NORMAN — In Oklahoma basketball’s preparation for its first year in the Southeastern Conference, senior Jalon Moore and Sam Godwin became the team’s comfort — and Porter Moser’s.

“Retention is so big, not just in basketball, but in a lot of the sports in college,” Moser said last Wednesday during the team’s first press conference of his fourth year as OU’s head men’s coach. “That’s been a challenge in the NIL and transfer portal era. Having Jalon Moore and Sam Godwin come back — them, unanimously people on the team (believe) those were two of the toughest guys. Them and Rivaldo Soares, toughest guys (last year) — it was great to have those guys.” The loyalty, the vision that they have. They attacked the summer and getting better.” 

Moore, who transferred to Oklahoma from Georgia Tech last year and finished as the team’s third-leading scorer with 11.2 points per game, entered his name into the NBA Draft pool but withdrew it before the June 16 deadline.

Godwin, a fifth-year from Ada, Oklahoma who played on scholarship his first two years at Wofford, walked-on at Oklahoma and earned a scholarship his second year, averaged 6.7 points and 5.2 rebounds last year.

“Those eight or nine (returning players) are telling the new guys, ‘This is how we do things, how hard we go. This is our standard,’” Moser said. “Jalon and Sam have been doing that. The retention of those two was key for us, because they’re our toughest guys. . . [We’re] going to need that in the SEC.”

The Sooners did not do themselves a favor by losing six of their last eight games but were, regardless, considered one of the NCAA Tournament’s 64-team bracket’s biggest snubs and did not accept their invitation to the National Invitational Tournament. Finding somebody in the Griffin Family Performance Center who wasn’t frustrating last March was impossible.

“This year, I think it’s going be such a grit and burn. I think it’s going to be a gritty team,” Moser said. “I think it’s going to be a team that, like I said, a lot of guys that were crushed on Selection Sunday.”

For Godwin — the team’s hustle — the choice was obvious. 

“It was a pretty easy decision for me (to return for a fifth year),” Godwin said. “Obviously, Oklahoma’s home. It’s where I grew up. It’s where I dreamed of playing my whole life, so I never really thought about leaving. I knew if I was going to use my Covid year, I was going to use it here.

“Me and Jalon talked quite a bit. Obviously, we had some players leave, some of our good friends leave. I mean, we both love it here, like, we love coach Moser and everything he’s about, so we just decided we’re going to stick it out, play another year with him and hope to make the tournament,” Godwin said.

For Moore — undoubtedly Moser’s most valuable weapon — the decision held some nuance. A legitimate pro prospect, Moore elected for the draft process, but Moser held the door open.

“We both told him, ‘If this process leads to you staying in it and getting drafted, I’m going to be the biggest guy to give you a hug,’” Moser said, ‘“But if not, obviously, we want and need you back.’ 

“He said, ‘That’s my plan. I’m coming back if I don’t get the nod that I’m going to get drafted.’ He stayed true to everything he said. He’s an unbelievable young man, and I think he’s going to do great things for us, not only at Oklahoma but beyond that because of his foundation and character.”

Godwin and Moore offered each other his unwavering support, and after it was clear both would be returning, they turned their collective focus towards building a winner in Norman. They had a brief taste of that success, winning 13 of their first 14 games and peaking at No. 7 in last year’s AP Poll. The story of summer 2024 was their crucial leadership as Moser’s practice enforcers.

“Sam’s my brother,” Moore said. “What you do every day is going to show in the game, so it’s kind of just been, like, keeping that approach of attack each other every day, go at each other every day, push each other every day. If I see you down or you see me down, like, hold me accountable because we need that for this team to succeed.

“To me, Jalon’s the heartbeat of the team. He comes in every day and brings in an elite level of energy, gets us going at practice. Obviously, he’s a freak athlete, another high-motor guy,” Godwin said. “The way he’s worked, I’ve seen him work every day. He lifts in the morning before practice, after practice. He’s in here working every day. His game’s grown a lot. I know he has aspirations to play in the NBA, and with the work I’ve seen him put in, he’s going to get there.

“The best teams are player-led teams, so I think us just being able to attack and take on that role is just going to help us as a team team, for sure, a lot,” Moore said.

The Sooners open the 2024-25 season Monday, Nov. 4 against Lindenwood, the first of a four-game homestand, after which they will compete in the Battle 4 Atlantis at the Imperial Arena in Paradise Islands, Bahamas from Nov. 27-29. OU will play its first true road game and first conference game against Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Saturday, Jan. 4.

