Oklahoma Basketball: 2019-20 season preview for the Sooners

Final Thoughts

Cliches about “winners” are tired and almost never helpful or illuminating. But if there’s ever a time to call someone a “winner,” it’d be right now with Lon Kruger.

Kruger’s spent nearly half his life as a college coach. His teams have made the NCAA Tournament in 19 of his 29 seasons. His career record is 639-409, and he’s one of only two men to have guided five different programs to the Big Dance. His assistants have a track record of success as head coaches of their own. And he’s totally resurrected Oklahoma, turning a team in the wake of two different NCAA violations into one of the most stable programs in the nation.

Kruger is 67 years old and the questions surrounding his tenure in Norman have long since shifted from “how much” to “how long.” Right now, the end doesn’t appear to be anytime terribly soon — but college basketball fans should still appreciate Kruger’s success while they can. And 2019-20 has the potential to be one of his vintage moments as a college coach.

Because if everything goes right, the Sooners could be a good, good team.

A starting lineup of Harmon-Bieniemy-Reaves-Manek-Doolittle has two elite ballhandlers, a couple go-to scorers and a down-low threat, and most importantly, everyone has to be accounted for from 3-point range. Off the bench, guys like Kuath, Merritt and Issanza can play as traditional centers to take the load off of Doolittle, while Williams, Hill, Iwuakor and Garang have boundless energy and athleticism.

Kruger likes to run. His Oklahoma teams have ranked in the top half of the Big 12 in tempo every year of his tenure. And this season, he has some horses. The Sooners’ defense has the potential to be a swarming, versatile nightmare, forcing steals with their giant wingspans and getting out in transition, where they can attack the rim with their quickness or bang away from three.

Of course, the Sooners have just four established contributors at the college level. A freshman point guard is an inherent cause for concern, no matter how talented. And their tendency to slump in the heat of the conference race — they’ve gone just 9-22 in February the last four years — won’t be answered until February rolls around.

But on the eve of Kruger’s ninth season at the helm, Oklahoma looks set to outperform its preseason predictions and find its way to the dance yet again.

The Sooners won’t win it all, nor will they come particularly close. As I wrote in my introduction, they’re no Duke, Gonzaga or Kentucky. But year-in, year-out consistency can still be appreciated, even when it doesn’t take you all the way to the top.

With Oklahoma and with Lon Kruger, you can count on what you’re going to get, and it’s more often than not going to be quite good. And at a school where the basketball program will perpetually play second fiddle, what else can you ask for?