Oklahoma University Basketball: A Storied History

The Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team, representing the University of Oklahoma, has a rich and evolving history within intercollegiate athletics. As a competitor in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the program currently participates in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). From its early days to its modern era, Oklahoma basketball has seen periods of both moderate success and national prominence, marked by conference championships, NCAA tournament appearances, and the development of numerous All-American players. The Sooners play their home games at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

Early Years and Development (1907-1980)

The University of Oklahoma fielded its first basketball team in the early 20th century. The program saw moderate success on the court during this era, posting just 16 losing records in their first 72 seasons. They were led by 9 different coaches during this period, beginning with Bennie Owen (who also coached the football team) and ending with Dave Bliss in 1980. Despite lacking consistent national recognition, the Sooners participated in the very first Final Four in 1939, signaling their potential for future success.

Schedules and results from these early years are documented in the College Basketball-Reference.com archives, offering a glimpse into the program's foundational period: 1907-08, 1908-09, 1909-10, 1910-11, 1911-12, 1912-13, 1913-14, 1914-15, 1915-16, 1916-17, 1917-18, 1918-19, 1919-20, 1920-21, 1921-22, 1922-23, 1923-24, 1924-25, 1925-26, 1926-27, 1927-28, 1928-29, 1929-30, 1930-31, 1931-32, 1932-33, 1933-34, 1934-35, 1935-36, 1936-37, 1937-38, 1938-39, 1939-40, 1940-41, 1941-42, 1942-43, 1943-44, 1944-45, 1945-46, 1946-47, 1947-48, 1948-49, 1949-50, 1950-51, 1951-52, 1952-53, 1953-54, 1954-55, 1955-56, 1956-57, 1957-58, 1958-59, 1959-60, 1960-61, 1961-62, 1962-63, 1963-64, 1964-65, 1965-66, 1966-67, 1967-68, 1968-69, 1969-70, 1970-71, 1971-72, 1972-73, 1973-74, 1974-75, 1975-76, 1976-77, 1977-78, 1978-79, and 1979-80.

The Billy Tubbs Era (1981-1994)

The Oklahoma basketball program gained national prominence under Billy Tubbs, who took over in 1981. Tubbs' high-octane offense and charismatic personality revitalized the program, attracting talented players and generating excitement among fans. Star players Wayman Tisdale, Mookie Blaylock, and Stacey King guided the Sooners to several deep runs in the NCAA tournament. Tubbs guided the Sooners to runner-up finishes in the NCAA Tournament (1988) and the National Invitation Tournament (1991). Tubbs was named National Coach of the Year in 1983 and 1985. The 333 wins he amassed at OU are the most in school history. Tubbs' teams won four Big Eight titles in six years and were No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament for three straight years. He changed Oklahoma basketball in immeasurable ways.

Despite the success, Tubbs resigned on April 10, 1994, indicating that "he did not feel appreciated enough working at a football school." However, he later reconciled with the administration and enjoyed a healthy relationship with the school until his death from leukemia in 2020. Tubbs' base salary at Oklahoma in his final season was $107,000 annually. Tubbs' record at OU was 333-132 (0.716) overall, 126-70 (0.643) conference, with 10 NCAA tournament appearances, one Final Four appearance, and one National Title Game appearance.

The Kelvin Sampson Era (1994-2006)

Kelvin Sampson became the 11th head coach at the University of Oklahoma on April 25, 1994, succeeding Billy Tubbs. Sampson was named national coach of the year in 1995 (his first year at OU) by the Associated Press, United States Basketball Writers Association and Basketball Weekly after guiding the Sooners to 23-9 overall and 15-0 home marks. It was the second-best overall record posted by a first-year coach in Big 8 history. Sampson possesses the highest winning percentage in Oklahoma history (.719). He guided OU to nine consecutive 20-win seasons. He averaged 24.4 wins over those nine campaigns. He directed the Sooners to postseason tournament berths in each of his 12 seasons (11 NCAA tournaments), with a Sweet 16 showing in 1999, a Final Four appearance in 2002 and an Elite Eight appearance in 2003. His teams also played in the Big 12 Tournament title game on five occasions during the 10 seasons he coached in the Big 12. In 2001, 2002, and 2003 the Sooners won that tournament. Sampson finished with a Big 12 Tournament record of 17-7. Standouts Eduardo Nájera and Hollis Price helped the Sooners maintain a streak of 25 straight post season appearances, the longest in the nation. Sampson's record at OU was 279-109 (0.719) overall, 128-60 (0.681) conference, with 11 NCAA tournament Appearances, including one Final Four appearance. In the Big 12, Sampson had 3 Conference tournament Titles and 1 Conference regular season Title. During his final season at OU, Sampson's salary was approximately $900,000 annually, not including bonuses.

