Coaching Philosophy

Kelvin Sampson-  159-69 in 7 years at Oklahoma.  332-17 overall in 18 years.

Kelvin Sampson's philosophy as a coach can be summed up by his two favorite words, heart and hustle.  Sampson's teams are rarely pretty and have as much flash as a dark room, but regardless of the team they play or where, Kelvin's boys will always beat you to the loose balls.  Sampson was a volunteer assistant on the Michigan State National Championship team that featured Magic Johnson and has been a head coach since his mid-20's when he took over at Montana Tech.  Including his final season at Washington State, Sampson has taken his team to the NCAA Tournament 8 consecutive times because his teams love to play for him.  His most consistent feature is a relentless defense that will not give you an open shot and will badger without letting up for 40 minutes every game.  The downfall of his teams have been the porous shooting efforts that kill them come tournament time and the lack of a big man that they hope is improved with the addition of Jabahri Brown.

Assistants

Ray Lopes (Eighth Year)

Bennie Seltzer (Fifth Year)

Jim Shaw (Third Year)

Director of Basketball Operations-  Terry Evans (First Year)

The Lineup

Starters in Bold.

PG-    4- Quannas White-  Junior.  6-1, 190 lbs.  New Orleans, La. (Midland [Texas] CC)

          12- Blake Johnston-  Freshman.  6-1, 180 lbs.  Midland, Texas (Midland HS)

SG-  10- Hollis Price-  Junior.  6-1, 165 lbs.   New Orleans, La. (St. Augustine HS)

            5- Jason Detrick-  Junior.  6-5, 210 lbs.  Newport News, Va. (SW Missouri State-West Plains)

C-     21- Jabahri Brown-  Sophomore.  6-10, 210 lbs.  St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (Florida International)

           42- Jozsef Szendrei-  Junior.  6-9, 240 lbs.  Budapest, Hungary (Northeastern Colorado JC)

SF-    2-  Ebi Ere-  Junior.  6-5, 215 lbs.  Tulsa, Okla. (Barton County [Kan.] CC)

          24- Daryan Selvy-  Senior.  6-6, 215 lbs.  West Memphis, Ark. (Carl Albert [Okla.] JC)

PF-  13- Aaron McGhee-  Senior.  6-8, 250 lbs.  Aurora, Ill. (Vincennes [Ind.] JC)

          32- Johnnie Gilbert-  Sophomore.  6-8, 230 lbs.  Minneapolis, Minn. (Patrick Henry HS)

Strengths

Depth-  For the first time in Kelvin's eight years at Oklahoma, the Sooners have 2 capable players at every position.  The have shooting guards who can shoot, swing players who can swing, and big-bangers that can bang.

Speed and Athleticism-  Kelvin's teams had forever been linked to slow, stiff guys that could only be effective in a half-court style now they can run and press as well as ever under Sampson.  With only three guys below 6-5, these guys not only have the speed and athleticism, but size.

Slashers-  One of the biggest problems a year ago was not having anyone that was willing to take the ball to the hoop or drive and dish, now they have several.  Hollis Price seems to be more confident going to the hoop now, while Quannas White, Blake Johnston, Jason Detrick, Ebi Eri, and Daryan Selvy look to have great confidence and skill at going to the hole. 

Weaknesses

Point Guard Inexperience-  Obviously if this becomes too much of a weak spot Hollis Price will return to the point, but the inexperience of Quannas White and Blake Johnston may cost the Sooners a little bit early in the season, but as Kelvin Sampson says, by mid-season these guys aren't newcomers anymore.

Perimeter Shooting-  Oklahoma struggled mightily for much of the game against EA Sports and unfortunately for OU this doesn't appear to be an off night for the Sooners from 3-point range.  Price and White seem to have above average range, while Ere, Detrick, McGhee, and Selvy appear to have streaky ability at best.

Schedule Analysis

Below is the schedule for Oklahoma with the prediction for each game.  W is for a Win, L is for a loss, and S is a swing game.  My prediction on the season is 23-5, but I wouldn't be surprised if OU goes anywhere from 20-8 to 25-3.  If Oklahoma beats Michigan State in the second round of the NIT they will go on to play another game and possibly two.

Nov 12 Central Connecticut State W 
Nov 14 @ Michigan State  L

Nov 28 Central Michigan W 
Nov 30 @Arkansas S 
Dec 05 St. Bonaventure W 
Dec 08 Louisiana Tech W 
Dec 15 High Point W 
Dec 16 Bethune-Cookman W 
Dec 18 Eastern Illinois W 
Dec 21 Maryland S 

Dec 29 Texas Southern W
Jan 05 Texas A&M W 
Jan 07 @Connecticut S 
Jan 12 Texas Tech W
Jan 16 @Nebraska W 
Jan 19 @Kansas S 
Jan 21 Missouri W 
Jan 26 @Texas Tech W 
Jan 30 Oklahoma State W 
Feb 02 @Texas S 
Feb 06 Baylor W 
Feb 09 @Texas A&M W 
Feb 13 @Oklahoma State S 
Feb 16 Kansas State W 
Feb 19 @Baylor W 
Feb 23 Texas W 
Feb 26 Iowa State W 
Mar 02 @Colorado W