{"id":790379,"date":"2023-12-19T17:50:24","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T22:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/?p=790379"},"modified":"2023-12-19T17:50:26","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T22:50:26","slug":"jumpman-invitational-oklahoma-sooners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/the-magazine\/jumpman\/jumpman-invitational-oklahoma-sooners\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2023 Jumpman Invitational: Get to Know the 2023-24 Oklahoma Sooners Men’s Team"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Just nine seasons ago, the men from Norman, OK, found themselves in Houston as one of the last four teams standing. We all know how it went down. Buddy Hield just kept hitting net from the great beyond. The Sooners haven\u2019t quite reached that euphoria again, but things look like they might be changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six players departed through the portal but Coach Porter Moser matched that number with incoming transfers ahead of this season. The ex-Loyola Chicago leader is building a culture in his new colors, bringing his fiery and passionate personality to the sideline.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Even with all the fresh faces, Sooner fans still have some familiar hoopers to cheer for. Case in point: Milos Uzan, a 2022-23 Big 12 All-Freshman Team selection. \u201cLos,\u201d as he\u2019s been called, showed promising potential in his first year, doing a little bit of everything offensively. That finishing package, though, is special. And his classmate Otega Oweh? He knows a thing or two about filling it up, too, especially in clutch time. Just ask Andy Enfield and USC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putting it bluntly, this group just has a bunch of athletes. Like, guys who can actually jump out of the gym.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot higher athletes. Guys who can put their head at the rim. We didn\u2019t really have that last year too much,\u201d Uzan said in October. \u201c[We have] more of a paint presence, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Junior guard Javian McCollum is part of that presence. A recent transfer from Siena, where he was the go-to player for the Saints on the offensive end, McCollum hoops like there\u2019s no tomorrow. You can\u2019t even tell he\u2019s the shortest player in Moser\u2019s rotation. McCollum merges shiftiness and an elite handle to display some showstopping creativity. Just weeks into his career as a Sooner, No. 2 took home MVP at the Rady Children\u2019s Invitational. But he\u2019s not the only creator on the perimeter. Rivaldo Soares is a dangerous wing threat off the bench, and Le\u2019Tre Darthard, a transfer from Utah Valley, is a difference-maker with and without the ball. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the frontcourt, John Hugley IV, the former main man at Pitt, can shake things up on both ends. During the 2021-22 campaign, only three players in the ACC averaged more rebounds per game than he did. The ex-Panther is just one former member of the ACC on OU. Jalon Moore, a dynamic slashing wing from Georgia Tech, owns some real hops that make him a force in Moser\u2019s starting unit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

OU has a history of seeing its walk-ons reach success. That trend continues with this team. Just two seasons ago, Sam Godwin was coming off the bench for Wofford College. He received a walk-on offer from OU, and the rest is history. Now, he\u2019s contributing to the starting five of a Big 12 program. If you need a rebound, Moser\u2019s first call is an obvious one. Few are better at earning a second chance in the halfcourt than Godwin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boomer Sooner. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just nine seasons ago, the men from Norman, OK, found themselves in Houston as one of the last four teams standing. We all know how it went down. Buddy Hield just kept hitting net from the great beyond. The Sooners haven\u2019t quite reached that euphoria again, but things look like they might be changing. Six […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":524,"featured_media":790380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-parts\/blog-template-no-ads.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65124],"tags":[62525,10310,65129],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-790379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jumpman","tag-feature-1","tag-jumpman","tag-oklahoma-mens-team"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/524"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=790379"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":790382,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790379\/revisions\/790382"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/790380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=790379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=790379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=790379"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=790379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}