The Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team represents University of Oklahoma in the Big 12 Conference in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. The Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team is located in Norman, Oklahoma. The head men's basketball coach is Jeff Capel III.
The program gained national prominence under Billy Tubbs when he took over the program in 1981. Star players Wayman Tisdale, Mookie Blaylock, and Stacey King helped the Sooners to enjoy several deep runs in the NCAA Tournament. In 1988, the Sooners reached the NCAA title game in Kansas City were they fell just four points shy of their first national title to the 11-loss Kansas Jayhawks, a team which they had already beaten twice in regular season play. Tubbs resigned in 1994, indicating that he "did not feel appreciated enough" working at a "football school." Tubb's 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. In the Big 8, Tubbs had 2 Conference Tournament Titles and 5 Conference Regular Season Titles.
Kelvin Sampson allowed the Sooners to continue the success they had achieved under Tubbs by taking the Sooners to the postseason every year during his tenure at the University of Oklahoma. He led the team to the Final Four in 2002 where they lost to the Indiana Hoosiers (coincidentally the team that Sampson would go on to coach). 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 the head coaching job at Indiana. Sampson's record at OU was 279-109 (0.719) overall, 128-60 (0.681) conference, with 10 NCAA Tournament Appearances, and one Final Four appearance. In the Big 12, Sampson had 3 Conference Tournament Titles and 1 Conference Regular Season Title.
Former Duke point guard Jeff Capel came to Oklahoma after coaching at Virginia Commonwealth University. Capel has been highly successful in recruiting, landing McDonalds All-American's Blake Griffin and Willie Warren in his first two seasons. Capel's record at OU is currently 63-28 (0.692), with one NCAA Tournament Appearance.
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Oklahoma Sooners Basketball
