rewrite this title Deadspin | Oklahoma, set on tournament berth, opens season vs. Lindenwood

After falling short of the NCAA Tournament last spring, Oklahoma jumps into the 2024-25 basketball season Monday night when it hosts Lindenwood in Norman, Okla.

Sooners coach Porter Moser has yet to take his team to the NCAA Tournament in his three years at the helm, but last year was the toughest blow. Oklahoma started the season 10-0, was ranked as high as seventh in the nation in mid-December, but struggled in the Big 12, finishing ninth in the conference and was declared the last team out of the 68-team field.

The Sooners were 20-12 (8-10). Oklahoma declined an NIT bid, with Moser saying he was thinking of the health and well-being of his players.

Oklahoma will look different when it takes the floor Monday, and not just because of the new SEC logos on the floor; this is the Sooners’ first season in the SEC. Javian McCollum, who averaged 13.3 points last season, transferred to Georgia Tech. Glenn Taylor Jr. transferred in from St. John’s to Oklahoma after starting 21 games for the Red Storm.

All-Big 12 honorable mention selection Jalon Moore is the Sooners returning leading scorer with 11.2. He made 31 starts last season.

Brycen Goodine is a sixth-year senior who has played at Syracuse, Providence and most recently Fairfield. He shot 46.7 percent from three-point range last year for the Stags.

Moser also praised redshirt freshman Jacolb Cole, a wing player. Cole was the seventh-rated player in Missouri in 2023.

“He embraced it [being a redshirt]. We had a skill development play for him; remember, he tore his ACL in high school, he’s a 6-8 wing player, a lefty,” Moser said. “He gives us a big body wing. I really like his toughness.”

Lindenwood is starting its third season as a Division I basketball program. A member of the Ohio Valley Conference, the Lions finished 9-22 (3-15) last year.

Coach Kyle Gerdeman is in his sixth season with the Lions, and he is optimistic about the program he is building.

“I think probably, like a lot of a lot of teams in the conference, you know pretty much a new team,” he said. “We’ve got some returners back but bringing in, you know, a lot of new guys, some Division I transfers, a few high school kids, three freshmen, couple of junior college kids as well.

“I think a lot of a lot of unknown but I think a lot of excitement because I do feel … we’ve kind of been able to build a base for our program.”

–Field Level Media