And I’m gonna update this once I’m actually home again.
But here’s a notebook with Moser.
oklahoma.rivals.com
***
And here's that update:
Story is up. HD is up. Here's the full transcript from Tuesday.
Porter Moser
How’s it going?
I think everybody is excited to play somebody different. For us, it’s just such a process. It’s new terminology, new habits, new way of doing things. It’s been a process. Where we are here in mid-October is not our destination. We have a long way to go. But every day, every week, we’re trying to get better. I think everybody in the country gets to a certain point where they want to see how they stack up against somebody different. You’re just so sick of pounding against each other. They’re here all summer, then they come back and here all fall and then practices. Everybody is definitely ready to play somebody different.
Transfer central?
That’s one thing about experience is you hope the older guys have been through it. But they’ve never been through it together and never been through it in your system. That is the one thing that is tough when you have a whole new team coming together. Even them, sometimes when you take over a job you have eight or nine returners, at least they know each other. This was everybody literally coming together and trying to come together, first, and know each other. It’s been a process. I’ll say this, the guys, right now, they’re learning, growing and getting better. That’s just part of where we are right now.
Hard to find leadership, then?
One hundred percent. Leadership isn’t given, it’s earned. Right now, we’re trying to see who is emerging as a leader. Who is earning that leadership role? That’s been a process. Because you can’t just take over, bring the whole team over and say you’re the automatic leader. That’s earned. That’s earned by every day stacking good practices. You have to stack good practices. You have to be the ones watching extra film, staying late. All the rest of the guys, leadership, that’s something earned. That’s definitely something we’re really aware of to see who is emerging as our leaders.
Who are they?
We have a number of guys capable of doing it, emerging. You hope it’s the older guys. You hope it’s the Elijah Harkless, the Mo Gibson, the Jalen Hill, the Jordan Goldwire, the Tanner Groves. Those guys, specifically, are the older guys. To be a leader, you have to be that guy every single day. You come with your hard hat and you’re ready to go to work. Leadership is not whether you make all your shots or not. It’s whether you’re there totally immersed, competitive, communicating, effort, intensity, every single day. Leadership is earned and emerges. Right now, we’re watching it emerge. We have some definite guys that are candidates to emerge, and we’ll see how that goes as we go forward to our first game.
Tanner Groves?
Tanner has been one of our best communicators, day-in, day-out. He wants to do good, wants to compete. Every day in practice, he’s that guy learning like a sponge. It’s all new stuff for him, too, but he’s been in it. That’s one of the reasons I like him. He was in that NCAA tournament. He played Kansas, played a Big 12 team. He knows he was right there. He was in there competing. I think he’s very hungry to get back there. He’s definitely emerging as one of the guys here who can lead even though it’s just his first year here. His intensity, his communication, his willingness to pick things up has all been consistent.
Are you ahead of schedule at all in any way?
No. No. No part. Not one part where I feel like I’m ahead of schedule. Not at all.
Freshmen?
Not every day. Freshmen sometimes, one of the common problems is they don’t stack practices. Because the mental part, the fatigue, the mental, the school, this. The days they don’t feel well. As young guys, you have to get past mad, sad, tired. You have to get past that and be ready to compete every day when that ball comes out. We have some really good-looking freshmen, and I’m excited about them. I think they’re gonna do some good things. That’s part of their growth process is to (points up) every day, every day. Not just our freshmen, but the physicality all over the country, that’s an issue with freshmen. Especially with the COVID year. Some of these 18-year-olds are playing 23-year-olds. Some teams have seven or eight 23- year-olds and those guys have really been through it, been through it together. It’s not only when you take over a new job, it’s taking over a new job with all these guys who have never played together. Only like three or four have played together and those were the guys that were here last year. You really have to come together. That’s why I don’t feel like I’m ahead of schedule. Not for anything specific, but it takes a lot of work. You have to build that every single day when they’re coming together.
Any remnants of Lon’s culture left over?
There's only really three guys that played that you have back. So really good kids. I mean -- I didn't take over program that I was like, the guys that I did inherit were running amuck or bad kids. No, it's the total opposite. Those guys are great guys. Great character guys and some guys to build on. So, but it isn't like for instance you take over another program, where there's nine or 10 returning guys that are played together. That's a little bit different. A la Loyola my, my assistant. My assistant's get all those guys back and those guys was like seven 23-year-olds. So that's a thing where, you know, it's still everybody new coming together.
Elijah Harkless a perfect fit?
