What makes you an annual league contender and power? That is the question this year’s Oral Roberts squad looks to address. For about a decade, the Summit League was dominated by South Dakota State and North Dakota State. Programs that would rotate representing the league in The Big Dance. Both programs are still the standard, and did so by capitalizing on prior success into better recruiting, upgraded facilities, and simply keeping the culture that made them the standard by promoting within when previous Head Coaches moved on to new opportunities. That’s exactly what ORU intends to do.
How did we get here? Well in 2021 Max Abmas happened and a 3rd League Power emerged. Appropriately named “Midcourt Max”, he would become a national darling with his Logo 3’s and high-volume scoring efforts. Max would take ORU on an epic run to the Sweet 16 in ’21. Last season, behind the League Player of the Year, the Golden Eagles flat out dominated the league finishing a perfect 18-0 in league play and another trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Fast forward to this season, gone are Max and the Head Coach, Paul Mills, who orchestrated ORU’s rise back to the top of the league. New Head Coach, Russ Springmann (assistant under Mills), has zero intentions of letting the standards of Mills & Max’s tenures slip. However, the task ahead will not be short of challenges. In addition to the loss of Abmas, Springmann will look to replace Conor Vanover, the 7’5” 3pt Shooting Defensive Player of the Year. Conor was the missing piece that solidified ORU’s defense the way Max solidified their offense. Carlos Jurgens had been in the program from the beginning of Mills’ time in Tulsa. Los as they called him was the definition of stability, bringing an old school game of a Power Guard who scored in the post and could defend multiple positions. The last member to move on from last years squad was 6’7” combo Forward, Patrick Mwamba who transferred in from UT-Arlington. While he showed glimpses of being a scorer, Mwamba’s value came on the defensive end by being able to guard all 5 positions on the court and allowing Mills the flexibility to play Small or Big at any time.
Who leads the new era of ORU Basketball?
The four previously mentioned players made up 62% of the scoring and 57% of the rebounding from last season. So where does Springmann look to start reloading and keeping the Golden Eagles a mainstay as a League Power? The easy answer is a trio of Seniors who have loads of experience and have won a lot of games themselves over the past few seasons.
Issac McBride – 6’1” Guard
Mackey, has quietly become one of the better players throughout the league while playing alongside Max Abmas in the backcourt the last two years. The Senior Guard averaged over 12ppg and was one of the best 3pt Shooters in the League making 41% of his shots beyond the arc. While a generous 6’1” he has the most explosive verticals on his jumper to rise above defenders to get off good looks. Even more, his playmaking and fearless approach of scoring at the rim might be his strongest assets on the offensive end. The keys to the car will be in Mackey’s hand and there are few in the league I’d rather have leading my program. He was voted pre-season 1st Team and one of the likely contenders to Zeke Mayo for player of the year.
Kareem Thompson – 6’5” Guard/Forward
After flirting with the portal, Kareem returns for another run with the Golden Eagles. During their Sweet 16 run, he was primarily a corner 3pt specialist and reliable defender. Last year, he elevated his game by improving his ball handling, post-game, and becoming one of the best defenders in the league. He leads all returning players on the roster in rebounding (5.7rpg) while chipping in 9ppg and 39% shooting from deep. His efforts over the past two years lead voters to selecting him Pre-Season 2nd Team All-League this season.
DeShang Weaver – 6’7” Forward
A trademark amongst ORU Wings/Forwards is versatility and the ability to play multiple positions…and of course shoot the 3pt at a solid clip. DJ is no exception to this rule as he’s one of the more athletic players on the squad that could play all 3 Forward Positions this season. Due to roster additions last season, the Senior Forward saw his time and production take a bit of a dip. However, he was one of the key cogs to the ’21 Sweet 16 Team and had a breakout year in ‘22 due to his shooting, rebounding, and rim protection. The evidence has always been there for DJ to be an All-League type player but consistency has been his Achilles Heel during his career. A career 40% Shooter from 3pt and the most capable player on the roster of producing Double Doubles, Springmann will need him to consistently play at or above his potential to help keep the ORU Momentum rolling.
Waiting in the wings
Another reason for optimism is the fact Coach Springmann and his staff were able to keep a quartet of players that have anxiously awaited their turn behind a host of veterans over the past couple years. Two athletic forwards, a sharpshooting 3pt specialist, and a 2nd year guard who was the understudy to both Max & Mackey.
