Look, everybody knows the score by now. In the blink of an eye, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can disrupt things even more than what’s happened in the last four months.

But as Oklahoma football is trying to plan as normal, the same can be said for Lon Kruger and the men’s basketball team.

Returning to workouts last Monday, no player or staff member tested positive for COVID-19. Although OU will obviously miss Kristian Doolittle, who never got a chance at that last deserved NCAA tournament run, OU’s experience is certainly helping in this unprecedented era.

“For the most part, the majority of the minutes are back,” said Kruger last Friday in a Zoom meeting. “It's a veteran group and I like the new guys who are coming in a lot. If you go into practice, there isn't a lot of introduction at this point anyhow, but the guys understand the value of working hard and competing hard and know how tough it is. They know what lies ahead.”

Part of that is OU is set to have four seniors on the team in guards Alondes Williams and Austin Reaves to go with bigs Brady Manek and Kur Kuath.

Consistency is going to be needed from that quartet. Maybe as much off the court as on the court if the Sooners hope to be a contender for a Big 12 championship.

“It’s huge that those four seniors give us great production,” Kruger said. “A lot of our guys last year, seem like it was a little bit of a hit and miss in terms of opportunity, in terms of production and in terms of minutes. We need those guys, especially those older guys to give us consistency, every day in practice, production in games, leadership, defensively, rebounding, in every way.”

OU will definitely have that leadership in the backcourt and the frontcourt. Reaves gave everybody a taste of what he can do in his final outing last season, a memorable 41-point effort in a come-from-behind win at TCU where he hit the game-winner.

However, just like last year relied a lot on a former Oklahoma high school star in Doolittle, it’ll be the same this year with Manek. The Harrah native has made noticeable improvements year after year. Never been the most vocal of players, it’s his time now.

“He’s put on some good weight during these last four months,” Kruger said. “Brady is never going to be the most talkative guy. From the way he carries himself and during the first few days of practice and in the weight room, he has. He has carried himself like a senior leader. He’s always worked hard and competed hard. That’s not going to change.”

If OU can get the expected production from guys like Manek and Reaves, an X-factor could become someone like sophomore guard De’Vion Harmon.

Expectations were through the roof as a freshman, and it took Harmon a while to fully realize what he needed to do in order to be successful. A lot of ups and downs in year No. 1, but something Kruger believes will make Harmon even better heading into his second year in Norman.

“De’Vion is a guy that loves being in the gym. During those four months, he worked hard. His body has changed a little bit. I thought he had a good freshman year. He came in with a certain level of expectations, and that was certainly a challenge for him. I thought he changed his game a little bit when we got into conference play to understand what he needed to do to be effective. He learned a lot.

“I think he’s ready to go physically, mentally. He loves to play. He loves to compete. I think De’Vion is in position to have a really good year.”

Not a whole bunch of newcomers this year. Former Tulsa Booker T. Washington star \ is the only high school recruit, while OU will be waiting on word for two transfers in Mo Gibson and Elijah Harkless.

Kruger said OU is working on transfer waiver appeals for both of them right now. As it stands, since neither is a graduate transfer, each would have to miss the 2020-21 season. OU would love to have both, but Gibson is a key ingredient for OU to have success for the upcoming season.

As for Phipps, the OU legacy is known as a shooter. It’ll be his job to show everybody else, much like Reaves did, that he can do more than that.

“Trey is great. We love his attitude. He’s a gym rat,” Kruger said. “Understands what it’s all about. Great attitude every day in practice. His four months on his own in the gym a lot, getting up a lot of shots. A terrific shooter. Understands the game. He’ll step in and contribute right away.

“A guy other teams will have to prepare for, to game plan for. He can stretch the floor. He can do more than just shoot it. People think of him just as a shooter. He’s a good drive-and-kick guy. He works his tail off defensively. We’ve watched him a lot in the last couple of years. He’s going to be a real good player for us.”

When you add in guys like sophomores Jalen Hill and Victor Iwuakor and the development of redshirt freshmen like Anyang Gurang and Rick Issanza, it could be a very deep squad and an experienced group that should be able to handle the COVID-19 roller coaster.