Jeff Nwankwo’s return adds key depth to Porter Moser’s new-look Oklahoma roster
The biggest storyline for Porter Moser’s new-look Oklahoma squad heading into the season, which tips off Monday, November 3 at 7:30 p.m. against Saint Francis, is the transfer portal class the Sooners brought in. That group includes Xzayvier Brown, Nijel Pack, Derrion Reid, and Tae Davis.
It’s also worth noting that the Sooners will be adding two players from last year’s roster who missed the 2024-25 season: Jeff Nwankwo and Jadon Jones. Both were expected to have major roles, as Jones started in the team’s first exhibition, while Nwankwo was described as one of the most impressive players on the roster before suffering an injury.
“He was doing great, then he tore his Achilles,” said Moser at Oklahoma’s local media day on Tuesday. “He came back, practiced with us in January, February and March.”
The fact that Nwankwo tore his Achilles in the summer and was back practicing by January speaks volumes about his work ethic, something Moser repeatedly praised.
“No one works harder than Jeff. There’s no bigger gym rat than Jeff Nwankwo. We don’t have one. I don’t know if anybody has one. We all know his car — it’s a lime green car. I probably shouldn’t say that, but you can come in here at night to make recruiting calls, to watch tape, and the green car is always out here. It’s always out here.”
“He just works so hard. He wants it so bad, and that’s the thing. When you have a guy that wants it so bad, you’re coaching him on letting the game come to him. He just works so hard.”
Before his time in Norman, Nwankwo earned National Junior College Division I All-America first-team honors at Cowley College, where he averaged 18.6 points and 7.6 rebounds while shooting 49 percent from the field and 37 percent from three. Prior to his two seasons at Cowley, he played football at Tulane. A native of Putnam City North, Nwankwo was a two-sport athlete in both basketball and football during high school.
“He can really shoot it. The kid’s a gym rat. He really got it; his shot, he’s really improved it. He could always shoot. But he adds another 6-6 wing, an SEC body, but a tremendous heart, and for him to just get experience — the thing you forget about Jeff is he went to Tulane to play football, went to junior college, got hurt. He hasn’t played a Division I basketball game yet.”
In Oklahoma’s exhibition win over Wisconsin, Nwankwo posted 10 points and three rebounds in 22 minutes, shooting 3-for-4 from the field and 2-for-3 from deep.
“Thought he had a really nice Wisconsin game. Thought he played really solid,” said Moser. “Had a huge steal, you know, DCO, pick-six. Knocked down some shots.”
“Sometimes when you’re on the scout team for a year, we’re coaching the top nine or 10, and the scout team can make mistakes; they’re trying to do what the other team does. Now we’re really locking in on where he needs to be defensively, what he needs to do, but this kid’s heart is huge. Competitor, and he’s just — he really is a rookie. He’s an older rookie, because he hasn’t played, but he’s a big part of what we’re doing.”
Nwankwo and sophomore guard Dayton Forsythe are expected to be the first two off the bench for Oklahoma this season. Together, they give the Sooners meaningful depth on the wing and in the backcourt, something Moser’s teams have often lacked in years past.
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