He is ready for recruiting and portal season.
Porter Moser
Opening statement:
First of all, I hate to see it end with these guys. I think anytime you come to an end and you’re not going to be with that group anymore because we asked so much of this group — new coaching staff, new teammates coming together. And then you’re in a tough stretch. EJ got hurt, came back and asked them to regroup and to win five out of six going into this game. They gave everything they could.
Mo, absolutely unbelievable performances down the stretch. He won’t say anything. He won’t make an excuse. He hasn’t had a rep in practice this week with his back. For him, we didn’t even know he was going to play and to have that kind of performance, that’s the kind of competitor Mo Gibson is.
So I hate to see it end for the players. It was our eighth game that we had a shot to win it.
Ethan Chargois?
"I thought Ethan was one of the most improved players throughout the year. The problem was he got in foul trouble tonight. We were rolling with him, and he got in foul trouble. That big kid, they kept on lobbing it to him. We were trying to roll with him because when he gets like that, that's when we're really – He's making so many things happen with his passing ability. We were better when he was on the floor tonight. He's probably one of the most improved players these last couple of months in the program, and you wish you had him another year."
Mo Gibson's evolution (trying to convince him to stay, ha)?
"Unquestioned, he improved himself as a player. I've never been around a player who works harder on his game than Mo Gibson, and I've been doing this for 30 years. I've never seen anybody put hours in. It's every day. To see his game off the dribble improve, I mean, getting to the rim, he got to the rim so much these last three or four weeks. It's one thing to be able to shoot the ball. It's another thing when your opponent knows you can shoot the ball. There's not a scouting report that we went through all year long that they didn't focus in on him. He's taken that and he's worked on his off-the-dribble game. He's worked on his shot, eyes to the rim and step over that shot when they're flying at you instead of shooting when they're flying at you. Look at these shots he's gotten in these last couple of months where it's eyes to the rim, fly by and gather yourself instead of shooting it when they're flying. But he's really adjusted and found ways to be a better player, and that's a credit to him."
First year transition/coaching change?
I’m just thinking about (Gibson) and what he’s gone through. But the — it’s hard to have a coaching change. I just appreciate (Gibson) and the other guys. Jalen, EJ and Rick, those guys that were here to just — they love Oklahoma. They put everything into it. You appreciate that so much. A lot of guys left. These guys stayed. And I thought just watching us improve, get better — we’ve got a lot of things to get better at in the program. Obviously there’s guys transferring, we’ll see how that shakes out. You know, those are questions for another day. But you appreciate so much how much a young man has to go through in a coaching change.
Culture?
It’s everything. How you build a program is then when the new guys come in, you have a foundation of guys that are like, ‘This is how it goes. This is how we do things. This is how we do things.’ It was new to everybody. You know, I was in the NCAA Bubble last year for 15 days. Like four or five days later, I’m in Norman. Then I’m trying to move forward, I’m trying to put together a new team in a pandemic. And then when we finally got together and starting working out, it was everything from terminology, you know, I mean from scratch. Now we come back and in the workouts, we’ll have spring workouts with whoever is coming back. And then the summer when everyone gets together, you got a foundation of older guys helping the new guys. That’s how you build the program is when you get a group of guys, the new ones, you’re adding and continuing to grow your talent. And then when they get there, the group that’s already been there is like this is how this is done. This is our culture. And that’s when it starts to go. This is just a year like no other because only a couple of them played together. And then everybody else was new. And it was from scratch.
More about Mo (and his back injury)?
Knowing whether Mo has bumps and bruises or played a lot of minutes or had a short turnaround or knew about his back, he’d go, ‘coach, I’m straight.’ That was his answer every single time. Never missed a practice. This week, I knew he was hurt because he was trying to go and you could see he had a bend in his thing. And he says I can’t these last couple of days. Then, today, how are you doing today, Mo? ‘I’m straight.’ There was no way he wasn’t going to say he was not straight. I knew I was going to get that game day answer from him. literally all through the year, whether he plays 38 minutes or his ankle or his back, I’m straight and he comes to practice every single day. When he said that this week, I knew he must have been really hurt. I knew I was going to get the ‘I’m straight’ answer on game day today.
Closing statement on super seniors (Goldwire, Johnson, Chargois)?
With the transfer portal, guys with one year, it’s so hard. They’re looking – it’s hard. Everyone in the transfer portal knows and understands it’s not easy. I loved Ethan and Marvin because they’re from Oklahoma. That was one of the reasons I wanted them. It was one of the reasons it appealed to me. They’re from Oklahoma. I remember with Ethan, he really wanted to play for the University of Oklahoma this last year. To see him improve the way he did, to see Marvin fight through so many things. A lot of life lessons this year for Marvin. He fought through a lot of things to get to the point to where he was a part of the rotation. That’s fighting through adversity for him as a life lesson. Then for Jordan, having a bigger role than he had at Duke. All three of them came from different spots. You hate to see it end. As a player, I’ll never forget that feeling of it being done, playing your last college game. That’s a lonely feeling. Your whole life you’re being identified as a player. Like for me, they all have aspirations to keep playing. For me? I had aspirations to coach. I knew when my days at Creighton were over, I was like everybody else. My sophomore year was I want to keep playing. Then reality hit that I’m probably not going to make a lot of money with my game. It just crushed me to be done. Every last game of a career, I feel for them. Every last. Empty gut for those three knowing it’s their final game.
