Oklahoma basketball coach Porter Moser has put a cap on his 2024-25 squad in Norman after the Sooners added former JUCO standout forward Jeff Nwankwo on Wednesday.
Nwankwo, listed at 6-foot-6, had committed to Cal in April but opted to reopen his recruitment and will now land with OU in the SEC next season.
The move makes a ton of sense for Nwankwo, who is originally a product of Putnam City North in Oklahoma City (OK).
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After beginning his collegiate career at Tulane, Nwankwo transferred to Cowley Community College and immediately became one of the best players at the JUCO level. He earned JUCO All-American honors after averaging 18.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while shooting 37.0% from three.
According to 247Sports, Nwankwo ranks as the No. 2 overall JUCO player in the Class of 2024 and is immediately a player to watch for Oklahoma next year.
Heading into the 2024 season, it became evident that the Sooners would need to succeed in the transfer portal after almost every contributor from their 20-win team a season ago left for one reason or another.
Otega Oweh (Kentucky), John Hugley (Xavier), Milos Uzan (Houston), and Javion McCullom (Georgia Tech) were among the departures.
Nwankwo will join a class that already had five transfer commits and two incoming freshmen, helping further solidify a group that won’t have many expectations in its first SEC season.
However, if the Sooners can get Jalon Moore back and hit on a few of their new additions, Porter Moser just might be able to squeeze enough out of the group to get them into the tournament after just missing it in each of the last two seasons.
