The rise of Austin Reaves to being the LA Lakers’ third most important player this past season was very personal for me as a hoops fan. I love Austin.
I’m an oddity in Oklahoma in that even though I Bleed Crimson and love the Sooners’ athletic programs… OU mens’ basketball is my first love. I love the football and womens’ softball squads and all the other teams managed by Joe C… but Sooner hoops has always been my first love.
OU basketball is my first love dating back to my junior high days when Johnny Mac coached the Sooners and OU was usually the second best team in the old Big 8 competing with Kansas and K State atop the league.
Johnny Mac went on to head coach the Phoenix Suns and got his Suns to an NBA Finals versus the Boston Celtics. The series went six games with the Celtics finally winning the series, but this series will forever be remembered as one of the greatest NBA Finals for Game 5… which went to the Celtics in triple overtime. Just an iconic basketball game.
Dave Bliss, a Bobby Knight protege from Army, followed Johnny Mac and won a Big 8 championship in 1979. Unfortunately… Coach Bliss left to take what at then was considered a better basketball job at New Mexico. A dumb decison as it turned out for Dave Bliss.
Joe Ramsey did okay for a brief spell and was then replaced by Lester Lane. A promising hire who never coached a game at OU due to a heart attack. A genuine tragedy because everyone around the OU program was stoked about Les Lane taking over the program.
Then it happened…an unknown William ‘Billy Tubbs’ from little Lamar University was hired and the Sooners’ then came to own the Big 8 for a decade or so. The Sooners even made it to the ’88 National Championship Game where they lost a true road game to Danny Manning and the Miracles at Kemper Arena by a score of 83-79.
OU had already trounced the Jayhawks twice that season, but it’s tough to win on the road inside of a Kemper Arena full of Jayhawk crazies with zebra Ed Hightower protecting Danny Manning in the second half. But it is what it was.
Billy eventually got worn out with the Sooners, took the TCU job, and was replaced by Kelvin Sampson who got two Sooner teams to an Elite 8 and one Final Four.
Jeff Capel from Duke who was Coach K’s second in command, then took over and got the Sooners to back to back NCAA Tournaments and an Elite 8 appearance. The Sooners lost to a loaded North Carolina team which went on to win Roy Williams a national championship.
Coach Capel stayed at OU for several more years before he was fired by Joe C and David Boren after the Sooners’ flattened after the exit of Blake Griffin. Coach Capel went back to Duke for awhile and has now been the head coach at Pitt for several seasons. I like Coach Capel and was truely sorry to see him not stay longer in Norman.
Joe C then made the prescient hire of Hall of Famer Lon Kruger. Lon did a great job of stabilizing the program. Two if his teams made Sweet 16s and the Buddy Hield-Isiah Cousins group made it it to a Final Four.
Lon retired three years ago and was replaced by Porter Moser who was considered the hottest national hire at the time. I still think it was a good hire. Porter has struggled with 17-15 and 15-16 teams his first two seasons.
But it was a terrible time to take over a new program in the rugged Big 12 given Covid, the transfer portal, and the Wild West days of NIL. I feel confidant Joe C and Porter will figure it all out. I definitely wouldn’t knee jerk after two seasons. I’ve sat behind Porter’s bench several times…he can flat out coach. He just needs an overachieving kid like Austin who wants the ball in his hands the last four minutes of a tight game. A leader who leads by his play.
So if you’re counting and include OU’s 1947 team which lost to Holy Cross in the Finals…six different OU basketball coaches including Bruce Drake from the ’47 team have had significant national success leading the OU mens’ hoop program.
I think Porter will be okay. He’s added two more four stars and five players in the portal. And I think with OU going to the softer teams in the SEC the Sooners will be okay. I mean, in Porter’s first two seasons, he’s already beaten the top two teams in Alabama and Arkansas with double digit wins. The Big 12 is a killer basketball league and soon to be a third tier football conference. Give Porter the time and resources he needs.
I love Austin Reaves and what he stands for as an NBA player. The video above chronicles how this skinny white kid from Arakansas who played at the 3A level in high school went undrafted and became the LeBron Whisperer.
Of course…..OKC’s basketball savant who acquired the Daily Thunder and I shall not list on this post passed on Austin and made such shrewd swing player picks as Terrance Ferguson, Darius Bazely, Ty Jerome, Theo Maledon, Lindy Waters, and Jared Butler. Sigh.
Let’s do a hypothetical before I sign off for today so as I can finish Herman Melville’s novelette Billy Budd. Let’s say El Prez was GM’ing the current roster of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Let’s say I just acquired Austin. Where would I rank Austin on this Thunder team?
I’d go…… 1 Shai, 2 JDub, 3 Chet, 4 Giddey, 5 Austin, 6 Lu Dort, 7 Aaron Wiggins, 8 JWill, 9 Tre Mann, *a second center TBD, 10 Cason Wallace, 11 Isiah Joe, 12 Poku, and 13 Jared Butler.
- Sam Presti needs a physical second center to mitigate Chet’s frailness.
That’s it for today.
Be smart about the heat for the next nine or so days.
This is beautiful. There are times I wanted to strangle Russell Westbrook as a Thunder fan/blogger. But as a person… I’ve always loved Russell and his loyalty to his family and inner circle. I’m glad Austin made these comments as he did.