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Oral Roberts Basketball: 2019-20 season preview for Golden Eagles

By Austin Hamm

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 31: A detail of a basket hoop, net and backboard as the Duke Blue Devils play against the Louisville Cardinals during the Midwest Regional Final round of the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 31, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 31: A detail of a basket hoop, net and backboard as the Duke Blue Devils play against the Louisville Cardinals during the Midwest Regional Final round of the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 31, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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OMAHA, NEBRASKA-DECEMBER 17: Marcus Foster #0 of the Creighton Bluejays guards Aaron Anderson #13 of the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles during their game at the CenturyLink Center on December 17, 2016 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Eric Francis/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NEBRASKA-DECEMBER 17: Marcus Foster #0 of the Creighton Bluejays guards Aaron Anderson #13 of the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles during their game at the CenturyLink Center on December 17, 2016 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Eric Francis/Getty Images) /

After back to back 11-21 seasons, is Oral Roberts Basketball ready to take a step forward?

It would be easy to say the Paul Mills coaching era at Oral Roberts Basketball is off to an inauspicious start, but if you dig a little deeper, you can find reason for optimism in 2019-20 and beyond.

7 of their wins came in Summit League play, including a regular-season sweep of eventual league runners-up Omaha.

Individually, Emmanuel Nzekwesi and Kevin Obanor were second-team all-conference. Obanor, as a redshirt freshman, was also named Freshman and Sixth man of the year in the conference. That honor stack is eerily reminiscent of the one put up by Mike Daum of South Dakota State in his redshirt freshman campaign. That’s not to say Obanor is going to turn into an all-time great scorer in college basketball, but more to show the potential impact he could have on the Summit League in the coming seasons.

Kaelen Malone and Kerwin Smith are the major losses. Malone leads the team in assists per game a year ago, but was a limited scorer himself, so giving those guard minutes to someone else may be beneficial. Smith was the only player to start all 32 games last season, and at 6-10 was the only true center on the roster. He didn’t put up huge numbers, but in theory, was there to help defend the rim. However, the Golden Eagles defense was one of the worst a year ago, ranking 319th in points per game allowed. You never like to see big minute seniors walk out the door, but based on past struggles, this may end up raising the ceiling in Tulsa.

A couple of key Grad transfers will join ORU this year. Deondre Burns comes via Little Rock, and Ty Lazenby comes via Oklahoma. Burns shot over 40% from three in 2016-17 before redshirting two seasons ago and shifting from shooting guard to point guard last season. Lazenby only played five minutes a game in Norman last year but was a high volume scorer in JUCO. It’s likely he’ll look more the player he was at Northern Oklahoma-Enid than the one he was at OU.

In addition to Nzekwesi and Obanor, the leading scorers, returning, ORU returns all but two of their rotation players from a year ago. The outcome of this upcoming season, though, will depend on if all those returning pieces can take steps forward. Otherwise, it could be a case of running it back with a low ceiling crew.