As the NCAA Tournament comes to a close, GMS likes to review some of the power conference or power program teams that made it to the Big Dance and ask whether or not they’ve got a shot to return to the show next season. We continue on with teams eliminated in the Final Four.
Recruit and Reload: Oklahoma Sooners
Key Losses: Buddy Hield, Ryan Spangler, Isaiah Cousins
Key Returners: Jordan Woodard
Key Newcomers: Kameron McGutsy, Kristian Doolittle
Breakdown: No one in the country loses more explosiveness than Lon Kruger, you know, because Hield was the realest offensive player in the country last year and right up there among the most cold-blooded snipers we’ve seen in college basketball over the past 10 years. But not to be forgotten are the departures of Spangler and Cousins as well, two guys who helped make Hield’s job infinitely easier. Without them, Oklahoma has a huge void in the scoring, rebounding, toughness, and leadership department. How quickly Kruger figures out how to fill those holes will determine just how far out of the national picture the Sooners fall.
When Woodard was on last year, he was deadly. A guy who can knock down threes at over 45-percent and get to the rim can play on my team all day. But he never seemed to truly fit into things like Hield and Cousins did, so one has to think he might be in for a big year next season when he’s allowed to be as aggressive as he wants, whenever he wants. Kruger builds his program on veterans and player improvement over the offseason, something I expect to see a lot of next season even if this team isn’t a huge factor in the Big 12 title hunt.
