The Sooners enjoyed moderate success on the court during this era, posting just 16 losing records in their first 72 seasons. They were led by 9 different coaches during this period, beginning with Bennie Owen (who also coached the football team) and ending with Dave Bliss in 1980. The Sooners participated in the very first Final Four in 1939. OU made a second appearance in the championship game in 1947, losing 47–58 to Holy Cross.
1981–1994 (the Billy Tubbs era)
The program gained national prominence under Billy Tubbs when he took over in 1981. Star players Wayman Tisdale, Mookie Blaylock, and Stacey King guided the Sooners to several deep runs in the NCAA tournament. In 1988, the Sooners reached the NCAA title game in Kansas City, where they fell four points shy of their first national title to the 11-loss Kansas Jayhawks, a team which they had beaten twice in regular season play.
Tubbs resigned on April 10, 1994, indicating that "he did not feel appreciated enough working at a football school" (he later reconciled with the administration and enjoyed a healthy relationship with the school up until his death from leukemia in 2020). Tubbs' base salary at Oklahoma in his final season was $107,000 annually. Tubbs, 59 years old at the time, left to take over the struggling Texas Christian University basketball program, signing a 5-year contract worth between $200,000 and $400,000 per season.
Tubbs' record at OU was 333–132 (0.716) overall, 126–70 (0.643) conference, with 10 NCAA tournament appearances, one Final Four appearance, and one National Title Game appearance. Tubbs finished with 5 Big 8 regular season titles and 2 Conference tournament titles.
Tubbs averaged 24 wins per season (24–9) and 9 conference wins per season (9–5).
1995–2006 (the Kelvin Sampson era)
Kelvin Sampson became the 11th head coach at the University of Oklahoma on April 25, 1994. Sampson was named national coach of the year in 1995 (his first year at OU) by the Associated Press, United States Basketball Writers Association and Basketball Weekly after guiding the Sooners to 23–9 overall and 15–0 home marks. It was the second-best overall record posted by a first-year coach in Big 8 history. Sampson possesses the highest winning percentage in Oklahoma history (.719). He guided OU to nine consecutive 20-win seasons. He averaged 24.4 wins over those nine campaigns. He directed the Sooners to postseason tournament berths in each of his 12 seasons (11 NCAA tournaments), with a Sweet 16 showing in 1999, a Final Four appearance in 2002 and an Elite Eight appearance in 2003. His teams also played in the Big 12 Tournament title game on five occasions during the 10 seasons he coached in the Big 12. In 2001, 2002, and 2003 the Sooners won that tournament. Sampson finished with a Big 12 Tournament record of 17–7. Standouts Eduardo Nájera and Hollis Price helped the Sooners maintain a streak of 25 straight post season appearances, the longest in the nation. Sampson left OU in 2006 to take a head job at Indiana.
Sampson's record at OU was 279–109 (0.719) overall, 128–60 (0.681) conference, with 11 NCAA tournament Appearances, including one Final Four appearance. In the Big 12, Sampson had 3 Conference tournament Titles and 1 Conference regular season Title. During his final season at OU, Sampson's salary was approximately $900,000 annually, not including bonuses. Sampson left OU in 2006 to become the head basketball coach at Indiana University, signing a 7-year, $10.5 million contract, at $1.5 million per season.
Under Sampson's watch, Oklahoma was placed under a three-year investigation by the NCAA for recruiting violations. At the end of their investigation, the NCAA issued a report citing more than 550 illegal calls made by Sampson and his staff to 17 different recruits. The NCAA barred Sampson from recruiting off campus and making phone calls for one year, ending May 24, 2007.
Sampson averaged 23 wins per season (23–9) and 11 conference wins per season (11–5).
2006–2011 (the Jeff Capel era)
On April 11, 2006, Jeff Capel was named the 12th head basketball coach at Oklahoma, succeeding Kelvin Sampson. Though the Sooner Nation as a whole greeted Capel's hiring with optimism,[citation needed] one notable downside of the coaching change emerged—Sampson's departure caused three of the players who had signed with OU (once considered a top-five recruiting class) to rethink each's decision to attend OU. Scottie Reynolds went on to Villanova, and Damion James to Texas. Capel was originally signed to a four-year, $3 million contract, at $750,000 annually.
