Sooners Reflect on Week Two of Practice

The Sooners are two weeks into the start of official practice for the 2016-17 season. As OU's exhibition game on Nov. 8 draws closer and closer, the team continues to put in the work to improve while adjusting to new roles.

Following Friday afternoon's practice, SoonerSports.com caught up with head coach Lon Kruger, forward Khadeem Lattin and guard Kameron McGusty to talk about the first two weeks of practice.

Head Coach Lon Kruger

On the first two weeks of practice:

“It's been great. Great time of year. The guys are enthusiastic and the energy levels are very high. Obviously, a lot of new guys playing different roles from a year ago but are working hard and making some progress.”

On who has stood out to him so far:

“Obviously, those guys who have come back are more comfortable, but all the new guys are doing well. Love our freshmen class. Darrion Strong is a junior college transfer from Coffeyville. They're all going to be in the rotation and play some significant minutes. It'll be fun to watch them grow and mature and develop.”

On if his coaching style has to adapt to such a young team:

“It is a lot different. Every club is a little bit different. The last couple have been similar because we had the same guys the last couple years…There's probably a bit more breakdown, a bit more teaching. Try to get everyone on the same page, but that's pretty common with a young team and we've got a young team so we've got to grow quickly.”

Junior Forward Khadeem Lattin

On the first two weeks of practice:

“The first few weeks have been hard, they've been long. It's been an adjustment but we've taken huge steps in figuring out what we need to do and finding out our individual roles. We've really just taken big strides so I'm excited about the next 30 days.”

On being picked sixth in the Big 12 Preseason Poll:

“I feel like we can be higher. But I think it just adds fuel to the fire. We have something to prove to the Big 12 and to the nation.”

On the team's newcomers:

“It's different. It's a lot of new guys here all the time. Our freshmen live in the gym. It's exciting to see a younger class figure out what they need to do so early and so fast. We've gotten so much closer because of our individual jump time where we're doing this together.”

Freshman Guard Kameron McGusty

On the first two weeks of practice:

“Everything has been going smooth. I'm learning a lot from the older guys, from Coach Kruger and all the assistants. We're finally starting to gel as a team. It took a while, but I'm seeing on the court that even as we're going on the court we're going a lot harder, we're competing a lot harder and getting better every day.”

On the transition from high school to college:

“It's been good. It really wasn't too difficult. There's some stuff that you could get away with in high school that you can't get away with at this level and as the summer went on I kind of learned that. Now I'm figuring it out slowly but surely.”

On looking forward to his first collegiate game in a few weeks:

“Very. The first college game is going to be very excited. The start of my college career…can't wait.”