The Oklahoma Sooners are in dire straits in men’s basketball. The team, despite all of its talent, has had multiple embarrassing losses this season (that all look the exact same), and head coach Porter Moser has no answer for slowing it down.

It feels like Moser will be on his way out seemingly any day now, especially after the Sooners just blew a game to the Texas Longhorns at home, giving Texas seven straight wins in Norman. The results of Moser’s tenure simply aren’t acceptable, and it’s time for the Sooners to move on. With a new athletic director in town, his first move could be to find a new leader on the hardwood.

Who could replace Moser in Norman?

Candidates to replace Porter Moser

Josh Schertz, St. Louis HC

Likely the top candidate on my team’s boards if they decide to part ways with their head coach, Schertz is a proven winner at every level of basketball. As a head coach, he’s assembled a 443-125 record and the Billikens currently sit at 21-1 this season. St. Louis sits first in the country in effective field goal percentage on both offense and defense and are shooting at an elite rate from every distance, propelling them to eighth in the country in points scored.

Schertz’ quick turnarounds at numerous stops in his career make him an appealing option for the Sooners, but every team in the country will want to pluck Schertz away. Could new athletic director Roger Denny’s past at St. Louis perhaps help, however minor it may be?

Hollis Price, Houston Asst. HC

A former Sooners legend in his own right, Hollis Price has been a key cog in the Houston Cougars’ recent dominance, with seven consecutive March Madness appearances and a National Championship appearance to boot just last season. The Cougars have been one of the most balanced and well-built rosters in the country year in and year out since his arrival, and he’s spent time working alongside Kellen and Kelvin Sampson.

Since it appears that Kellen is the heir apparent to Kelvin with the Cougars, Price could be looking to become a head coach elsewhere. Why not return to his alma mater, a place he’s beloved at for helping the Sooners to the Final Four in 2002?

Matt Braeuer, Stephen F. Austin HC

If the Sooners wanted to take a chance on a potential up-and-comer, Braeuer fits that bill to a T. All throughout his career, Braeuer has been around winning programs, with multiple 20-win seasons as an assistant at Sam Houston and Wichita State. After two seasons as Director of Basketball Operations at Charlotte, Grant McCasland hired Braeuer as an assistant coach at North Texas, where he became an invaluable assistant to McCasland. McCasland brought Braeuer with him to Texas Tech, helping fuel the Red Raiders’ rise to prominence as a basketball powerhouse.

Braeuer was an invaluable part of McCasland’s success recruiting and game-planning at both North Texas and Texas Tech, and he has brought that with him to his first season as a head coach with the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks. In just his first season, Braeuer has turned SFA into the frontrunners in the Southland at 18-3. His elite defensive system has propelled SFA into a massive turnaround, and he has vastly exceeded expectations. It might be early on hiring him, but this could be an experiment worth taking a swing on for the Sooners.

Luke Murray, UConn Asst. HC

The son of legendary actor Billy Murray, Luke Murray has carved out a legendary career of his own in basketball. After having plenty of success as an assistant coach at Xavier, where he helped the Musketeers assemble an 81-26 record overall with an Elite Eight Run and No. 1 seed in March Madness, Murray spent a brief time at Louisville before being plucked away by Dan Hurley at UConn. Murray has been a key assistant for Dan Hurley’s tremendous UConn’s tenure. Serving as the Huskies’ offensive coordinator, Murray helped lead the Huskies to back-to-back national championships on the back of their elite offenses, boasting the No. 1 offensive efficiency in the country in 2023-24.

He doesn’t have any regional ties to the Sooners at all, but he’s the type of hire that would infuse a spark the program desperately needs right now.

Eric Olen, New Mexico HC

Another fast riser, Olen is a coach who just wins. At UC San Diego, Olen ripped off seven 20-win seasons, making the tourney last season with the Tritons. In UCSD’s last season at the DII level, the Tritons went 30-1, and just last season, he brought UCSD to a 30-5 record. At New Mexico, Olen’s continued that success, starting the Lobos off to a 17-4 record with a stout defense. The Lobos sit 44th in KenPom and Olen is viewed as the current frontrunner for National Coach of the Year.

It’s obviously a huge leap to the SEC, but Olen has won everywhere with vastly fewer resources than what the Sooners can offer. I’d be intrigued to see what he could do with a bigger program.

Jerrod Calhoun, Utah State HC

Calhoun is on every coaching list for a reason. He’s 44-11 in his two years at Utah State, including a tourney appearance in his first season at the helm with the Aggies. The Aggies are one of the best scoring units in the country and currently sit 32nd in KenPom ratings on the back of the 16th-best effective field goal percentage.

Calhoun has shown he can bring in talent at every level, and has orchestrated some impressive turnarounds at Youngstown State and Fairmont State to go along with his success at Utah State. He’s been rumored to be in the mix for just about every potential job opening for a reason.

Eric Konkol, Tulsa HC

I’m sure there will probably be some eyebrows raised at hiring a coach from the little brother of Oklahoma’s little brother, but Konkol has orchestrated one of the most impressive rebuilds of any program in college basketball this season. Tulsa was just 5-25 in Konkol’s first season. Now? They are 18-3, behind a blistering offense averaging 87.7 points per game. At Louisiana Tech, Konkol pulled off six 20-win seasons in seven years.

He’s done a tremendous job turning around the Golden Hurricanes’ roster, using a great blend of the portal and recruiting to build a team primed to win the American Athletic Conference this season. Konkol has never had a job as close to the level of Oklahoma, but his reputation for turning programs around is second-to-none, and that’s exactly what the Sooners need right about now.

Other candidates to monitor

• Jeremy Schulman, UT-Martin HC
• Takayo Siddle, UNC-Wilmington HC
• Tony Skinn, George Mason HC
• Bryce Drew, Grand Canyon HC
• Travis Steele, Miami (OH) HC
• Justin Gainey, Tennessee Asst. HC

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