In his first year, after going 8–4 in non-conference games, with losses to Memphis, Purdue, Villanova, and Alabama, the Sooners started 6–3 in conference play, before losing their final 7 conference games. After winning only one game in the Big 12 Conference tournament, losing to eventual conference tournament champion Kansas, the Sooners missed any form of postseason play, which snapped the nation's longest streak of 25 consecutive years in the postseason, starting with Billy Tubbs' second year in 1982 and ending with Kelvin Sampson's final year in 2006.
In his second year, after signing McDonald's All-American Forward Blake Griffin, the Sooners finished 21–10 during the regular season (9-7 in Big 12 play) earning them a No. 4 seed in the Big 12 Tournament, where they won one game before losing to Texas in the semi-finals. They received a No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament, where they defeated St. Joseph's in the first round before losing to No. 3 seed Louisville in the second round, finishing the season at 23–12, an improvement of 7 wins over the previous season. After this successful second season, Capel's name began to surface among many head coaching vacancies.[citation needed] In an effort to keep Capel, OU Athletic Director Joe Castiglione and the OU Board of Regents extended Capel's contract through 2014, and increased his salary to $1.05 million per year.
Player of the Year Candidate Blake Griffin announced he would be returning for his sophomore season, forgoing a possible lottery-pick status in the NBA draft. Coupled with the signing of another McDonald's All-American guard in Willie Warren, the 2008–2009 season looked to be promising.
The team experienced one of the best starts in school history at 25–1, until Griffin was sidelined with a concussion during the first half of the OU–Texas game on February 21, 2009. The Sooners went on to lose consecutive games for the first time all season, to Texas by 5 in Austin and Kansas by 9 in Norman. Without their star player, the Sooners fell short. Griffin returned to the lineup on February 28, 2009, and the Sooners returned to their winning ways defeating Texas Tech by 15 in Lubbock on 2/28/09, before losing on the road to Missouri, who was undefeated at home, and finishing the regular season by sweeping in-state rival Oklahoma State, who had won 7 of their previous 8 games. After a first-round bye in the Big 12 Tournament, the 2nd-seeded Sooners lost to the 7th-seeded Cowboys by 1 point during the final seconds of the game.
Capel's Sooners were granted a No. 2 seed for the NCAA tournament, and easily beat No. 15 seed Morgan State in the first round, #10 seed Michigan in the second round, and #3 seed Syracuse in the Sweet 16, whose vaunted 2–3 zone defense did nothing to slow down the Sooners' hot shooting from the perimeter. However, after hitting nine three-pointers during the previous game with Syracuse, the Sooner guards went 0/15 from beyond the arc during the first 35 minutes of their Elite 8 game against North Carolina, before finishing 2–19 in the game. This ultimately led to their demise by the Tar Heels on March 29, losing 60–72. Unanimous All-American Forward and Player of the Year Blake Griffin finished the tournament with 114 points and 60 rebounds, becoming the first player to accomplish such a feat in over 40 years. Griffin, who gave up his final two years of eligibility to enter the NBA draft, and was the #1 pick. The Sooners finished Capel's third season at 34–2, the school's first 30+ win season since 2002, and 2th overall. This was again an improvement of 7 wins over the previous season.
Even with the loss of starters Austin Johnson, Taylor Griffin, and Blake Griffin, the Sooners had two incoming McDonald's All-American recruits in point guard Tommy Mason-Griffin and center Keith "Tiny" Gallon. Paired with returning McDonald's All-American guard Willie Warren, guard Tony Crocker, and former reserve forward Ryan Wright, the Sooners had a chance to post yet another successful season and were poised make another deep run into the NCAA tournament. This was the first time in the school's history where they had three McDonald's All-Americans on the roster at the same time.
Despite high hopes and a preseason ranking of No. 16, Jeff Capel and his Sooners proved to be one of the most overrated teams in the 2009–2010 season.[citation needed] After a mediocre 13–9 start, their season slipped away as they lost their last nine games of the season, including a first-round loss to Oklahoma State in the Big 12 tournament, leaving them with a 13–18 record to cap off the season. Those wins were vacated in November 2011 after various violations that included improper benefits and ineligible players.[3]
Capel's record at OU was 83–69 (0.546) overall, 33–43 (0.463) in conference (with 13 total wins and 4 conference wins having been vacated), with 2 NCAA tournament Appearances, and one Elite Eight appearance. In the Big 12, Capel did not win a Conference tournament title or regular season title.
Capel finished 2010–11 with a 14–18 record and a loss to the Texas Longhorns in the 2011 Big 12 Tournament. On March 14, 2011, he was fired as head coach of the Sooners.
