Midweek Mailbag: Roster needs for OU softball, the ceiling for men's hoops

It's been too long.

Thanks to everyone who submitted questions for this week's Midweek Mailbag. Let's get into it.

With the departures of Avery Hodge, SJ Geurin and Quincee Lilio, the Sooners currently have eight players set to return and eight incoming freshmen. That’s 16 players, giving them five scholarship players they can add via the transfer portal.

Considering the significance of the Sooners’ departing senior class, and how many players the team is losing, it’d be easy to say the Sooners just need talented players, regardless of position. But there are two key positions where the Sooners desperately need depth.

The Sooners only have three pitchers currently on the roster — Kierston Deal, Paytn Monticelli and incoming freshman Audrey Lowry. The Sooners really only have two catchers on the roster, and they’re both incoming freshmen — Corey Hicks and Riley Zache.

Catcher is probably where the Sooners need the most help, considering the severe lack of depth and experience. But as of now, there aren’t a ton of clear standout candidates in the portal. There’s only five players currently in the portal who are upperclassmen catchers that entered from a Power 4 school and one of them is Houston’s Turiya Coleman, who you might remember was part of the Sooners’ 2022 freshman class.

Regardless of what the Sooners do, they’re gonna have to lean a lot on young players next season. But if there’s a clear place where they need a veteran, it’s at catcher.

I’ll talk more about the pitching situation in just a sec.

My immediate thought is to not sleep on Kierston Deal.

Despite a few ups and downs this season, this was an excellent sophomore campaign for Deal. She finished with an ERA of 1.97 (allowing only 24 runs in 78.1 innings), an opponent batting average of .176 — all numbers that were better than Nicole May. It’s clear there are areas where she can grow, but there’s an obvious pathway to her being one of the best pitchers in softball next season.

Outside of Deal, it’s really hard to say.

Lowry is projected to be a stud. As a junior at Tri-West High School, she struck out 252 batters in 148.0 innings for an ERA of .95. Lowry could easily be a real part of the rotation next year — she might have to be — but you’d rather give her a year to grow.

Monticelli was seen as a project when she came in. The flashes are clearly there. She had an ERA of 1.09 in 19.1 innings this year, and she came in completely cold against Texas in Game 2 and still forced a pivotal out. But again, it’s hard to know exactly what to expect from her.

The Sooners are going to have to add at least one pitcher, and probably more like two or three. The obvious candidate would be Nijaree Canady from Stanford, if she enters the portal. There’s real buzz that she could, and I honestly give it more validity than I did when there were rumors last year. But even if Canady enters the portal, it’s FAR from a guarantee that OU would land her. Her and Jordy Bahl are the two best pitchers in softball, and I’ve been told that a ton of other schools across the country would be ready to throw big money at her if she enters.

Outside of Canady, it’s hard to know who the Sooners could focus on. Oklahoma State has already landed Ruby Meylan, who is the most highly-coveted pitcher in the portal. But players have until June 17th to enter the portal. I expect we’ll know a lot more about the landscape in the coming days.

It’s a good question, but this is almost impossible to do right now.

Sanders will start at first, and Ella Parker and Kasidi Pickering will certainly be starters. Kierston Deal will be a prominent part of the pitching rotation. Outside of that group of four, it’s really anyone’s guess.

I think Maya Bland can be more than just a pinch runner, and Parker can be more than just a designated player. We also didn’t see anything from Nelly McEnroe-Marinas.

It’s really going to depend on who the Sooners add through the portal.

I said repeatedly that the OU program was absolutely in flames a couple months ago. Now, that’s no longer the case.

Jalon Moore is an excellent player who grew a ton last season, on both ends. He’s a great foundation player. Porter Moser has also done a pretty good job adding shooting, athleticism and playmaking via the portal, all things OU desperately needs. I do think missing on both Brandon Garrison and Sean Pedulla has clouded some things, but you have to give credit to Moser and the staff for regrouping and adding solid pieces.

I do think OU can reach the tournament next season. Beyond that, I’m not so sure. It’s again a whole new roster filled with some unproven guys. And this isn’t a knock on Moore, but I do wonder what things will look like with him as the top scoring option. Either way, the Sooners HAVE to make the tournament, whether that’s necessarily fair or not. No expectations unless there are significant injuries.

I’m confident Forsythe can contribute right away. I’m not sure he’ll be a big-minutes guy, but I think the Sooners are going to play him early in the season to see what he can do.

I honestly haven’t done a ton of research on this upcoming draft. My bet is that Clingan goes first. He would fit the Thunder, and Sam Presti has to cash in on some draft equity at some point.

Cody Williams is good and he fits what the Thunder want to do. Plus, being Jalen’s brother is a plus. If nothing else, you can’t go wrong with drafting based on vibes.

Love this.

SGA — Paul McCartney (because Paul was the best Beatle).

Jalen Williams — John Lennon (an excellent No. 2 who can be the best member of the group in spurts)

Lu Dort — George Harrison (the sometimes under-appreciated one)

Josh Giddey — man… I don’t know. Best, I guess. Although George Martin was the real fifth Beatle.

Chet Holmgren — Ringo. Both of them are the foundation and hold the group together!