Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus Auburn on February 24, 2026 , Win , 91, to, 79
Final
Men's Basketball
91
vs Auburn
79
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Men's Basketball Preview Part 2: Backcourt
November 11, 2016 | Men's Basketball
SoonerSports.com is releasing a three-part men's basketball season preview throughout the week leading up to the Sooners' season opener on Nov. 13 against Northwestern State.
The highlight of Oklahoma's guard play will come from senior Jordan Woodard. A staple in the Sooner lineup for the past three seasons, Woodard has started all 105 games of his collegiate career. An All-Big 12 honorable mention selection last season, Woodard is the Sooners' top returning scorer after averaging 13.0 points, 3.4 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals. The 6-0, 187-pound senior put together 27 double-figure scoring performances, including six games of 20 or more points.
Owning career averages of 10.9 points, 3.9 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals, Woodard enters his senior campaign ranked eighth in program history for both career assists (410) and free throw percentage (.805). With 1,148 career points, he ranks 32nd on OU's career points list and is the 21st Sooner to surpass 1,100 career points within his first three seasons.
Woodard saw a huge gain in his offensive performance between his sophomore and junior years, shooting .416 (151-363) from the floor and .455 (80-176) from 3-point range (second in Big 12) last season. Comparatively, he averaged 9.3 points as a sophomore while shooting .361 (90-249) from the field and .254 (17-67) from long distance.
He was voted by the Big 12's head coaches as a Preseason All-Big 12 Team honorable mention selection, and will be featured as one of the Sooners' top offensive threats.
“Jordan has had a fantastic career so far,” said head coach Lon Kruger. “He has made progress every year, especially last year. He spent a lot of time in the preseason and summer working on his shot and improved it tremendously. He was a very good shooter on that squad last year and now without those other guys around we need him to do even more. He's worked hard in preparation for that. I don't know if he fully understands how tough it's going to be because now he's the main target of the opposing team's scouting report. You have to think that Khadeem [Lattin] and Dante [Buford] and others will help spread that around a little, but when you prepare for an opponent you identify one or two guys as the key and Jordan will be one of those guys. He's working hard in preparation for that.”
Senior guard Jordan Woodard
Things will feel a little different for Woodard at first, as he has never played a collegiate game without Isaiah Cousins, Buddy Hield and Ryan Spangler alongside him. He'll also experience a change in position. After moving to the wing last season, Woodard will be back in the point guard role, which he played his first two seasons at OU.
Backing up Woodard at the point will be a pair of newcomers in JUCO transfer Darrion Strong-Moore and freshman Jordan Shepherd. Strong, a 6-1, 180-pounder from Coffeyville Community College, brings in additional upperclassman experience. Last season at Coffeyville, he played in 30 games and averaged 17.7 points, 3.3 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game while shooting .443 from the floor and .324 from long range. The year before, he was named freshman of the year and MVP of the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference.
“Darrion is a guy who can add a lot to the program,” said Kruger. “He's very quick and aggressive in attacking the basket offensively and pushing the ball defensively. He shoots the ball very well. He's very good at getting down in the paint and creating for others. He brings a pretty complete game to us and gives us great depth.”
Hailing from Asheville, N.C., the 6-2, 180-pound Shepherd gives the Sooners a third option at point guard, while also showing the capability of playing off the ball. Kruger and his staff see a lot of upside in the young guard and are ecstatic they were able to add him to the program last spring.
Sophomore guard Christian James
“Jordan is going to be a terrific player,” said Kruger. “He's a guy who we really liked in what we knew and saw out of him. We couldn't be more pleased. He's got a great feel for the game, very good instincts. He brings quickness and as he gets bigger and stronger he'll become a very good Big 12 player.”
On the wing, Oklahoma boasts a pair of sophomores returning from last year's Final Four squad who showed glimmers of their capabilities last season. Christian James came off the bench in 35 games for the Sooners, averaging 2.9 points and 1.7 rebounds in 9.4 minutes per contest. As perhaps the second-best returning shooter behind Woodard, James shot .426 (29-68) from the floor and .500 (17-34) from behind the arc in his freshman campaign.
James showed much of his promise late in the year during OU's postseason run. In five NCAA Tournament games, he averaged 4.8 points and 3.6 rebounds in 17.0 minutes. James saw a career-high 28 minutes against Texas A&M in the Sweet 16, scoring 12 points by connecting on 4-of-6 3-pointers. He followed up that performance by pulling down a career-high 10 rebounds in the Elite Eight versus Oregon.
“Christian James played a significant role last year,” said Kruger. “He'll be expected to step in and be more of an aggressive scorer offensively and still use his size and bulk to rebound the ball well.”
Rashard Odomes showed promise early last year, scoring 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting against McNeese State – the most points scored off the bench by a Sooner all season. With a crowded group of upperclassmen at the wing, Odomes finished the year averaging just 6.1 minutes in 18 games. He's not only expected to play a much bigger role this season, but he's shown the coaching staff through his preparation that he'll do what it takes to earn his minutes.
“Rashard Odomes, along with Khadeem Lattin, has probably been our most consistent worker since June,” said Kruger. “He's done a fantastic job. He brings with him that blue-collar work ethic. He's the first one on the floor after a loose ball, rebounds the ball aggressively, attacks off the dribble. Doing a really good job.”
Sooner fans can look for Odomes to use his length and athleticism to impact the defensive end. In OU's annual player poll, his teammates voted him as the squad's best defender and the player who improved the most in the 2016 offseason. That work ethic and defensive stopper persona is just the identity Odomes wants to create for himself.
Freshman guard Kameron McGusty
“Rashard likes that role,” said Kruger. “He wanted to establish himself in that way early on. He's long, he's rangey, he's strong. He anticipates well, competes well – all those things that you're looking for in a really good defensive stopper. Rashard would welcome that opportunity and challenge.”
Another face the OU fanbase will want to quickly familiarize itself with is freshman Kameron McGusty. A 6-5, 191-pound shooting guard from Katy, Texas, McGusty is the highest-rated recruit of the Kruger era. He was ranked as the 33rd and 40th overall recruit by Scout.com and ESPN.com, respectively. ESPN.com and 247Sports both ranked him as a top-10 shooting guard in the 2016 class.
Kruger expects McGusty to continue his development and make an impact on the Sooner offense.
“He's a shooter-scorer,” said Kruger. “He can score in a lot of different ways. Very skilled, very talented, good instincts. Not a surprise, but very pleased with what he's done to this point. He stepped in with composure and still competed hard and has had good results so far in practice.”
Walk-on senior Daniel Harper will be playing his fourth season with the Sooners. The backcourt is rounded out by freshmen walk-ons Richard Anderson and Grant Quinn.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballPorter Moser Postgame vs West Virginia
Sunday, April 05
MBB Highlights: OU 82, Baylor 69
Saturday, April 04
Porter Moser, Xzayvier Brown, and Tae Davis Postgame vs Baylor
Saturday, April 04
Porter Moser and Nijel Pack Postgame vs Colorado
Thursday, April 02
