Eight is Enough
Sooners prepare to make a boom again this season
23-9 record last year proved Oklahoma was not a pushover
By Dan Gelston Kansan sportswriter
There should be no shocking anyone for the Oldahoma men's basketball team this year.
No more "overachiever" or "surprise team" tag will hang on this team. The Sooners proved last year not to be the pushovers that many prognosticators expected, but rather a team that set itself up to be considered among the Big Eight Conference's elite.
The Sooners, 23-9 overall and 9-5 in the Big Eight, are led by second-year coach Kelvin Sampson. He took a 15-13 team coached under Billy Tubbs and turned it into a top 25 team. Oklahoma's season was highlighted by a third place Big Eight finish and its first NCAA tournament appearance in three years.
Sampson has quickly put his stamp on the team as well, recruiting seven of his 11 players.
Because of that, Sampson said he had a better feel for the team entering this season than he did last year. But like last year when he refused to listen to critics who said how bad the team was, Sampson is not quick to believe the hoopla surrounding this year's model.
"We're not an elite team," he said. "We're not even a great team. But this basketball team, I think, is real solid."
One holdover from the Tubbs era is the team's superstar, senior forward Ryan Minor. He was named co-player of the year by the Big Eight coaches and was an Associated Press All-American honorable mention.
Contributed Photo
His basketball resume lists credentials that likely will ensure him a spot in next year's NBA draft. He led the conference in scoring with a 23.6 point a game average and scored in double digits in every game. Minor is a a preseason John R. Wooden Award finalist and is the key to the offense, Sampson said.
"He is by far the best player in the Big Eight," Oklahoma senior guard Dion Barnes said.
But it would be unfair to say that Minor is the only offensive weapon the Sooners have.
"Last year, Ryan was the guy we looked to score a basket," Sampson said. "But really the leader from last year's team was Abercrombie."
Sampson was referring to senior forward
Oklahoma senior forward Ryan Minor was the 1995 Big Eight Conference player of the year and averaged 23.6 points a game.
Ernie Abercrombie, who averaged 10.5 points a game and was named to the Big Eight all-newcomer team. He and Minor are joined by Barnes and center Jason Yanish to round out the senior class.
But Yanish, who was expected last year to take over for the departed James Mayden, is now facing serious competition from true freshman Bobby Joe Evans and first-year sophomore Evan Wiley.
"People ask, 'Why didn't we go inside more?' Go inside to who?" Sampson said. "This year we have the ability to be a more inside team."
The Sooners should be helped with the addition of two junior college transfers, junior guards Robert Allison and Nate Erdmann, who played two years under Sampson at his former school, Washington State. Another junior college transfer is point guard Tyrone Foster, who is expected to challenge for the starting point guard spot that was filled last year by John Ontjes.
"We have more scorers on our team than last year's team," Barnes said. "This year we may have a more balanced offense."
Kansas and Missouri once again are expected to be the leaders of the pack in the final year of Big Eight play. But Sampson warns not to overlook his Sooners, who were bounced from the NCAA tournament last year in the second round by Manhattan.
"Our basketball team will get better as we go along," he said. "We're going to be there at the end."
23RD & LOUISIANA LAWRENCE
23 Bill November 15, 1995
The Match to Merch .23