The Oklahoma Sooners basketball program is going to look a bit different come this fall. With some graduates and outgoing transfers, the Sooners have three scholarships to work with as Porter Moser has a chance to slightly reconstruct his roster and gear up for an NCAA Tournament-hopeful season.
This past season, Moser ecplised 20 wins for the first time with the Sooners. His Oklahoma team was ranked as high as No. 7 in the AP poll. Unfortunately, his program was narrowly left out of the NCAA Tournament. One thing the Sooners dealt with over the course of the season was injuries, which exposed a weakness with the team’s depth at the center position.
To make matters worse for Moser, 6-foot-10 center John Hugley has entered the transfer portal, according to On3’s Joe Tipton. In his 17.6 minutes per game, he averaged 8.4 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. The junior big man started one game and appeared in 24 games over the course of his one-year stint in Norman.
Hugley’s best season came in his sophomore season at Pitt, the only other season he appeared in more than eight games over his four-year career. In that season, he averaged 14.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
Sooners’ lack of center depth
With Hugley transferring, the center room is compiled of Sam Godwin and Luke Northweather. Godwin started in 31 games for the Sooners this past season, being the team’s starting center. The 6-foot-9 big man is a local talent that transferred from Wofford to Norman after two seasons.
Northweather saw limited action for the Sooners, but looked as if he can provide solid backup big man minutes for the Sooners next season. He’s 6-foot-11, 232 pounds and might have a big opportunity come next season.
Three open roster spots
With Hugley, alongside Otega Oweh, hitting the transfer portal, the Sooners now have three open roster spots to work with. One should certainly be used to address some perimeter scoring and guard depth, but it’s hard to imagine Moser and Oklahoma don’t also land another big man to bolster up the depth at the position.
Either way, after nearly missing the NCAA Tournament, Moser has to be smart with his additions so he can build off last season and have a better one in the program’s first season in the SEC.
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