So Elijah is really tough. He guards. One thing Elijah didn't have to do is Elijah didn't have to be the leader day in and day out. Austin was the guy that -- that's what we're still looking for that guy that you know when things aren't going well, who's got that ball in their hands, who's, who's bringing everything, making sure you got good possessions. That's that's a leadership thing and Elijah's in a, you know I'm expecting him to have a bigger role this year. But in terms of some of the toughness characteristics, tough as they come. Elijah Harkless is tough as they come and he competes every play. He wants to win. He really defends. He's strong, he's tough. He's got a ton of characteristics that I absolutely love.
Big football weekends help recruiting for official visits?
I love it. I mean I'm, I'm officially all in. And I've been all in since I got the summer when I started going to the softball games. You love bringing to the football games. We've had a basketball tailgate every time I mean I'm, I'm all in. I went to Dallas to the Red River game, which I set the bar pretty high so I'm pretty much go every year, but I absolutely love it. It's a great energy, and they give so much to the university that program does. And they also, one other thing, they give is great recruiting weekend's to see the atmosphere and the fan base. So, I'm so fired up and excited to keep watching and pulling for this team.
This kind of intensity the norm at practice?
Yea, so we need to be more consistent with the intensity. I think there's, uh, you know, we want to play a certain way, and you've got to be in certain condition to play the way we want to play for 40 minutes. We want to guard possession by possession. We're guarding well, at times. We've had some great defense possessions. Do I think regarding possession by possession? No. We're not there yet. But we will be. We will be because you've got to be not only in great physical condition, but you've got to be in great mental condition to play as hard as we want to play for 40 minutes. You got to stack good practices. You need leadership. You got to keep watching film. Showing them where those breakdowns are. Showing them where the little things add up. It's an accumulation of a lot of little things that adds up to getting to play defense play offense. The funny thing about it is, I see it every day in recruiting. Everybody wants to run. Coaches kind of joke about this. Everybody in the recruiting, the question you say is style play we want to run we want to run, and then we get there the guys, the conditioning there jog in the wings. You got to be in great condition to play as fast as we want to play we really want to play faster, you know, we want to win the first three steps we want to get the ball up the court, and you got to be in great shape to do that. We're getting there. We're getting there. We're moving towards there. But I just have a high expectation for what I think intensity is. I have a high expectation for what I think intensity is. Some people have come to practices and they're like, man, it's been intense and I feel like I feel like we can take it up a notch, consistently. Not just for a five-minute segment, you know? My goal is to get to that intensity that we it's a 40-minute game. We're gonna get there. We will get there.
How much of the leadership and culture can you build in practice? How much of it has to come through battles in games?
Yea, games help. I mean time helps. We'll get there. That's why one of the things I learned from Majerus is, he was so obsessed with the process, and so was I. And I remember, he wrote me a note he said Porter, I know you want to win, this is when I took over Loyola. He goes, but do it the right way. And for me, one of the right ways that I've taken from him is, is it isn't the end all to have everything in everything done by November 1. You got to really focus on getting some things done right. And you know keep, keep your eye on -- that's why his teams and our teams were playing its best in February. And that's what we want to do we want to be, I got to keep moving this team along getting better by November 1, by December 1, by January 1. And so games do help. Absolutely. You learn from game to game. You learn from game to game there's teaching moments in all these games that we're going to be getting better and study in so no doubt you get better. Your arrow goes up if you're learning throughout the games.
***
Is 2022 done? Yes.. with a but
That's the easy answer right now. OU is going to continue to monitor Rylan Griffen and Jalen Reed, but it's onward to 2023 now.
Three pieces in Otega Oweh, Milos Uzan and Benny Schroeder and see what happens. I have very little hope with Griffen, very little. But OU needs size, and the Sooners are fighting hard for Reed, although Ole Miss still feels like the easy leader.
OU definitely leaning in on that friendship that Reed and C.J. Noland have. A pic that I was sent over the weekend.
(Gives you a great idea of how big Reed really is)
Scholarship numbers are just hard to figure out. We know about the super seniors, but I think we're entering a period where zero coaches are going to be worried about their numbers because of the portal.
You almost have to add like 2-3 open spots in your head because kids are gonna leave. Especially now with the one-time freebie option. Kids are gonna leave.
What stands out in the last month is how well Moser and company were able to do now takes away the burden of hitting on one after another via the portal. You can be selective and really target a few guys. You won't need 6-7, maybe 2-3 via portal. Hey, that's college basketball in 2021 and beyond, IMO.
The coaches know the portal will be crucial for 2022 but can breathe a sigh of relief and go all-in with 2023 OKPreps. Between Parker Friedrichsen, Trent Pierce, Jeremiah Johnson, Brandon Garrison - a lot to work with going forward.
But here’s a notebook with Moser.
