The tide has turned with Oklahoma's basketball program this season where much of the attention will be given to Oklahoma's backcourt where sophomore guard Willie Warren takes over as OU's premier player. He'll be joined by freshman Tommy Mason-Griffin who comes to the Sooners with lots of accolades and attention already placed upon him. If Mason-Griffin is able to give Oklahoma the type of production that Warren did as a freshman last season then the Sooners will be a lot of fun to watch. It'll most likely be a different pace of basketball than what we saw during the Blake Griffin years as OU is most likely going to run-and-gun with a three guard set and I wouldn't rule out the possibility of four guards being on the floor at times.
Probable Starters In The Backcourt
#13 - Willie Warren, So: Warren ranked second on team in scoring (14.6 ppg) and in assists (3.1 apg) last season for the Sooners. He also averaged 2.2 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 31.3 minutes of playing time per game. He shot .473 from the field, .372 from 3-point range and .781 from the free throw line and set school freshman records for games started (34) and 3-pointers (67). Warren was the unanimous selection for Big 12 Freshman of the Year and was named to the All Big 12 Second Team.
#11 - Tommy Mason-Griffin, Fr: Mason-Griffin was named the 2009 Gatorade Texas High School Basketball Player of the Year. He averaged 22.8 points, 5.3 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 3.7 steals per game as a senior for James Madison High School where he was also named as a McDonald's All American.
#5 - Tony Crocker, Sr: Crocker started all 36 games for the Sooners last season. He averaged 9.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.0 steal in 28.9 minutes of playing time per game. He also ranked second on team in 3-pointers made (59) and shot .349 from 3-point range.
The Bench
#34 - Cade Davis, Jr: Davis played in 35 games last season and made one start. He averaged 4.7 points and 1.7 rebounds in 14.6 minutes of playing time per game. He also registered 33 assists with just 12 turnovers. Davis also recorded 13 steals and ranked fourth on team with 40 made 3-point shots. He shot .345 from 3-point range and .656 from the free throw line (21-for-32).
#41 - Ray Willis, So: Willis played in 16 games last season. He averaged 3.3 points and 1.4 rebounds in 6.4 minutes of playing time per game. Willis shot .372 from the field, .333 from 3-point range (7-for-21) and .778 from the free throw line (14-for-18).
#3 - T.J. Franklin, So: Franklin saw action in 12 games last season scoring a total of 3 points, dishing six assists and grabbing seven rebounds.
#2 - Steven Pledger, Fr: Pledger was a first-team National Christian School Athletic Association All-American as a senior for Atlantic Shores (Va.) Christian School. He averaged 21.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 2008-09 by shooting .544 from the field, .491 from 3-point range (104-for-112) and .830 from the free throw line.
#22 - Ryan Randolph, Fr: Randolph was a first-team Oklahoma Class 4A All-State selection as a senior at Bishop McGuinness High School. He averaged 21.1 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game while shooting .536 from the field last season as a senior.