Calixte stabilizes OU point guard position
NORMAN — There was a moment in Oklahoma’s practice Friday when Aaron Calixte knew Jamuni McNeace was almost back to his old self.
The point guard drove the lane and instinctually lobbed the ball to McNeace, his bouncy center.
“That was the first time I did that in a little bit,” Calixte said, knowing McNeace is still recovering from an ankle injury.
“When I get in the paint, I don’t have to think about it too much,” Calixte said. “If I see his man help a little bit, I can throw it up and know he’ll go get it.”
Almost like old times between Calixte and McNeace, but really not at all.
Calixte is a fifth-year student, but a first-year Sooner. His connection with McNeace is but one example of the playmaking ability, and more importantly, the stability he’s brought to coach Lon Kruger’s Oklahoma backcourt.
Following Trae Young’s departure to the NBA and Jordan Shepherd’s decision to transfer, the Sooners were left without a returning point guard. Freshman Jamal Bieniemy had signed with OU, but Kruger went to the transfer market to find a veteran point guard replacement.
His search extended 2,000 miles, to the University of Maine, where Calixte had been a threeyear starter.
Dallas was the closest Calixte had sniffed the Sooner State. Saturday, the Stoughton, Massachusetts, native will start for the Sooners in a 1 p.m. Bedlam bout in Norman.
“This is what I imagined, just getting to a team and having success,” Calixte said. “I’m still in awe that I’m here.”
He left a Maine program that is 2-13 this season to join an Oklahoma team that is squarely in the NCAA Tournament mix.
Calixte has started every game for the 23rd-ranked Sooners (112, 0-1 Big 12). He leads OU with 43 assists against 32 turnovers. Bieniemy and reserve forward Matt Freeman are the only other Sooners with more assists than turnovers.
His 8.8 points per game is a significant dip from the 16.9 he averaged last year at Maine, but Calixte said it comes with being surrounded by better players.
He’s still shooting 37 percent from three.
“He runs the offense,” McNeace said. “He makes sure everybody’s getting touches. Coming from Maine where he was the leading scorer, he’s also got a little dog in him.”
That dog is what Kansas coach Bill Self saw in Calixte on Wednesday night in Lawrence. After his Jayhawks dropped the Sooners 70-63, Self was asked what he thought of the Sooners.
“Those two little fast guys out there totally change the way they pick up,” Self said, referencing Calixte and fellow grad transfer Miles Reynolds. “They pressured our point guard, who’s fast, the entire night and didn’t let him ever get comfortable.”
Calixte hadn’t heard Self’s praise for him. After a brief synopsis, Calixte said he’s glad someone noticed.
“That was kind of our plan coming in,” he said, “just bring our own energy to the team, bring our leadership, our intensity. And just help build the culture they wanted to build.”