Without stepping on the court against Oklahoma, B.J. Edwards played a role in keeping the Sooners out of the NCAA Tournament last season.
But the transfer from SMU will make his Oklahoma debut on Monday night against East Texas A&M in Norman, Okla.
The Sooners made a remarkable turnaround last season after losing nine consecutive Southeastern Conference games starting in January. They won eight of their last 11 SEC contests to climb back into contention for an NCAA Tournament spot.
SMU wound up edging Oklahoma for the final at-large berth, as NCAA Tournament committee chairman Keith Gill cited Edwards’ expected return from an ankle injury as a factor in the decision.
Edwards, who averaged 12.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists and an ACC-best 2.3 steals for the Mustangs, did not wind up playing in the tournament.
Edwards, Villanova transfer Duke Brennan, Texas A&M transfer Pop Isaacs and a strong cast of returners are among the reasons that coach Porter Moser said his roster for the Sooners (21-16 in 2025-26) is the most talented on paper of his six seasons in Norman.
But Moser said chemistry will be a work in progress early this season after several transfers arrived late in the offseason and several key returners missed significant offseason time.
“We just haven’t had them all together yet,” Moser said. “When we come all together and we’re deep, it’s going to be a fun problem.”
While many of those players will be available against the Lions, forward Tae Davis doesn’t figure to be one of them. Davis explored the NBA and entered the transfer portal, but the Sooners announced his return to the roster on Monday.
But Davis, who averaged 13.0 points and 5.6 rebounds a game last season, awaits medical clearance to begin practicing. He also awaits legal clearance to play as he’s in the large group of players seeking a fifth year of eligibility.
If Davis gets the green light, the Sooners will bring back three of their top four scorers from last season. Davis would join Xzayvier Brown (15.4 ppg) and Derrion Reid (11.7 ppg) in that group.
East Texas A&M, coming off an 11-21 season, retains only one player who appeared for the team last season: senior guard Evan Phelps (1.4 ppg). However, the Lions welcome back four redshirts and brought in seven freshmen from Europe.
“We have a very experienced roster who’s not experienced in college basketball,” East Texas A&M coach Jaret von Rosenberg said on the Inside Lion podcast recently. “So looking forward to getting our guys a little more experience in college basketball. … I’m interested to see how our physicality matches up, how our length matches up at certain positions.”