Who will replace Trae Young?
With Trae Young’s decision to enter the NBA Draft, Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger is searching for players to replace the freshman phenom.
NORMAN—By the time Christmas arrived, Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger was already contemplating life after Trae Young.
“Going into the season, we knew it was a possibility and in November and December, I think it pretty much became a likelihood,” Kruger said Tuesday after Young announced his decision to enter the NBA Draft.
The Sooners had initially recruited with the thought that Young would remain in Norman for two years. Young’s hot start to the season moved that timeline up and put Oklahoma in a bit of a hurry-up mode as they try to find a point guard for next season.
Once it became clear Young was likely to be a one-year player for the Sooners, Oklahoma got in on five-star point guard Jahvon Quinerly.
Quinerly was initially committed to Arizona before decommitting in the wake of the FBI probe into college basketball corruption.
The New Jersey product took a long look at the Sooners but opted to stay closer to home, committing to Villanova last month.
Whatever solution the Sooners come up with is likely to be a shortterm one, unless a player with Quinerly’s upside becomes available.
Oklahoma has a commitment from 2019 fourstar point guard De’Vion Harmon and expect him to be able to step right into the role immediately once he arrives on campus.
The only scholarship option the Sooners have on their roster currently is Jordan Shepherd.
Shepherd started four games as a true freshman in 2016-17 before moving to a backup role this year.
After shooting just 35.9 percent in his first season, Shepherd shot 39.3 percent this season, though he took about half of the shots he did as a freshman.
After averaging 17 minutes per game last year, Shepherd played an average of 11.4 minutes this season.
In the aftermath of Oklahoma’s loss to Rhode Island in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Shepherd said he was confident he could handle a starting role.
“If he leaves, I’m going to be happy for him,” Shepherd said. “He had a great season but at the same time, I feel like I have the ability to maybe not go as far as leading the country in assists and scoring but I think the program will be in good hands.”
The Sooners will also add 6-foot-5 combo guard Jamal Bieniemy from Katy, Texas, for next season.
But they don’t expect Bieniemy to take over the point guard role right away, though he could spend some time there next season. He’s more likely to find a bigger role playing off the ball.
The Sooners are looking hard at graduate transfer options, with Maine’s Aaron Calixte a clear target.
The 5-foot-11 Calixte averaged 16.9 points and 3.2 assists as a redshirt junior last year, though the Black Bears were just 6-26.
Calixte shot 38.6 percent from behind the 3-point line this season.
There could be other options that become viable in the coming weeks as players who have or are going to graduate make the decision to move on.
Kruger has dipped into the graduate transfer pool before, most notably with TaShawn Thomas in 2014-15. Thomas started all 35 games for the Sooners that season, helping them to the Sweet 16.