In November 2011, the NCAA punished Oklahoma with three years probation, a $15,000 fine, reductions in recruiting, the loss of a scholarship, and vacation of all wins for the 2009–10 season.
Lon Kruger was hired by OU to replace Jeff Capel as head coach prior to the 2011–12 season. Kruger had previously coached at Kansas State, Florida, Illinois and UNLV. In his first season at helm, the Sooners finished 15–16, improving on their 2010–11 finish.
The 2012–13 season yielded a surprising 20–12 (11–7 Big 12, 4th) finish and resulted in the program's first NCAA tournament bid since Blake Griffin led the school to the Elite 8 in 2009. However, the Sooners were defeated in the second round of the NCAA tournament by San Diego State.
The 2013–14 season continued this trend of improvement, as the Sooners finished 23–10 overall (12–6 Big 12, 2nd). However, they were again upset in the second round of the NCAA tournament, falling to North Dakota State.
4 of the 5 starters from the 2013–14 team returned for the 2014–15 season. Guard Buddy Hield was Big 12 player of the year as OU made it to the Big 12 tournament semifinals before Iowa State bounced them out. Oklahoma received a #3 seed in the East region of the NCAA tournament, made it to the Sweet Sixteen by beating little regarded Albany and Dayton, but couldn't advance to the regional final (Elite Eight) as Michigan State held on 62–58.
In the 2015–2016 season, Oklahoma finished 24–6 in the regular season, and despite losing to West Virginia in the Big 12 Tournament's second round, received a #2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Oklahoma easily beat Cal State Bakersfield in the first round, but struggled to finish off VCU in the second round despite an early 21–7 lead. Oklahoma then went on to defeat Texas A&M 77–63 to advance to the west regional final where the Sooners defeated top-seed Oregon 80–68 to advance to the Final Four. Their Final Four opponent was Villanova, also a number two seed who upset Big 12 rival and number one seed Kansas to reach the Final Four. Oklahoma lost to Villanova 95–51 in the national semifinal game.
Lon Kruger is the first coach in history to take 5 different schools to the Sweet Sixteen. He is also the only coach to win a game in the NCAA tournament with 5 different schools.
Kruger retired from coaching on March 25, 2021.
2021–present (the Porter Moser era)
On April 3, 2021, the Sooners announced the hiring of Porter Moser, the coach who brought Loyola Chicago to the Final Four in 2018 and had recently coached the Ramblers to a Sweet 16.
Conference affiliations
Oklahoma has been affiliated with the following conferences:
The Sooners have appeared in the NCAA tournament 33 times. Their combined record is 42–33. They have appeared in the Final Four of the tournament 5 times, tied with The University of Illinois for second-most appearances without winning a national championship.
The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Run of 1889, which initially opened the Unassigned Lands in the future state of Oklahoma to non-native settlement. The university's athletic teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division I in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The university's current athletic director is Joe Castiglione.
Felton Jeffrey Capel III is an American college basketball coach and former player who is currently the head men's basketball coach at the University of Pittsburgh. He played for Duke University and was a head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University and University of Oklahoma.
Travis Ford is an American former college basketball coach who was most recently the head coach of the Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball team. He was also previously the head coach at Campbellsville University, Eastern Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Oklahoma State. Prior to that, he played at the University of Missouri and the University of Kentucky.
Kelvin Dale Sampson is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach for the University of Houston of the Big 12 Conference.
The Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball team represents Texas A&M University in NCAA Division I college basketball. The Aggies compete in the Southeastern Conference. Since 1998, the teams has played its home games at Reed Arena, a 12,989-capacity arena in College Station, Texas on the campus of Texas A&M University. Texas A&M has appeared in the NCAA tournament 16 times, most recently in 2024. The Aggies are currently coached by Buzz Williams who was hired on April 3, 2019, prior to the start of the 2019–2020 season.
The Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team represents Iowa State University (ISU) and competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I. The Cyclones play their home games at Hilton Coliseum on Iowa State's campus.
Blake Austin Griffin is an American former professional basketball player. Griffin primarily played with the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners, where he was named the consensus national college player of the year as a sophomore. Griffin was selected first overall by the Clippers in the 2009 NBA draft, and was a six-time NBA All-Star and a five-time All-NBA selection. In January 2018, Griffin was traded to the Detroit Pistons and played for them until 2021. In March 2021, Griffin signed with the Brooklyn Nets. In September 2022, Griffin signed with the Boston Celtics, who he stayed with until his retirement in 2023.
Oklahoma Sooners baseball is the NCAA Division I collegiate baseball team of the University of Oklahoma (OU) based in Norman, Oklahoma.
