Sooner fans are already looking past the football mess and straight toward the hardwood, and for good reason. Oklahoma men’s basketball opened official practice this past week for the 2026-27 season, and on paper, this group has a chance to be the strongest Porter Moser has put together in Norman.
The Sooners’ roster has a little bit of everything: four returning players, two of them starters, a hefty transfer haul and two freshmen with real buzz attached to their names. Oklahoma opens the season at home at Lloyd Noble Center on Nov. 2 against East Texas A&M.
The biggest reason for optimism starts with the returning core. Xzayvier Brown and Derrion Reid are back for another run, along with Dayton Forsythe and Kai Rogers. Brown and Reid are both entering their second season with the Sooners, and both already carry major roles.
Brown, a 6-foot-3 guard and one of the SEC’s top point guards, was Oklahoma’s second-leading scorer last season at 15.4 points per game. He also averaged 3.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Reid, a 6-foot-8 forward, started all 37 games as a sophomore and posted 11.7 points and 4.4 rebounds a night.
Forsythe, the lone native Oklahoman on the roster, gives OU another experienced guard off the bench. Rogers adds frontcourt depth and physicality, something Moser’s teams have needed more of in recent seasons.
The transfer class may be the real difference-maker. Duke Brennan, who comes over from Villanova, brings size and production after earning All-Big East honors.
The 6-foot-10 big man averaged 12.4 points and 10.3 rebounds last season while shooting 66% from the field. Moser said Brennan brings the combination of size, toughness, skill, and a competitive edge that will enable him to have an immediate impact in the Sooner lineup.
Oklahoma also added three experienced guards in B. J. Edwards, Pop Issacs and Tyler Hendricks, all of whom are in their fifth year of college basketball because of the NCAA one-time 5-in-5 rule for members of the 2022 class.
Edwards started at Tennessee before spending the last three seasons at SMU. Last season, he averaged 12.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists while shooting 47.4%.
He was also named to the All-ACC defensive team twice. Issacs arrives after stops at multiple schools and is now with his fourth college team.
He played last season at Texas A&M and averaged 9.8 points, hit 40 percent of his threes and made 1.8 per game. Hendricks gives Oklahoma another perimeter threat after averaging 11.8 points at Utah Valley State last season.
A career 42% three-point shooter, he shot 44.8% from deep a year ago, one-tenth of a percentage point better than Nijel Pack did for OU last season.
The Sooners also added more size inside with Louisville transfer Khani Rooths and Oregon State transfer Yaak Yaak. Rooths, a 6-foot-10 power forward, has two years of eligibility left after averaging 5.3 points and 4.3 rebounds off the bench for the Cardinals. Yaak, a 6-foot-11 senior, should help with depth and physicality in the paint after averaging 6.6 points and 2.2 rebounds at Oregon State while shooting 51% from the field and 83% at the free-throw line.
The freshmen class rounds things out with Quincy Wadley and Gage McDonald. Wadley, a 6-foot-5 guard, was ranked No. 43 overall and is the highest-rated recruit of Moser’s OU tenure, according to 247Sports.
He’s also the highest-rated Oklahoma signee since Trae Young in 2017. McDonald, a 6-foot-7 forward, was ranked 89th overall by the 247Sports Composite.
Oklahoma is trying to bounce forward from a 2025-26 season that ended 21-16 overall and 7-11 in its second year in the SEC. Under Moser, the Sooners are 95-75 in five seasons, but only 32-56 in conference play, with those numbers split between three seasons in the Big 12 and two in the SEC. OU has made just one NCAA Tournament during Moser’s time in Norman, a first-round loss to Connecticut in 2024-25.
The league slate won’t make anything easy. Oklahoma will face all 16 SEC teams at least once, and 10 of those 16 made March Madness this past spring.
In Other News...
Oklahomas QB Debate Is Starting To Feel Impossible To Ignore
John Mateers rocky start this season has turned Oklahomas quarterback situation into one of the most watched storylines around the program. With eight touchdowns, four interceptions and a quarterback rating that has not matched expectations, the frustration has spilled over into the stands and online, where some Sooners fans are already calling for a change under center.
Whitt Newbauer is the name drawing the most attention as a possible alternative, thanks to the size, arm strength and ball placement that helped make the Mercer transfer an intriguing option. But the question is whether his limited experience would hold up against SEC pass rushers, and no official decision has been made as Oklahoma weighs whether to stick with Mateer or try something different. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahomas Offensive Struggles Come Down To One Frustrating Issue
Oklahomas offense has spent the early part of the season fighting through the kind of mistakes that usually snowball on a young unit. Turnovers from quarterback John Mateer have put the Sooners behind the chains, and the issues up front have only made things tougher, especially with a running game that has not been able to consistently get going.
Rocky Beers pointed to miscommunication among players as a major reason the offense has looked out of sync, with blocking assignments at the center of the problem. Even so, he sounded confident the Sooners can clean it up if the execution sharpens and the communication gets better, which is the kind of fix Oklahoma needs before the frustration turns into something bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Peyton Bowen Sends A Clear Message As Oklahoma Hits Defining Stretch
Oklahomas defense has given the Sooners a sturdy foundation through four weeks of the 2026 season, holding opponents to 16 points and 238 yards per game while piling up 13 sacks, good for fourth in the SEC. Even with those numbers, senior safety Peyton Bowen said the group knows there is still room to sharpen things up, especially when it comes to limiting the kind of explosive plays that can turn a solid outing into a stressful one.
Bowen, one of nine team captains, framed the next stretch less as a test of talent than a test of togetherness. With Oklahoma still dealing with turnovers and offensive inefficiency, the Sooners are heading toward a run of top-ranked opponents, and Bowens message was clear: the margin for error is shrinking, and leadership has to travel with the team if it wants to keep the season pointed in the right direction. [Read more 🡒]