Moser: Consistency, intensity & leadership
Don’t look now, but we’re just a few weeks away from basketball season for Oklahoma and that means the official start
***
And here's that update:
Story is up. HD is up. Here's the full transcript from Tuesday.
Porter Moser
How’s it going?
I think everybody is excited to play somebody different. For us, it’s just such a process. It’s new terminology, new habits, new way of doing things. It’s been a process. Where we are here in mid-October is not our destination. We have a long way to go. But every day, every week, we’re trying to get better. I think everybody in the country gets to a certain point where they want to see how they stack up against somebody different. You’re just so sick of pounding against each other. They’re here all summer, then they come back and here all fall and then practices. Everybody is definitely ready to play somebody different.
Transfer central?
That’s one thing about experience is you hope the older guys have been through it. But they’ve never been through it together and never been through it in your system. That is the one thing that is tough when you have a whole new team coming together. Even them, sometimes when you take over a job you have eight or nine returners, at least they know each other. This was everybody literally coming together and trying to come together, first, and know each other. It’s been a process. I’ll say this, the guys, right now, they’re learning, growing and getting better. That’s just part of where we are right now.
Hard to find leadership, then?
One hundred percent. Leadership isn’t given, it’s earned. Right now, we’re trying to see who is emerging as a leader. Who is earning that leadership role? That’s been a process. Because you can’t just take over, bring the whole team over and say you’re the automatic leader. That’s earned. That’s earned by every day stacking good practices. You have to stack good practices. You have to be the ones watching extra film, staying late. All the rest of the guys, leadership, that’s something earned. That’s definitely something we’re really aware of to see who is emerging as our leaders.
Who are they?
We have a number of guys capable of doing it, emerging. You hope it’s the older guys. You hope it’s the Elijah Harkless, the Mo Gibson, the Jalen Hill, the Jordan Goldwire, the Tanner Groves. Those guys, specifically, are the older guys. To be a leader, you have to be that guy every single day. You come with your hard hat and you’re ready to go to work. Leadership is not whether you make all your shots or not. It’s whether you’re there totally immersed, competitive, communicating, effort, intensity, every single day. Leadership is earned and emerges. Right now, we’re watching it emerge. We have some definite guys that are candidates to emerge, and we’ll see how that goes as we go forward to our first game.
Tanner Groves?
Tanner has been one of our best communicators, day-in, day-out. He wants to do good, wants to compete. Every day in practice, he’s that guy learning like a sponge. It’s all new stuff for him, too, but he’s been in it. That’s one of the reasons I like him. He was in that NCAA tournament. He played Kansas, played a Big 12 team. He knows he was right there. He was in there competing. I think he’s very hungry to get back there. He’s definitely emerging as one of the guys here who can lead even though it’s just his first year here. His intensity, his communication, his willingness to pick things up has all been consistent.
Are you ahead of schedule at all in any way?
No. No. No part. Not one part where I feel like I’m ahead of schedule. Not at all.
Freshmen?
Not every day. Freshmen sometimes, one of the common problems is they don’t stack practices. Because the mental part, the fatigue, the mental, the school, this. The days they don’t feel well. As young guys, you have to get past mad, sad, tired. You have to get past that and be ready to compete every day when that ball comes out. We have some really good-looking freshmen, and I’m excited about them. I think they’re gonna do some good things. That’s part of their growth process is to (points up) every day, every day. Not just our freshmen, but the physicality all over the country, that’s an issue with freshmen. Especially with the COVID year. Some of these 18-year-olds are playing 23-year-olds. Some teams have seven or eight 23- year-olds and those guys have really been through it, been through it together. It’s not only when you take over a new job, it’s taking over a new job with all these guys who have never played together. Only like three or four have played together and those were the guys that were here last year. You really have to come together. That’s why I don’t feel like I’m ahead of schedule. Not for anything specific, but it takes a lot of work. You have to build that every single day when they’re coming together.
Any remnants of Lon’s culture left over?
There's only really three guys that played that you have back. So really good kids. I mean -- I didn't take over program that I was like, the guys that I did inherit were running amuck or bad kids. No, it's the total opposite. Those guys are great guys. Great character guys and some guys to build on. So, but it isn't like for instance you take over another program, where there's nine or 10 returning guys that are played together. That's a little bit different. A la Loyola my, my assistant. My assistant's get all those guys back and those guys was like seven 23-year-olds. So that's a thing where, you know, it's still everybody new coming together.
Elijah Harkless a perfect fit?
