Oklahoma Sooners Basketball: Florida Steals Grad Transfer Egor Koulechov

Well, add another hit to the recent and disturbing trend of Oklahoma sports losing out on prized recruits, as Lon Kruger’s basketball squad was spurned by Rice graduate transfer Egor Koulechov, who committed to Florida Tuesday night.

The Sooners seemed to be in good position to land the 6-5 guard after he visited Norman earlier this month, but following his recent visit to Gainesville and canceling an upcoming trip to Iowa State, the Gators got the guy many teams were after.

Koulechov would’ve been a goldmine get for Kruger and OU hoops. The redshirt junior averaged 18.2 points and led the Owls with 8.9 rebounds a game last season, which earned him a spot on the All-Conference USA First Team. He also set a new school record for three-point field goal percentage (.474) and would’ve been an ideal fit in the Sooners’ pace-and-space attack. After narrowly missing out on 2017’s top recruit Michael Porter Jr. and seeing two upperclassmen — Darrion Strong-Moore and Dante Buford — recently announce their plans to transfer, the arrival of the sharp-shooting Koulechov could’ve been a significant bump for a program looking to jump back into conference and national contention.

Koulechov would’ve become the de facto fourth member of the 2017 class for the Sooners, led by McDonald’s All-American Trae Young along with Harrah, Okla., forward Brady Manek and Finnish center Hannes Polla.

Oh, what could’ve been, Egor...