However, Sampson's tenure was also marked by controversy. During his watch, Oklahoma was placed under a three-year investigation by the NCAA for recruiting violations. At the end of their investigation, the NCAA issued a report citing more than 550 illegal calls made by Sampson and his staff to 17 different recruits.

The Jeff Capel Era (2006-2011)

On April 11, 2006, Jeff Capel was named the 12th head basketball coach at Oklahoma, succeeding Kelvin Sampson. Though the Sooner Nation as a whole greeted Capel's hiring with optimism, one notable downside of the coaching change emerged-Sampson's departure caused three of the players who had signed with OU (once considered a top-five recruiting class) to rethink each's decision to attend OU. Scottie Reynolds went on to Villanova, and Damion James to Texas. In his first year, after going 8-4 in non-conference games, with losses to Memphis, Purdue, Villanova, and Alabama, the Sooners started 6-3 in conference play, before losing their final 7 conference games. In his second year, after signing McDonald's All-American Forward Blake Griffin, the Sooners finished 21-10 during the regular season (9-7 in Big 12 play) earning them a No. 4 seed in the Big 12 Tournament, where they won one game before losing to Texas in the semi-finals. They received a No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament, where they defeated St. Joseph's in the first round before losing to No. 3 seed Louisville in the second round, finishing the season at 23-12, an improvement of 7 wins over the previous season. Player of the Year Candidate Blake Griffin announced he would be returning for his sophomore season, forgoing a possible lottery-pick status in the NBA draft.

The team experienced one of the best starts in school history at 25-1, until Griffin was sidelined with a concussion during the first half of the OU-Texas game on February 21, 2009. The Sooners went on to lose consecutive games for the first time all season, to Texas by 5 in Austin and Kansas by 9 in Norman. Without their star player, the Sooners fell short. Griffin returned to the lineup on February 28, 2009, and the Sooners returned to their winning ways defeating Texas Tech by 15 in Lubbock on 2/28/09, before losing on the road to Missouri, who was undefeated at home, and finishing the regular season by sweeping in-state rival Oklahoma State, who had won 7 of their previous 8 games. Capel's Sooners were granted a No. 2 seed for the NCAA tournament, and easily beat No. However, after hitting nine three-pointers during the previous game with Syracuse, the Sooner guards went 0/15 from beyond the arc during the first 35 minutes of their Elite 8 game against North Carolina, before finishing 2-19 in the game. This ultimately led to their demise by the Tar Heels on March 29, losing 60-72. Unanimous All-American Forward and Player of the Year Blake Griffin finished the tournament with 114 points and 60 rebounds, becoming the first player to accomplish such a feat in over 40 years. Griffin, who gave up his final two years of eligibility to enter the NBA draft, and was the #1 pick. The Sooners finished Capel's third season at 34-2, the school's first 30+ win season since 2002, and 2th overall.

Even with the loss of starters Austin Johnson, Taylor Griffin, and Blake Griffin, the Sooners had two incoming McDonald's All-American recruits in point guard Tommy Mason-Griffin and center Keith "Tiny" Gallon. Paired with returning McDonald's All-American guard Willie Warren, guard Tony Crocker, and former reserve forward Ryan Wright, the Sooners had a chance to post yet another successful season and were poised make another deep run into the NCAA tournament. Despite high hopes and a preseason ranking of No. 16, Jeff Capel and his Sooners proved to be one of the most overrated teams in the 2009-2010 season. After a mediocre 13-9 start, their season slipped away as they lost their last nine games of the season, including a first-round loss to Oklahoma State in the Big 12 tournament, leaving them with a 13-18 record to cap off the season. Capel's record at OU was 83-69 (0.546) overall, 33-43 (0.463) in conference (with 13 total wins and 4 conference wins having been vacated), with 2 NCAA tournament Appearances, and one Elite Eight appearance. Capel finished 2010-11 with a 14-18 record and a loss to the Texas Longhorns in the 2011 Big 12 Tournament.

