BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TIPOFF MEDIA DAY

October 18, 2023

Porter Moser

Oklahoma Sooners

Media Day Press Conference

PORTER MOSER: I'm excited. I know with the transfer portal and everything every year, there's a lot of turnover, a lot of new guys. We can talk about the negatives of a lot of the transfer portal, but the positives are you can add key additions. We feel like we have.

I think just the biggest take away from our summer workouts and our fall workouts is that we're definitely longer and more athletic, which enables us to play faster. We just have not simply been very athletic in the best conference in the country. I'm excited about some of the length we've brought in. We've brought in some speed from the guard spots.

I think that's the first thing you're going to see different about our Oklahoma team is our athleticism.

Q. You mentioned the athleticism and whatnot. I'm curious looking back if maybe the adjustment to coaching in this league and recruiting in this league was a little greater than you thought it would be when you came Loyola.

PORTER MOSER: No, it wasn't greater that I thought, because even at Loyola we played the best of the best even through the NCAA tournaments and everything.

It was just the difficulties my first year if having to sign everybody through Zoom and other NIL issues you may have in my first two recruiting classes.

But for instance, my true first freshmen that we signed when I got to Oklahoma were two top 100 kids, Milos Uzan and Otega Oweh. Both of them ended up starting for us. Both of them are back. Both of them have taken a huge step. Both of them -- those fit the athleticism.

It just takes time to get your transfer portal guys, but it wasn't where I came in here thinking it wasn't going to be athletic. It was just some of the obstacles of right when we got here, we were in a pandemic, we couldn't go out, we had Zoom, all this.

But I think we really did a good job in the transfer portal addressing it, and I think the guys we were able to retain, Milos and Otega -- even Sam Godwin was athletic coming off our bench for us. So I think we retained some of our athleticism, and we definitely added some pieces of athleticism.

Q. How do you approach in the transfer portal change when you're trying not to stunt Milos' growth but also find the right piece to see make this program really good?

PORTER MOSER: No, it is a challenge because that 60-day window when your season is over, is you're laying your head on that pillow every night on retention, but also you're laying your head on that pillow every night on filling spots.

Milos unequivocally was our point guard once he earned that spot pretty much his whole freshman year. I thought he had a great freshman year and we told him, I'm recruiting you to come back to be our captain.

But there was another player in Jalen Hill. We lost Jalen Hill a couple days before the portal closed. So that's the trick, too, so you can go the first 55 days of the portal thinking that you have a returning starter, and in those 55 days, there might have been a lot of guys that went in the portal that signed, and all of a sudden you need that spot again. That's the trickiness.

Milos was steadfast the whole time in the portal or the whole time when that window was open, man, he wanted to come barks he wanted to come back, his goals as to where we wanted to take this program, and then he came back and he said what it was. He was going to be right out of the gate as a sophomore going to be our captain, and he's been that, taken that leadership, and he's ran with that leadership.

But retention is everything in my opinion because you want to develop and retain and stay old, stay with guys, because that's what we had at Loyola. You were hoping that the nine newcomers is not the new normal.

Q. With you guys moving to the SEC next season, how does that change your approach to this season itself playing but also recruiting and having guys come in potentially for multiple seasons in two different conferences?

PORTER MOSER: It really doesn't change a thing because we've known we've gone to the SEC. We're playing -- it's not like sometimes that you're moving up drastically to a new conference. The Big 12 has been the best basketball conference unequivocally the last two years since we've been in it.

The thing is there's going to be a time and an excitement to talk about what we're going to do, but right now our focus and our feet are planted in Big 12 basketball.

It doesn't change the approach on recruiting. You're looking at elite leagues, elite players. It isn't saying, well, we've got to recruit better players. We're used to that with the level we're recruiting to, and it's constantly about developing, retaining and adding pieces that can help you win a championship.

Our approach this year has been about where our feet are planted to get over that bump, that line, to get into the tournament. And our goal is not to get into the tournament, our goal is to get into the tournament to give us an opportunity to win a championship.

I know over the last two years, we've beaten some of the top elite teams. Last year beating Alabama, we beat Kansas State and went to the Elite 8. We've competed. We've got to get over that hump to give us a chance to win a National Championship.

Q. You talked earlier about the transfer portal and losing kids later in the cycle. Can you explain how you think the portal window being shorter is going to potentially decrease the amount of kids that go into the portal or I guess maybe make it easier for coaches like yourself to maintain roster and maintain the identity and what you're going to have?

PORTER MOSER: Yeah, I don't know if a lot of coaches over at media day, I haven't followed it, have been outspoken about it, but I know talking amongst coaches underneath, we were really hoping for 30 days. So yes, it's shortened to 45 so it's better, it's 15 shorter. We were hoping for 30.

But it is at 45, and those are 45 days where you're laying your head on your pillow, like I said. Sometimes a young man could say that, but there's sometimes outside influences to get him to go to another place.

Here's the thing. There's no way with Milos or some of the other guys, Otegas, you want them back. You just invested in them. But then if you don't get somebody back, you have to bring in somebody to compete at this level.

That's been something, but the portal window, it's better. It went from 60 to 45, and I'll be outspoken. I don't know if any of the other coaches said it, but I know we were hoping for 30 so you know. So you know where you're at. You know if someone is leaving or if you're staying or someone is going to get in the portal.

Q. Bringing a guy like John Hugley this off-season from Pittsburgh, just talk about what you've seen from him and what he brings to your team this season?

PORTER MOSER: He gives us a huge physical presence inside. We've got to get him -- our standard for him is to be the best conditioned athlete he's ever been in his life. We've watched him score 15 and 8 in the ACC. He's a really good passer down low. He's a guy that can carve out space. A lot of teams switch in this league. We got hurt last year when teams switched on to our 5 and physically down low.

It's going to be very hard to switch with him. He is a very, very power player that carves out space don't low. That's what we hope for him. He gives us a different inside presence.

Q. Cincinnati is a new team on your schedule this year. Can you describe what they bring to the league and what some of the challenges are with playing on the road in that environment?

PORTER MOSER: Yeah, absolutely. I've known Wes in the profession. I've watched him from afar, and I know how elite a coach he is and I know what they're doing there at Cincinnati. I know the home crowd. They've got a great home court atmosphere there.

Just knowing him and what he's going to bring, very, very tough defensive team, very well-coached, and then you throw in that atmosphere.

I know there's an excitement to come to the Big 12.

That's what we're expecting. They're one of the teams we play twice. I know when we go to Cincinnati, it'll just be like a lot of the other Big 12 venues that will be very, very loud and energetic and right up into Oklahoma for leaving.