NORMAN, Okla. – Due to the return of several key veterans — including first-team All-Big 12 selection Blake Griffin — and a highly touted crop of newcomers that features high school All-American Willie Warren, the OU men’s basketball team has caught the attention of preseason prognosticators at Rivals.com.
Jeff Capel’s Sooners are ranked No. 7 in the Internet site’s preseason top-25 listing that was released on Wednesday. OU is the highest ranked of three Big 12 teams to appear on the list. Texas is ranked No. 14 and defending national champion Kansas is No. 16.
Wrote Rivals.com, “Big man Blake Griffin was considered a first-round lock, but chose to stay in school. A glance at his supporting cast next season may have played a role. The Sooners are adding five-star guard Willie Warren, who likely will be playing with Griffin in the NBA someday. Experienced guards Tony Crocker (11.3 ppg) and Austin Johnson (8.6 ppg) are back, and UCLA transfer Ryan Wright will help make up for the loss of center Longar Longar.”
More and more preseason top-25 polls are sure to be released in the near future now that college rosters are more or less set for the 2008-09 season. The deadline for underclassmen to remove their names from the upcoming NBA Draft was Monday.
The Sooners return six scholarship players from last year’s 23-12 team that finished fourth in the Big 12 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Six other scholarship players will join the squad, including Warren, who is perhaps OU’s most acclaimed high school guard recruit ever.
The above article was originally posted here.