The Lon Kruger Era (2011-2021)

Lon Kruger was hired by OU to replace Jeff Capel as head coach prior to the 2011-12 season. Kruger had previously coached at Kansas State, Florida, Illinois and UNLV. The 2012-13 season yielded a surprising 20-12 (11-7 Big 12, 4th) finish and resulted in the program's first NCAA tournament bid since Blake Griffin led the school to the Elite 8 in 2009. The 2013-14 season continued this trend of improvement, as the Sooners finished 23-10 overall (12-6 Big 12, 2nd). 4 of the 5 starters from the 2013-14 team returned for the 2014-15 season. Guard Buddy Hield was Big 12 player of the year as OU made it to the Big 12 tournament semifinals before Iowa State bounced them out.

In the 2015-2016 season, Oklahoma finished 24-6 in the regular season, and despite losing to West Virginia in the Big 12 Tournament's second round, received a #2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Oklahoma easily beat Cal State Bakersfield in the first round, but struggled to finish off VCU in the second round despite an early 21-7 lead. Oklahoma then went on to defeat Texas A&M 77-63 to advance to the west regional final where the Sooners defeated top-seed Oregon 80-68 to advance to the Final Four. Their Final Four opponent was Villanova, also a number two seed who upset Big 12 rival and number one seed Kansas to reach the Final Four. Lon Kruger is the first coach in history to take 5 different schools to the Sweet Sixteen. He is also the only coach to win a game in the NCAA tournament with 5 different schools. Kruger was at OU 10 seasons (2011-2021) and took the Sooners to the NCAA Tournament eight times, advancing as far as the Final Four in 2016.

The Porter Moser Era (2021-Present)

While Porter Moser led his Loyola of Chicago Ramblers to two NCAA Tournament appearances in his last four seasons there, he has come up empty in his three seasons as head coach of the Oklahoma basketball Sooners. To be fair, in two of the last three seasons, the Sooners have missed out on March Madness by being one of the first two teams left out of the NCAA Tournament. You're either in or you're out, however, and the painful fact is that Oklahoma has been home watching the tournament for three years running. Porter Moser's team has had an incredibly perplexing season. They beat multiple ranked teams and played tough in some other games. However, the Sooners look like the odd team out when deciding which Big 12 teams make it into the field of 68.

NCAA Tournament History

The Sooners have appeared in the NCAA tournament 34 times. Their combined record is 42-33. The Sooners have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) eight times.

All-Time Sooners Roster

With a reasonably steady program despite no national championships, what would an all-time Sooners basketball team look like? Sooners Wire chose one head coach, two assistants, and ten players to make up the all-time roster.

Billy Tubbs: Head Coach (1980-1994)
Kelvin Sampson: Assistant Coach (1994-2006)
Starting Point Guard: Mookie Blaylock (1987-1989)
Starting Shooting Guard: Buddy Hield (2012-2016)
Starting Small Forward: Jeff Webster (1989-1994)
Starting Power Forward: Blake Griffin (2008-2009)
Starting Post: Wayman Tisdale (1983-1985)
Reserve Point Guard: Trae Young (2017)
Reserve Guard: Hollis Price (1999-2003)
Reserve forward: Eduardo Najera (1997-2000)
Reserve Forward: Alvan Adams (1973-1975)
Reserve Center: Stacey King (1986-1989)

Individual Achievements and Accolades

In addition to their tournament successes the program has produced 33 All-Americans including Wayman Tisdale, Stacey King, Harvey Grant, Mookie Blaylock, Ryan Minor, Hollis Price, Buddy Hield, and Blake Griffin, 9 first round draft picks, including one No. 1 overall pick.

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