Porter Moser
Opening statement:
First of all, I hate to see it end with these guys. I think anytime you come to an end and you’re not going to be with that group anymore because we asked so much of this group — new coaching staff, new teammates coming together. And then you’re in a tough stretch. EJ got hurt, came back and asked them to regroup and to win five out of six going into this game. They gave everything they could.
Mo, absolutely unbelievable performances down the stretch. He won’t say anything. He won’t make an excuse. He hasn’t had a rep in practice this week with his back. For him, we didn’t even know he was going to play and to have that kind of performance, that’s the kind of competitor Mo Gibson is.
So I hate to see it end for the players. It was our eighth game that we had a shot to win it.
Ethan Chargois?
"I thought Ethan was one of the most improved players throughout the year. The problem was he got in foul trouble tonight. We were rolling with him, and he got in foul trouble. That big kid, they kept on lobbing it to him. We were trying to roll with him because when he gets like that, that's when we're really – He's making so many things happen with his passing ability. We were better when he was on the floor tonight. He's probably one of the most improved players these last couple of months in the program, and you wish you had him another year."
Mo Gibson's evolution (trying to convince him to stay, ha)?
"Unquestioned, he improved himself as a player. I've never been around a player who works harder on his game than Mo Gibson, and I've been doing this for 30 years. I've never seen anybody put hours in. It's every day. To see his game off the dribble improve, I mean, getting to the rim, he got to the rim so much these last three or four weeks. It's one thing to be able to shoot the ball. It's another thing when your opponent knows you can shoot the ball. There's not a scouting report that we went through all year long that they didn't focus in on him. He's taken that and he's worked on his off-the-dribble game. He's worked on his shot, eyes to the rim and step over that shot when they're flying at you instead of shooting when they're flying at you. Look at these shots he's gotten in these last couple of months where it's eyes to the rim, fly by and gather yourself instead of shooting it when they're flying. But he's really adjusted and found ways to be a better player, and that's a credit to him."
First year transition/coaching change?
I’m just thinking about (Gibson) and what he’s gone through. But the — it’s hard to have a coaching change. I just appreciate (Gibson) and the other guys. Jalen, EJ and Rick, those guys that were here to just — they love Oklahoma. They put everything into it. You appreciate that so much. A lot of guys left. These guys stayed. And I thought just watching us improve, get better — we’ve got a lot of things to get better at in the program. Obviously there’s guys transferring, we’ll see how that shakes out. You know, those are questions for another day. But you appreciate so much how much a young man has to go through in a coaching change.
Culture?
It’s everything. How you build a program is then when the new guys come in, you have a foundation of guys that are like, ‘This is how it goes. This is how we do things. This is how we do things.’ It was new to everybody. You know, I was in the NCAA Bubble last year for 15 days. Like four or five days later, I’m in Norman. Then I’m trying to move forward, I’m trying to put together a new team in a pandemic. And then when we finally got together and starting working out, it was everything from terminology, you know, I mean from scratch. Now we come back and in the workouts, we’ll have spring workouts with whoever is coming back. And then the summer when everyone gets together, you got a foundation of older guys helping the new guys. That’s how you build the program is when you get a group of guys, the new ones, you’re adding and continuing to grow your talent. And then when they get there, the group that’s already been there is like this is how this is done. This is our culture. And that’s when it starts to go. This is just a year like no other because only a couple of them played together. And then everybody else was new. And it was from scratch.
More about Mo (and his back injury)?
Knowing whether Mo has bumps and bruises or played a lot of minutes or had a short turnaround or knew about his back, he’d go, ‘coach, I’m straight.’ That was his answer every single time. Never missed a practice. This week, I knew he was hurt because he was trying to go and you could see he had a bend in his thing. And he says I can’t these last couple of days. Then, today, how are you doing today, Mo? ‘I’m straight.’ There was no way he wasn’t going to say he was not straight. I knew I was going to get that game day answer from him. literally all through the year, whether he plays 38 minutes or his ankle or his back, I’m straight and he comes to practice every single day. When he said that this week, I knew he must have been really hurt. I knew I was going to get the ‘I’m straight’ answer on game day today.
Closing statement on super seniors (Goldwire, Johnson, Chargois)?
With the transfer portal, guys with one year, it’s so hard. They’re looking – it’s hard. Everyone in the transfer portal knows and understands it’s not easy. I loved Ethan and Marvin because they’re from Oklahoma. That was one of the reasons I wanted them. It was one of the reasons it appealed to me. They’re from Oklahoma. I remember with Ethan, he really wanted to play for the University of Oklahoma this last year. To see him improve the way he did, to see Marvin fight through so many things. A lot of life lessons this year for Marvin. He fought through a lot of things to get to the point to where he was a part of the rotation. That’s fighting through adversity for him as a life lesson. Then for Jordan, having a bigger role than he had at Duke. All three of them came from different spots. You hate to see it end. As a player, I’ll never forget that feeling of it being done, playing your last college game. That’s a lonely feeling. Your whole life you’re being identified as a player. Like for me, they all have aspirations to keep playing. For me? I had aspirations to coach. I knew when my days at Creighton were over, I was like everybody else. My sophomore year was I want to keep playing. Then reality hit that I’m probably not going to make a lot of money with my game. It just crushed me to be done. Every last game of a career, I feel for them. Every last. Empty gut for those three knowing it’s their final game.
