Oklahoma Basketball: 2019-20 season preview for the Sooners

Projected Starters

G De’Vion Harmon (Fr., 6’1, 20.3 ppg, 5.0 apg, 4.4 rpg in HS) — Like a certain other Number 11 a couple of years ago, Harmon is a top recruit at the game’s most important position who might already be his team’s best player. The Trae Young similarities end there. While Young, with his endless range, seemed to be playing a completely different form of basketball, Harmon’s game is a bit more down-to-earth.

At 6’1 and 200 pounds, his frame is sturdy, his arms are long and he should become an ace on-ball defender very quickly. On offense, Harmon’s main calling cards are his strength and quickness, but it’s not like he can’t shoot or pass. He’s an all-around player, and — like Young — Kruger might grant him the keys to the engine right away.

G Jamal Bieniemy (So., 6’5, 4.9 ppg, 3.5 apg, 1.4 spg) — Last season, Bieniemy took hold of the starting point guard spot in late January and didn’t give it back. This year, he’ll probably play more of the ‘2’ with Harmon running the show, but Bieniemy should take a big step forward no matter what. At 6’5 with a 6’8 wingspan, he has more than enough size to guard any perimeter player in the Big 12, and features an emerging 3-point stroke to go along with his excellent 2.5-1 assist-to-turnover rate. Bieniemy’s combination of size, wiry athleticism and craftiness is rare, and he’ll make for an imposing backcourt tandem alongside Harmon.

G Austin Reaves (Rs. Jr., 6’5, 8.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 42.5 3pt% in 2017-18) — Oklahoma really could have used a player like Reaves last year. Before transferring from Wichita State after his sophomore year, Reaves led the AAC in 3-point percentage, knocking down 1.6 per game. He’s as pure a shooter as you’ll find anywhere in the country, and in his mandated sit-out year, he lived in the weight room, bulking up to 200 pounds to expand his game beyond that of just a shooter. With Reaves in the fold, the Sooners feel like a guarantee to shoot better than 34.6 percent from deep this season.

F Brady Manek (Jr., 6’9, 12.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 35.8 3pt%) — A starter since he joined the team two years ago, Manek enters his third season in Norman as the Sooners’ leading returning scorer.  A wispy 215 pounds as a freshman, Manek weighs 231 pounds now and should establish himself as a true inside-outside threat as a junior. His height and quick trigger make him nigh-unblockable, and he’s reportedly shown great chemistry with Harmon in the ball-screen game. If Manek can replicate his performance over the season’s last 15 games, during which he averaged 14.2 points and shot 40 percent from deep, he’s a lock for an all-Big 12 nod of some kind.

F Kristian Doolittle (Sr., 6’7, 11.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 50.2 fg%) — Doolittle’s career was nearly sidetracked before it even really got going. After a promising freshman season where he averaged nine and six while shooting nearly 40 percent from downtown, Doolittle was suspended for an academic violation for the fall of 2017 and wasn’t the same player when he returned.

In 2018-19, though, he got back to his old form, banging with the Big 12’s best down low and showing off his soft touch on offense. Doolittle, who can play the 3, 4 and 5 admirably, will be the starting center in name, but thanks to the Sooners’ forward depth, expect him to get a lot of time on the wing, where he’ll be even more dangerous if he starts putting up threes again.