With an undefeated football team in Stillwater and a one-loss outfit in Norman, basketball season might not be totally on the radar yet in the state of Oklahoma.
But it’s less than a month from the start of the regular season.
Big 12 Media Day takes place Tuesday in Kansas City, Missouri, another sign that hoops season is on its way.
Here are five storylines to watch, think about and debate over the next few months:
1. Is this the year someone topples Kansas?
Is this a silly question? Last year looked like the year Kansas’ Big 12 reign would end. That is, until the Jayhawks won their 11th consecutive conference championship.
Kansas is once again the preseason favorite in the conference, and deservedly so, with returners like Perry Ellis and Frank Mason and a freshman class that ranked in the top 10 nationally.
But the difference between this year and last year, when the conference was good-not-great, is the Big 12 may have a couple of elite teams to challenge KU.
Both Iowa State and Oklahoma return the stars of their NCAA Tournament teams and both look to be top-10 teams.
2. What are Steve Prohm and Shaka Smart all about?
A year after the league’s 10 coaching positions remained the same, the Big 12 has two new coaches in 2015-16 — Steve Prohm at Iowa State and Shaka Smart at Texas.
Both take over teams expected to reach the NCAA Tournament. Both also come with a track record of success at mid-majors — Smart has a Final Four to his name at VCU, while Prohm was 104-29 at Murray State.
But how will each handle expectations? Prohm takes over for a coach they called “The Mayor” and inherits a roster many believe could make a deep tourney run. Smart won more NCAA Tournament games in the last five years at VCU (6) than Texas won in that span (2).
3. Are college basketball’s changes for the better?
From the fan’s perspective, college basketball took a step forward in the offseason. The shot clock has been reduced to 30 seconds from 35, and teams have one fewer timeout — which could help improve the slow crawl that takes place at the end of many close games.
What do the Big 12’s coaches think? It is a question each coach will likely field on Tuesday.
Most of the league played a relatively slow-paced game in 2014-15. Only four teams — Iowa State, Baylor, Kansas and Oklahoma — ranked in the top 100 in adjusted tempo. Five others, including Oklahoma State (241st), ranked outside the top 240.
4. What more can Buddy Hield accomplish?
Here were the players of the year in the Power-5 conferences last season: Jahlil Okafor (Duke/ACC), Frank Kaminsky (Wisconsin/Big Ten), Bobby Portis (Arkansas/SEC), Joseph Young (Oregon/Pac-12) and Buddy Hield.
The first four were all drafted, with all but Young going in the first round. Hield is the only player with a chance to win his award twice.
It’s for that reason that Oklahoma has real potential to make another deep NCAA Tournament run. A year after he averaged 17.4 points per game, Hield was ranked as the No. 3 player in the country in a recent ranking of the top 101 players in college basketball by CBSSports.com. Could an All-American season be in his future?
5. Is Jawun Evans the spark Oklahoma State needs?
Oklahoma State was picked to finish seventh in the conference, a signal that despite a third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, there’s not a ton expected of the Cowboys in 2015-16.
Of course, there wasn’t last year, and OSU managed to make the tournament on the back of a solid stretch of play in the middle of the Big 12 schedule.
This year, OSU’s roster, aside from Phil Forte, lacks a track record of productivity.
Which brings us to Jawun Evans.
The point guard comes to OSU with hype after he made the USA Basketball U-19 team and is the most important freshman in the program since Marcus Smart. It’d be a stretch to expect a Smart-like season, but with a team searching for scorers, Evans’ ability to distribute and make teammates better may be key to finding consistent offense.
Mark Cooper 918-581-8387
mark.cooper@tulsaworld.com
But it’s less than a month from the start of the regular season.
Big 12 Media Day takes place Tuesday in Kansas City, Missouri, another sign that hoops season is on its way.
Here are five storylines to watch, think about and debate over the next few months:
1. Is this the year someone topples Kansas?
Is this a silly question? Last year looked like the year Kansas’ Big 12 reign would end. That is, until the Jayhawks won their 11th consecutive conference championship.
Kansas is once again the preseason favorite in the conference, and deservedly so, with returners like Perry Ellis and Frank Mason and a freshman class that ranked in the top 10 nationally.
But the difference between this year and last year, when the conference was good-not-great, is the Big 12 may have a couple of elite teams to challenge KU.
Both Iowa State and Oklahoma return the stars of their NCAA Tournament teams and both look to be top-10 teams.
2. What are Steve Prohm and Shaka Smart all about?
A year after the league’s 10 coaching positions remained the same, the Big 12 has two new coaches in 2015-16 — Steve Prohm at Iowa State and Shaka Smart at Texas.
Both take over teams expected to reach the NCAA Tournament. Both also come with a track record of success at mid-majors — Smart has a Final Four to his name at VCU, while Prohm was 104-29 at Murray State.
But how will each handle expectations? Prohm takes over for a coach they called “The Mayor” and inherits a roster many believe could make a deep tourney run. Smart won more NCAA Tournament games in the last five years at VCU (6) than Texas won in that span (2).
3. Are college basketball’s changes for the better?
From the fan’s perspective, college basketball took a step forward in the offseason. The shot clock has been reduced to 30 seconds from 35, and teams have one fewer timeout — which could help improve the slow crawl that takes place at the end of many close games.
What do the Big 12’s coaches think? It is a question each coach will likely field on Tuesday.
Most of the league played a relatively slow-paced game in 2014-15. Only four teams — Iowa State, Baylor, Kansas and Oklahoma — ranked in the top 100 in adjusted tempo. Five others, including Oklahoma State (241st), ranked outside the top 240.
4. What more can Buddy Hield accomplish?
Here were the players of the year in the Power-5 conferences last season: Jahlil Okafor (Duke/ACC), Frank Kaminsky (Wisconsin/Big Ten), Bobby Portis (Arkansas/SEC), Joseph Young (Oregon/Pac-12) and Buddy Hield.
The first four were all drafted, with all but Young going in the first round. Hield is the only player with a chance to win his award twice.
It’s for that reason that Oklahoma has real potential to make another deep NCAA Tournament run. A year after he averaged 17.4 points per game, Hield was ranked as the No. 3 player in the country in a recent ranking of the top 101 players in college basketball by CBSSports.com. Could an All-American season be in his future?
5. Is Jawun Evans the spark Oklahoma State needs?
Oklahoma State was picked to finish seventh in the conference, a signal that despite a third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, there’s not a ton expected of the Cowboys in 2015-16.
Of course, there wasn’t last year, and OSU managed to make the tournament on the back of a solid stretch of play in the middle of the Big 12 schedule.
This year, OSU’s roster, aside from Phil Forte, lacks a track record of productivity.
Which brings us to Jawun Evans.
The point guard comes to OSU with hype after he made the USA Basketball U-19 team and is the most important freshman in the program since Marcus Smart. It’d be a stretch to expect a Smart-like season, but with a team searching for scorers, Evans’ ability to distribute and make teammates better may be key to finding consistent offense.
Mark Cooper 918-581-8387
mark.cooper@tulsaworld.com
