Porter Moser addresses recent losses on coaching staff

The Oklahoma basketball staff has another opening after assistant coach Emanuel Dildy departed for Duke, and the losses on the coaching staff are nothing new for head coach Porter Moser.

He’s lost four assistant coaches in just the last two seasons, with Dildy the latest.

“I hire good and I get poached,” Moser said with a smile.

The latest departure creates another opening on staff for Moser, who hasn’t yet had the kind of success at Oklahoma that he would like. The Sooners have failed to make the NCAA Tournament while going 34-33 overall in two seasons.

That said, Moser feels great about his ability to hire quality assistant coaches, as evidenced by their moves up the chain.

“It’s part of it. I really feel like I hire really good,” Moser said. “I’ve had some good assistants. Eight of my former assistants are current DI head coaches, and for Emanuel to get an opportunity, we lost KT (Turner) to Kentucky, David Patrick to a (Sacramento State) head coaching job, then E just went to Duke. Very, very hard to lose assistants.

“My first staff they’ve moved on, it means you’ve hired good guys. And I’ll do it again. I know Armon Gates has been with me, he’s been great this summer. Ryan Humphrey got a year under his belt and he’s been great. We’ll continue to get someone in here again.”

Moser isn’t sure how quickly he’ll move to replace the losses on the coaching staff, wanting to ensure he gets quality people to fill the roles. But he does plan to backfill.

“I’m definitely going to fill it,” Moser said. “I wish you guys could see my phone, it’s already beeped 25 times since I’ve been doing this. There’s quite a bit of interest with this thing. But for me it’s just got to get it right, what’s the right fit?”

In addition to the third full-time assistant that Moser will hire for, he’s also recently brought in a new director of player personnel and assistant coach in the form of Brock Morris.

Morris arrives after one season at Ole Miss as an assistant coach, helping make up for Oklahoma’s losses on the coaching staff.

“Brock Morris came and joined us this offseason and Brock’s a wealth of experience,” Moser said. “Brock was in the SEC at Ole Miss. Been at Louisiana-Lafayette. He’s from Alabama, has a ton of recruiting ties in there. Has been a head coach at the junior college level, but most recently been in the SEC. Brock is, just like all my guys, he’s really good on the floor and he’s really a grinder recruiter.”