OU-Northern State Pregame Notes >>> SoonerSports.com

[OUHoops]

No TV for this game. Also, the projected starters (according the PDF version of these notes at the link below) are Nick Thompson, Andrew Fitzgerald, Steven Pledger, Carl Blair and Cade Davis.

http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/110110aac.html

TUESDAY'S GAME BASICS
Fifth-year Oklahoma head coach Jeff Capel will watch his team play outside competition for the first time since last season when the Sooners host Northern State University in an exhibition game Tuesday night at Lloyd Noble Center. The contest, OU's lone exhibition game this season, is scheduled to tip at 7:07 p.m. CST and will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KOKC AM 1520 in Oklahoma City; KTBZ AM 1430 in Tulsa) with Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck announcing (it will be joined in progress following Sooner Sports Talk with Bob Stoops). The game will not be televised. However, a live webcast of the game will be available for viewing free of charge on SoonerSports.com.

TICKET INFORMATION
• University of Oklahoma students who present a valid OU I.D. will be admitted to Tuesday's game free of charge (lower north entrance).
• Tickets are available for $5, $10 and $20 at the OU Athletics Ticket Office and online at SoonerSports.com. Lloyd Noble Center's north and east ticket windows will open at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

PREVIEWING OKLAHOMA
It's a fresh start for head coach Jeff Capel and Oklahoma, as the Sooners return just five players from their 2009-10 end-of-year roster and feature nine newcomers. OU lost its top four scorers, top three rebounders and top three assist men from last year's 13-18 squad, leaving it with just 28 percent its scoring, 22 percent of its rebounding and 17 percent of its assists back for 2010-11.

With so many new players, Capel will lean on returning guards Cade Davis and Steven Pledger and returning forward Andrew Fitzgerald for production, especially early in the season. Davis is the team's lone senior and leading returner in minutes (31.8), scoring (9.9), rebounding (3.9), assists (1.0), steals (1.5) and 3-point field goals (1.9). One of four captains, Davis played in all 31 games last year and started the last 27. He made at least three 3-pointers on 11 occasions and scored 20 points or more four times. Another major 3-point threat, Pledger played in all but one game as a freshman and averaged 6.2 points in 18.9 minutes a contest. Forty-four of his 60 field goals were from long range. Fitzgerald is OU's lone returning big man with experience. The 6-8, 231-pounder has lost almost 30 pounds since last season when he averaged 4.8 points (on .511 field goal shooting) and 2.0 rebounds in 15.7 minutes a game. Fitzgerald, like Davis, is a team captain.

Also back from last year are junior walk-on point guard and captain T.J. Franklin (played in 15 games last year) and sophomore forward Kyle Hardrick (played in three games). Junior forward Barry Honoré, who was on the team during last year's fall semester but not during the spring semester, returns to the squad. The 6-7, 258-pounder played his first two seasons at Southern University and was the 2008 Southwestern Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year.

Headlining the large group of newcomers are backcourt members Carl Blair and Cameron Clark and junior college forwards Nick Thompson and C.J. Washington. Blair is a point guard transfer from the University of New Orleans who last year as a freshman averaged 9.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Eligible to play immediately due to New Orleans' reclassification to Division III status, Blair played in all 30 games and started 29 of them. The 6-6 Clark, rated as one the country's top-40 high school seniors last year, was a two-time all-state performer in Texas and last season averaged 23.7 points and 9.0 rebounds. The 6-9 Thompson helped College of Eastern Utah to a third-place national junior college finish by averaging 8.6 points (on .556 field goal shooting), 4.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists. Washington, at 6-7, earned first-team juco All-America honors last year after averaging 19.3 points and a school-record 13.0 rebounds for Connors State College.

Four other Sooner newcomers eligible to play this season are freshmen T.J. Taylor, Calvin Newell, Tyler Neal and Abdul Ahmed. Taylor is a 6-3 combo guard who was a three-time all-state selection in Texas and was ranked as the country's No. 78 high school senior last year by ESPN.com. Newell is a flashy 6-1 scoring guard from Philadelphia, Pa., who averaged 26.1 points while prepping in North Carolina last year. Neal, a versatile 6-7 forward, earned Oklahoma player-of-the-year honors as a senior after averaging 18.2 points and 8.9 rebounds for state tournament qualifier Putnam City West High School. At 6-10, Ahmed, from London, England, is the team's tallest player. He attended Canarias Academy last year in the Canary Islands.

