3, 181, Sr., 6.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 2.0 apg)
G 3 Drew Lavender (5-7, 153, So., 10.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 3.0 apg)
G 20 Terrell Everett (6-4, 185, Jr., 8.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 5.0 apg)

OKLAHOMA UPDATE
A veteran Cal State Northridge team took Oklahoma to the final minutes in the teams' opening game of the season Saturday. But behind the strong play of junior forward Taj Gray, the Sooners used an 18-6 run over the game's final five minutes to claim an 82-72 win. In his first NCAA Division I game, Gray recorded 29 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, four blocked shots and a steal. Twenty-three of his points came in the second half.

The Sooners, who shot .408 from the field as a team last year their lowest mark in 40 years posted a .509 figure against the Matadors. Playing in his first game since Jan. 19, junior forward Kevin Bookout was 5-for-5 from the field and finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Lawrence McKenzie was solid from beyond the arc, knocking down three of his five 3-point attempts. McKenzie finished with 11 points while sophomore point guard Drew Lavender contributed 10 points on the strength of 8-for-8 free throw shooting.

The Sooners outboarded Cal State Northridge by a 31-29 count and forced 23 Matadors turnovers. OU also shot .821 from the free throw line (23-for-28) after posting a .669 figure last season.

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE LEFTOVERS
Taj Gray's 29 points tied as the most by a Sooner in his debut under 11th-year OU head coach Kelvin Sampson. Guard J.R. Raymond netted 29 against Montana State in the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Nov. 19, 1999. Raymond was a sophomore.
The Sooners won their 11th straight home opener and their 25th in the last 26 years.
OU trailed 35-34 at the half and 66-64 with 5:21 left in the game.
Senior guard Jaison Williams made his first career NCAA Division I start on Saturday. He came off the bench in all 31 games last year and in all 31 of his games as a freshman at Xavier (he played at a junior college as a sophomore). Williams finished with six points, two assists and two steals before fouling out in 20 minutes of action.
Oklahoma's 20 turnovers matched last year's season high (set at Oklahoma State on Jan. 14).

ABOUT HIGH POINT
A member of the Big South Conference, High Point (located in High Point, N.C.) beat Southeastern 118-66 on Saturday in its season opener. The 118 points were the most by a Panthers team in 36 years. High Point is coming off a 19-11 season, which tied for the nation's third-best improvement from the year before (it went 7-20 in 2002-03). The Panthers are a veteran team that starts three seniors and two juniors.

Five players scored in double figures for High Point in its opening game. Senior guard Zione White poured in 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting and had seven assists in 22 minutes. Fellow senior guard Chris Meeks came off the bench to supply 16 points in only 12 minutes of action and was followed in the scoring column by senior forward/center Patrick Hilliman (15 points), senior forward Danny Gathings (13) and junior guard Akeem Scott (13). Gathings, who averaged 15.8 points and 8.0 rebounds last year, pulled down 10 boards against Southeastern. High Point shot .512 from the field and .400 from beyond the arc (10-for-25), and won the rebounding battle, 58-35. It also forced Southeastern into 32 turnovers.

Bart Lundy is in his second season as High Point's head coach and is 20-11 (645). A 1993 Winthrop graduate, Lundy spent five years as head coach at Queens University of Charlotte prior to arriving at High Point. He coached Queens to a 115-39 (.747) record and took two squads to the Division II Elite Eight (it advanced to the Final Four in 2003). Lundy directed Queens to four Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference titles.

SERIES WITH HIGH POINT
Thursday's game will mark the second meeting between Oklahoma and High Point. The Sooners hosted the Panthers on Dec. 15, 2001 (OU's Final Four season), and won 107-63 with the help of .574 field goal shooting. Hollis Price scored 26 points (he was 10-for-14 from the floor and 4-for-6 from 3-point range). Ebi Ere added 21 for OU and was followed by Blake Johnston (14 points), Aaron McGhee (13) and Jason Detrick (12). No members of High Point's current team played in the game. Johnnie Gilbert is the lone current Sooner who was on the 2001-02 team (he was granted a medical hardship that season and did not play in the game).

OKLAHOMA IN ALASKA
This marks OU's second appearance in the Great Alaska Shootout and third appearance in the state. The Sooners went 2-1 in the 1983 Great Alaska Shootout under head coach Billy Tubbs, beating Southern California (92-91), losing to Arkansas (84-78) and beating Santa Clara (91-77). OU opened the 1999-00 season by winning the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks. Kelvin Sampson's squad defeated Montana State (91-76), George Washington (73-54) and California (75-58). Eduardo Najera earned tournament MVP honors.

Kellen Sampson is the only player on the OU roster who has been to Alaska previously. This is his third trip. He joined his father on both previous occasions when the elder Sampson was a guest instructor at a basketball clinic in Haines, Alaska. Kellen Sampson was in kindergarten and first grade when he made those Alaskan treks.

TOURNAMENT SUCCESS
The Sooners have posted an impressive 40-8 (.833) tournament record over the past five years (both regular and postseason events). OU has won three Big 12 Tournaments (2001, 2002, 2003), the Top of the World Classic (1999-00), the Big Island Invitational (2000-01), four Sooner Invitationals and a pair of All-College Tournaments. Kelvin Sampson has also directed his teams to a 7-4 NCAA Tournament record during the span.

GRAY EARNS BIG 12 WEEKLY HONOR
Taj Gray earned the season's first Big 12 Rookie of the Week award for his effort in OU's season-opening 82-72 win over Cal State Northridge. Gray tallied 29 points and had 14 rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots. Twenty-three of his points came after halftime. Kansas' Wayne Simien was named the league's player of the week after recording 25 points, 14 boards, one assist and one block against Vermont.

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 was not ranked in the AP poll's preseason top 25. The Sooners debuted 33rd in the preseason AP poll and 30th in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. They are 31st in both this week. 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).

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 134-20 (.870) record at Lloyd Noble Center and has won 52 of its last 56 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

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