As each team is eliminated from the Summit League Tournament, want to have a series of what does it look like going forward for that team.
I am going to break each of these down into 3 parts. What needs to be different next year. What to build on and 3 players to prioritize for next year.
What to build on
The Golden Eagles won 4 games in a row at the end of the season prior to losing in the quarterfinals to North Dakota State. The continuity on both ends of the floor looked much different late in the year. It seemed the Golden Eagles bought into the system and found a groove. They started playing team basketball, leading to them scoring at a much higher rate and were much better on the defensive end. It seems a decent chance that Oral Roberts can keep some if not all of the core and build around that for next season.
What needs to be different
Over the season both the offense and defense struggled most of the season. The late winning streak doesn’t erase that. Oral Roberts is now on 3 year span of not playing up to the program standard that was set previously. While there is hope, there does seem to need to be an infusion of talent this offseason. It seems Oral Roberts could really benefit from a solid lead guard, some more size, more specifically athletic size. Oral Roberts will also be searching to get a bit deeper next year. It’s possible Lane Sparks who only played in one game before getting injured this season returns and adds depth.
3 players to prioritize (in predicted likelihood they return)
Guard Connor Dow Junior
It feels a high likelihood Dow wants to return and ORU wants him back. Dow is coming off a really solid 1st season in Tulsa and seems fully on board with the basketball and faith mission of ORU. Dow has one year of eligibility remaining going into next year. It’s likely that Dow would get some interest if he were to go in the portal. However, ORU does have some more basketball resources than other Summit League schools which has allowed them to keep talented players in the recent past so certainly leaves the door open for a Dow return. If Dow does return, it’s likely he’s an immediate pre-season all Summit candidate. If the right other pieces are added, I legitimately believe Dow has the talent to play at an all-Summit and maybe even player of the year level.
Forward Luke Gray Sophomore
Maybe there’s a higher likelihood Gray returns than Dow. Gray returned to ORU in spite of the coaching change last year and saw his role expand as the year went along. Gray seems to be an “ORU guy”. In additon to the likelihood Gray wants to return he became a crucial part of what ORU was doing on the basketball court the second half of the year. His insertion into the starting lineup seemded to coincide ORU starting to figure it out. Gray scored in double figures 7 of his last 10 games and had 5 or more rebounds in 6 of those games.
Guard Martins Kilups Freshman
In late January we saw Kilups minutes spike. Which isn’t surprising as it often takes freshman a little bit of time to get up to speed at the division 1 level. Kilups maybe isn’t an elite division 1 athlete but when effort was an issue for others Kilups brought it night in and night out. In addition it’s likely he takes a next step next season. He has good size as a 6’4 guard, shoots well from outside at 36% and likely jumps right into the starting lineup next year.
If Oral Roberts can bring back those three and maybe even a couple others from this years team and is able to add the right pieces next year we might be looking at a significant jump for this Oral Roberts squad next year. ‘