Season Outlook
The range of outcomes on this season for Oral Roberts looks very wide at this point. At the high-end, you see a deep versatile roster able to play multiple styles and the shooting to give them a chance to win every single night. At the low-end, there’s a chance that positional redundancy leaves multiple guys with unclear roles and disjointed units on the floor.
Health will help them discover who they are. Last year, only 4 players appeared in all 32 games, and nine players started eight or more games. They may have the roster flexibility to do that again, but players taking control of their spot in the lineup would help normalize the rotation and roles as the season wears on.
The looming question will be the defense. As mentioned, they were 319th out of 353 teams in the country in points per game allowed last year, per sportsreference.com. On the perimeter, they have the horses stick with guys, but the lack of size may expose them on the inside. There’s also a chance they hemorrhage rebounds, giving teams second looks.
Offensive rebounding may be a struggle too, but that may not be as much of an issue. There will be a lot of times where ORU trots out four or more above average shooters. They will be able to space the floor around Nzekwesi and let him go to work.
If they find an identity during non-conference play, Oral Roberts should very realistically compete for the top seed in the Summit League, and have a shot at their first trip to the NCAA tournament since 2008.