So Elijah is really tough. He guards. One thing Elijah didn't have to do is Elijah didn't have to be the leader day in and day out. Austin was the guy that -- that's what we're still looking for that guy that you know when things aren't going well, who's got that ball in their hands, who's, who's bringing everything, making sure you got good possessions. That's that's a leadership thing and Elijah's in a, you know I'm expecting him to have a bigger role this year. But in terms of some of the toughness characteristics, tough as they come. Elijah Harkless is tough as they come and he competes every play. He wants to win. He really defends. He's strong, he's tough. He's got a ton of characteristics that I absolutely love.
Big football weekends help recruiting for official visits?
I love it. I mean I'm, I'm officially all in. And I've been all in since I got the summer when I started going to the softball games. You love bringing to the football games. We've had a basketball tailgate every time I mean I'm, I'm all in. I went to Dallas to the Red River game, which I set the bar pretty high so I'm pretty much go every year, but I absolutely love it. It's a great energy, and they give so much to the university that program does. And they also, one other thing, they give is great recruiting weekend's to see the atmosphere and the fan base. So, I'm so fired up and excited to keep watching and pulling for this team.
This kind of intensity the norm at practice?
Yea, so we need to be more consistent with the intensity. I think there's, uh, you know, we want to play a certain way, and you've got to be in certain condition to play the way we want to play for 40 minutes. We want to guard possession by possession. We're guarding well, at times. We've had some great defense possessions. Do I think regarding possession by possession? No. We're not there yet. But we will be. We will be because you've got to be not only in great physical condition, but you've got to be in great mental condition to play as hard as we want to play for 40 minutes. You got to stack good practices. You need leadership. You got to keep watching film. Showing them where those breakdowns are. Showing them where the little things add up. It's an accumulation of a lot of little things that adds up to getting to play defense play offense. The funny thing about it is, I see it every day in recruiting. Everybody wants to run. Coaches kind of joke about this. Everybody in the recruiting, the question you say is style play we want to run we want to run, and then we get there the guys, the conditioning there jog in the wings. You got to be in great condition to play as fast as we want to play we really want to play faster, you know, we want to win the first three steps we want to get the ball up the court, and you got to be in great shape to do that. We're getting there. We're getting there. We're moving towards there. But I just have a high expectation for what I think intensity is. I have a high expectation for what I think intensity is. Some people have come to practices and they're like, man, it's been intense and I feel like I feel like we can take it up a notch, consistently. Not just for a five-minute segment, you know? My goal is to get to that intensity that we it's a 40-minute game. We're gonna get there. We will get there.
How much of the leadership and culture can you build in practice? How much of it has to come through battles in games?
Yea, games help. I mean time helps. We'll get there. That's why one of the things I learned from Majerus is, he was so obsessed with the process, and so was I. And I remember, he wrote me a note he said Porter, I know you want to win, this is when I took over Loyola. He goes, but do it the right way. And for me, one of the right ways that I've taken from him is, is it isn't the end all to have everything in everything done by November 1. You got to really focus on getting some things done right. And you know keep, keep your eye on -- that's why his teams and our teams were playing its best in February. And that's what we want to do we want to be, I got to keep moving this team along getting better by November 1, by December 1, by January 1. And so games do help. Absolutely. You learn from game to game. You learn from game to game there's teaching moments in all these games that we're going to be getting better and study in so no doubt you get better. Your arrow goes up if you're learning throughout the games.
***
Is 2022 done? Yes.. with a but
That's the easy answer right now. OU is going to continue to monitor Rylan Griffen and Jalen Reed, but it's onward to 2023 now.
Three pieces in Otega Oweh, Milos Uzan and Benny Schroeder and see what happens. I have very little hope with Griffen, very little. But OU needs size, and the Sooners are fighting hard for Reed, although Ole Miss still feels like the easy leader.
OU definitely leaning in on that friendship that Reed and C.J. Noland have. A pic that I was sent over the weekend.
(Gives you a great idea of how big Reed really is)
Scholarship numbers are just hard to figure out. We know about the super seniors, but I think we're entering a period where zero coaches are going to be worried about their numbers because of the portal.
You almost have to add like 2-3 open spots in your head because kids are gonna leave. Especially now with the one-time freebie option. Kids are gonna leave.
What stands out in the last month is how well Moser and company were able to do now takes away the burden of hitting on one after another via the portal. You can be selective and really target a few guys. You won't need 6-7, maybe 2-3 via portal. Hey, that's college basketball in 2021 and beyond, IMO.
The coaches know the portal will be crucial for 2022 but can breathe a sigh of relief and go all-in with 2023 OKPreps. Between Parker Friedrichsen, Trent Pierce, Jeremiah Johnson, Brandon Garrison - a lot to work with going forward.
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