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ICYMI – Who is OU basketball? Come along for the ride

Bob Przybyloby:Bob Przybylo•01/02/25•

BPrzybylo

Jeremiah Fears16
OU guards Jeremiah Fears, Duke Miles. (Alonzo Adams - Imagn Images)

OK, there are some OU fans who are simply never going to leave the football side of things. There is so much for head coach Brent Venables and company to work out before we get to spring 2025.

But if you’re ready to embrace something else, you might try the men’s basketball team. OU, now under Porter Moser for the fourth season, is one of three undefeated teams left in the country.

Funny enough, they’re all in the SEC with Tennessee, Florida and the Sooners.

OU is 13-0 and ranked No. 10/12 in the polls. It is the program’s best start since 1987-88, and OU has notched two Quad 1 victories and two wins in the Quad 2 sector.

So who is this team? Why is it playing so well? And get ready for the SEC grind ahead.

Fears has been special

This sort of goes without saying, but it’s true. Freshman guard Jeremiah Fears, who should be a high school senior right now, has been nothing short of sensational.

He’s now the leading scorer on the team at 18.1 points per game, but it’s so much more than that. Fears is stuffing the stat sheet every single game. Fears is also averaging 3.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and more than two steals per contest.

To Moser’s credit, too, he has allowed Fears to be a freshman. He has made mistakes, bad turnovers but has kept pushing.

Fears felt like he might be a complementary piece. Turns out he’s a lot more than that, as we all learned with the dagger four-point play to beat Michigan.

Moore maturation

There are games in the first half when Jalon Moore, well, you don’t even know he’s there. But he doesn’t panic. He doesn’t stop playing his game.

Moore lets things come to him and has figured it out. It has worked, averaging 17.9 points per game and 5.9 rebounds so far.

It has been impressive to watch. Mind’s right, game’s right? Check and check when it comes to Moore as the leader, both on and off the court.

Three-headed guard monster

OU has gone small, and it has been working. Duke Miles, Kobe Elvis are bringing all the experience in the world. Then there’s Fears as your young prodigy.

All three can create. All three can score, pass. And all three have very active hands on defense to combat their lack of size.

The trio is averaging 10 assists per game (Fears 4.5, Elvis 3.5, Miles 2.0). And they’re averaging more than five steals per contest (Fears 2.2, Miles 1.8, Elvis 1.2).

Miles is averaging 12.5 points, while Elvis is at 9.4 per outing. But they’ve both shown the ability to have big-time 20-point outings or more.

It’s not a one-man show in Norman, not even close.

Quick hits

*Sam Godwin was unreal in Bedlam, with a career high of 20 points and 14 rebounds. Godwin leads the teams with 6.7 rebounds per game.

*Depth has been nice, really nice. OU can go 10-deep pretty easily. We’ll see if Moser is able to have that same trust as conference play gets going. Guys like Brycen Goodine, Glenn Taylor – simply asked to do their part. Nothing more, no playing hero. Just do what you do.

*Hello, SEC. No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Auburn, No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Florida, No. 10 Kentucky, No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 17 Mississippi State, No. 23 Arkansas, No. 24 Ole Miss. Take a breath and get ready.

Up next

It’s the first of that 18-game grind. The first of a possible 16 games as Quad 1 opportunities. OU is headed to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama at 5 p.m. Saturday.

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