Sir Issac Herron – 6’9” Forward
One of the most intriguing prospects in recent years is the versatile RS Sophomore out of Houston. Hampered by injuries to start the season, we only saw Sir Issac in one game last year as the roster and rotation had been set by the time he was deemed healthy to play leading to the staff to redshirt him. In his Freshman campaign, we saw glimpses of what he could become. While no one expects him to be the rim protecter that Vanover was, he certainly has the size and athleticism to be one of the top ones in the league this season. Not only a rim-runner who can finish, he also showed the ability to step out and shoot from 3pt by going 5-10 from deep in limited action in ’22. There will be no shortage of opportunities to seize a main role and starting position in this new era of Golden Eagles basketball.
Demari Williams – 6’6” Forward
A 4-Star prospect who originally began his career at Arizona State, is now in his 2nd Year with the ORU program. While playing limited minutes behind a loaded front court, there was a lot of excitement about Demari’s arrival in Tulsa. Originally recruited by the ORU staff, they jumped at the opportunity of getting to coach him when he entered the Portal after the ’22 Season. Potentially a more athletic version of Carlos Jurgens at the Wing/Power Guard spot. Now to be clear, it takes a lot of time and experience to be a player like Los whose value was measured well beyond his stats.
Cam Amboree – 6’2” Guard
When you play behind two guys that averaged 36 and 31 minutes per game, it’s difficult to show what you can do and be for a program in your first year. However, a little game experience and playing behind the best Guard Duo in the league should ultimately pay dividends to a young man looking to fill the starting spot alongside McBride in the backcourt. One intriguing aspect, is Cam does bring a little more height and length compared to his mentors. Like Herron and Williams, the opportunities to play a vital role will be there for the Sophomore Guard.
Trey Phipps – 6’2” Guard
Similar to Weaver, Phipps saw his minutes and production take a major dip being apart of a deeper roster than seasons before. After a quick flirtation with the portal, the Senior Guard decided to make another run with his hometown team. A catch and shoot 3pt Specialist, his skills in spreading the floor will be desperately needed as the team tries to take pressure off of McBride and Thompson as the team’s top returning scorers.
A lot of new faces added to the mix
Like his predecessor before him, Coach Springmann looked to use his connections and skills in scouting to hit big in the Portal this offseason. I’ll be honest I don’t know much about this group of newcomers but history suggests they all have specific traits that fit the ORU Brand and Culture.
Jalen Miller – 6’2” 200lb Guard – Big physical Guard who was used primarily as a defensive specialist off the bench at Rutgers the past couple seasons.
Jailen Bedford – 6’4” Guard – Juco Product who averaged 16.6ppg and shot 44% from Deep. Should compete for the spot next to McBride in the backcourt.
Braeden Moore – 6’8” Forward – Redshirted last season at BYU. Might be stereotyping here but looks like a Stretch Big. Similar to Francis Lacis???
Ashton Smith – 6’9” 260lb Forward – Big Physical Post transferred in from Texas A&M…2nd Coming of Elijah Lufile?
Pablo Navarro – 6’6” Guard/Forward – Late addition out of Spain. Crafty guard who brings valuable experience on Spain U17 team prior to an injury. Sources tell me he’s a Carlos/Kareem type guard/wing.
Josh Jones – 6’10” 240lb Center – Most likely a redshirt candidate but did see some promising highlights of him working in the post. More of a traditional Big Man that should provide depth.
Season Outlook
The Russ Springmann Era begins with a trip to UT-Arlington to play a Mavericks Squad coming off a 11-21 season. They are in a new era themselves with a new Head Coach and roster filled with new faces. However, this transition is for the complete opposite reason as ORU’s change at the helm. I would expect the experience and momentum to bode well for Coach’s first game as the head man. Overall, the Golden Eagles will see their fair share of challenges throughout the Non-Conference season due to the new faces and always challenging schedule. I don’t think we’ll really know what this team is until the first couple weeks through conference but I don’t expect them to dip. They remind me of Coach Henderson’s first year as Head Coach at SDSU, lot of talent but talent that is a bit unknown and needs to still mold together.
Predictions
18-11 Overall & 11-5 in Summit League Play