“People ask me what it’s like to be in the SEC. I’m so excited to have a home,” Moser said. “The last three years I’ve gone to meetings, I’ve done different things with me knowing that everyone knew Oklahoma was going to compete in the SEC. Felt great in the meetings. Felt great at media day. We’ve got a home and an elite home at that. So to get young guys ready for that, it’s gotta be a physical summer. It’s got to be in the weight room, and it has been. But it’s mentally ready for the physicality and the speed of this level with older guys.”

Absentee ballots are already arriving at election board offices, with early voting beginning across Oklahoma on Wednesday.

More than 78,000 Oklahomans have already cast absentee ballots, and officials expect a record turnout for the presidential election.

State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax is urging voters to be patient with others in line and with election workers.

“I think it’s just a matter of whether we beat what we did last time, come close, or about the same. We’ll find out,” said Ziriax.

For the first time in a presidential election, early voting has been extended to four days: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The additional day is expected to help spread out the crowds.

Ziriax advises voters to prepare by checking polling locations and viewing sample ballots ahead of time. In-person voters will need identification, and clothing promoting any candidate is prohibited.

Federal and state officials are on high alert for any attempts to disrupt the election, and Ziriax encourages voters to report anything suspicious. Above all, he urges patience during what he anticipates will be long wait times.

“There could be a line you have to wait in, so we appreciate voters’ patience. Please be kind to your precinct officials and poll workers who are helping you exercise the right to vote,” he said.

OKLAHOMA CITY (KSWO) – The Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT) has released their investigative findings on disbursements made by the Oklahoma State Department of Investigation (OSDE).

The LOFT investigation did not find any OSDE actions that warranted a law enforcement criminal investigation, according to the LOFT report.

LOFT began their investigation after both legislators and school districts raised concerns of delays in districts receiving OSDE funds, as well as concerns of changing communications pertaining to funding.

While nothing was found which warranted a criminal investigation, LOFT gave recommendations to both OSDE and the Oklahoma Legislature to make sure a similar investigation is not needed in the future.

According to LOFT, the Legislature should:

• For new programs or legislature mandates, require the State Department of Education to publish an initial plan for implementation within 90 days of the program’s effective date.
• Specify in budget limit bills any funds that have the flexibility to be used by the State Department of Education to fund other specific statutory obligations.
• Clarify whether funding directives for “off formula” school districts apply only to those schools fully off the State Aid Funding formula or if it also applies to those schools partially off the formula.
• Authorize a grantmaking process for circumstances where a non-profit organization is best suited to facilitate a program’s objectives.

According to LOFT, OSDE should:

• Review all new legislation by July 1 of each year to identify an implementation strategy for new programs. The plan should include soliciting feedback from school districts, where appropriate, to identify potential problems with implementation.
• Increase written communications to school districts to include: 1. The total preliminary state allocation from the federal government compared to the prior year, to serve as an indicator of whether schools should anticipate a reduction or an increase. 2. Notification of whether districts should expect to receive per-district preliminary allocations and an anticipated timeline for when final figures will be available.
• Establish written policies and procedures for each division within the agency to ensure continuity of operations in the event of turnover. This should include an annual communication schedule.
• Prior to communicating a plan to districts for implementing a program, ensure alignment of all departments that will be involved in the program.
• Immediately seek written legal guidance when the agency identifies conflicts in statute.

Members of the Oklahoma House Democratic Caucus gave their thoughts in response to the LOFT findings.

“The continued lack of accountability from the Oklahoma State Department of Education further emphasizes the State Superintendent’s willful negligence. This puts our school districts and our kids squarely in second place to his own self interest,” Rep. Melissa Provenzano (D-Tulsa) said. “We have a state agency head unwilling to commit to improving service to schools. We have a state agency head unwilling to share how he plans to spend unused payroll dollars. The repeated calls by the public to ‘Do something about Supt. Ryan Walters,’ continue to go unanswered.”

“The State Superintendent says the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s objective is to ‘shrink government,’ but the objective should be establishing OSDE’s ability to effectively manage a multi-million-dollar state agency for a functional education system,” Rep. Meloyde Blancett (D-Tulsa) said. “I come from a business background, and if you had a CEO whose chief staff could not communicate effectively either internally or externally with primary stakeholders, they would be fired. My question is if OSDE is unable to effectively create a functional working relationship with school districts and the legislature, how can we possibly expect success to happen in schools for our kids?

Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters sent out the below X post in response to the LOFT report.

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