Oklahoma not only lost consensus All-American Trae Young off of last season’s 18-14 team, but also two other players — Kameron McGusty and Jordan Shepherd — who were being counted on to be key contributors for head coach Lon Kruger and the Sooners in their junior season.
Young’s departure, as the No. 5 overall selection in this year’s NBA Draft, was expected, but the moves by McGusty and Shepherd were not. McGusty’s production dropped off a bit last season, but as a freshman, in 2016-17, he was the team’s second leading scorer, averaging 10.