The VCU Rams men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball team that represents Virginia Commonwealth University. The Rams joined the Atlantic 10 Conference in the 2012–13 season after previously competing in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). In 2017, VCU was ranked the 40th most valuable men's basketball program in the country by The Wall Street Journal. With a valuation of $56.9 million, VCU ranked second in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and second in the A-10 Conference. The team is coached by Ryan Odom.
The 2008 Phillips 66 Big 12 men's basketball tournament was the 2008 edition of the Big 12 Conference's championship tournament held at the Sprint Center in Kansas City from March 13 until March 16, 2008. It was the 12th Big 12 tournament in the series. Texas and Kansas shared the regular season title, with Texas receiving the top seed in the tournament due to its win over Kansas earlier in the season. The top four seeds, including the two regular season champs, Oklahoma, and Kansas State automatically advanced to the quarterfinal round.
The 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 10, 2008, and ended with the 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April 6, 2009, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. The season saw six different teams achieve the AP #1 ranking during the year. Oklahoma sophomore Blake Griffin was the dominant individual performer, sweeping National Player of the Year honors. The season began with North Carolina becoming the first unanimous preseason #1 team, and ended with the Tar Heels dominating the NCAA tournament en route to their fifth NCAA title. UNC won its six NCAA tournament games by double digits, and by an average of 19.8 points per game. Junior Wayne Ellington was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
The 1989–90 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma in competitive college basketball during the 1989–90 NCAA Division I season. The Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team played its home games in the Lloyd Noble Center and was a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) former Big Eight Conference at that time. The team posted a 27–5 overall record and an 11–3 conference record to finish tied for second in the Conference for head coach Billy Tubbs. This was the third Big Eight Conference tournament Championship for Tubbs and his third NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament #1 seed in a row. The team earned the conference tournament championship competing in a conference in which three teams held the #1 national ranking in consecutive weeks in late February and early March.
The Oklahoma Sooners women's basketball team represents the University of Oklahoma (OU) and competes in NCAA Division I as members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
The 2009–10 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma during the 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Jeff Capel, who was in his fourth year with the school. The team played its home games at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, OK with a capacity of 11,528 and are members of the Big 12 Conference. The Sooners finished the season 13–18, 4–12 in Big 12 play and lost in the first round of the 2010 Big 12 men's basketball tournament. They finished the season on a nine-game losing streak. All wins were subsequently vacated due to use of an ineligible player, Keith "Tiny" Gallon, who had received impermissible benefits.>
The 1988–89 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma in competitive college basketball during the 1988–89 NCAA Division I season. The Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team played its home games in the Lloyd Noble Center and was a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) former Big Eight Conference at that time. The team posted a 30–6 overall record and a 12–2 conference record to earn the Conference title under head coach Billy Tubbs. This was the fourth Big Eight Conference regular season Championship for Tubbs and his second in a row.
The 2011–12 Oklahoma Sooners basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Sooners were led by Lon Kruger in his first season. The team played its home games at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma and were members of the Big 12 Conference.
The 2002–03 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma as a member of the Big 12 Conference during the 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Kelvin Sampson and played its home games in the Lloyd Noble Center. With high expectations entering the season, Oklahoma finished third in the Big 12 regular season standings behind Kansas and Texas. The Sooners won the Big 12 Conference tournament to earn the conference's automatic bid and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. After reaching the Elite Eight by beating South Carolina State, California, and Butler, the Sooners fell to No. 3 seed and eventual National champion Syracuse in the regional final to finish the season 27–7.
The 2021–22 Texas Longhorns men's basketball team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by first-year head coach Chris Beard and played their home games at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas as members of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 22–12, 10–8 in Big 12 play to finish in fourth place. As the No. 4 seed in the Big 12 tournament, they were defeated in the Quarterfinals by TCU. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 6 seed in the East Region, where they defeated Virginia Tech in the first round before losing to Purdue in the second round.
The 2004–05 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma as a member of the Big 12 Conference during the 2004–05 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Kelvin Sampson and played its home games in the Lloyd Noble Center. Oklahoma finished tied atop the Big 12 regular season standings with Kansas, and OU won the only regular season meeting between the teams. The Sooners fell in the semifinal round of the Big 12 Conference tournament, but received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament No. 3 seed in the South region. After beating No. 14 seed Niagara in the opening round, the Sooners fell to No. 6 seed Utah in the round of 32 to finish the season 25–8.
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