The 15th player on OU's roster is Mississippi State transfer Romero Osby. A 6-8 forward, Osby has to sit out this year due to NCAA transfer regulations. He averaged 4.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per game over his freshman and sophomore seasons.

PREVIEWING NORTHERN STATE
Located in Aberdeen, S.D., NCAA Division II member Northern State University is a school of 3,000 students that competes in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. NSU, which boasts a strong men's basketball tradition, finished 13-14 overall last year and posted a 9-11 league mark. The Wolves are under the direction of head coach Paul Sather, who is in his first year as head coach at the school. Sather replaced the legendary Don Meyer, who coached NSU the past 11 years. Meyer, the recipient of the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the 2009 ESPY Awards, retired last spring and finished his career with 923 wins, most of any men's coach whose career has included at least one stint with an NCAA member school.

Northern State returns six players who saw action last year, including four of its top five scorers. Sophomore forward Collin Pryor is the team's leading returning scorer (10.8 ppg) and rebounder (5.8 rpg). The 6-6 190-pounder started 17 contests last year and shot .558 from the field in his 21.6 minutes per outing. Junior guard Derek Hoellein started all 27 games while averaging 10.7 points and 2.3 boards per contest. Hoellein made a team-high 77 treys on 208 attempts (.370). Sophomore guard Alex Thomas contributed 7.3 points and 3.4 rebounds off the bench while shooting .503 from the floor. The Wolves' tallest player, sophomore center Marko Filipovic averaged 6.3 points and 3.6 boards per game. The 6-10 Serbia product shot .522 from the field in his 15.9 minutes per game.

Tuesday will mark Northern State's first exhibition game of the year. The Wolves will also play at Creighton on Thursday and at Belmont Nov. 9.

EXHIBITING SUCCESS
Oklahoma has compiled a 42-2 exhibition record over the last 22 years. Last season, the Sooners beat the University of British Columbia by a 93-52 count in their lone exhibition contest. The last time OU lost an exhibition game was in November 2003 (89-82 to Athletes First).

FOUR CAPTAINS NAMED IN PLAYER VOTE
Head coach Jeff Capel announced OU's four captains on Sept. 17: senior Cade Davis, juniors T.J. Franklin and Nick Thompson, and sophomore Andrew Fitzgerald.

"Cade, Fitz, T.J. Franklin and Nick were selected as captains because of the qualities they displayed in summer workouts and have shown thus far in our preseason program," said Capel at the time. "We've had several players who have shown qualities of a captain, but these guys were selected by their teammates and have the full support of our coaching staff. I am confident they'll do an excellent job of leading this year's team."

GOLDEN SUMMER FOR CAPEL
Serving as head coach, Jeff Capel directed the USA to a 5-0 record and a gold medal at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship in San Antonio, Texas, in August. After defeating the U.S. Virgin Islands, Mexico, Argentina and Canada by an average of 50 points over its first four contests, the U.S. had to come from behind in an 81-78 win over Brazil in the gold medal game.

Capel's squad trailed Brazil 63-58 after three quarters and was down by nine (67-58) with 8:53 remaining before using an 18-5 run to take a 76-72 lead with 3:54 left. Brazil battled back to tie the game at 78 with less than a minute to go, but a USA 3-pointer with 26 seconds on the clock marked the game's final points.

"This experience, especially how we had to fight together to win, will help these guys so much going forward," said Capel. "I enjoyed coaching them and wish them luck throughout their careers."

The tournament marked Capel's second experience with USA basketball as a coach. He was an assistant on the gold-medal-winning World University Games team that went 8-0 in Turkey in 2005.

NEXT UP
The Sooners begin their regular season Friday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. CT with a home game against Coppin State. OU has won 77 of its last 79 home non-conference games and is 13-0 all-time against Coppin State.