The 1978–79 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma in competitive college basketball during the 1978–79 NCAA Division I season. The Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team played its home games in the

Lloyd Noble Center The Lloyd Noble Center is a 10,967-seat multi-purpose arena located in Norman, Oklahoma, some south of downtown Oklahoma City. It opened in 1975 and is home to the University of Oklahoma men's and women's basketball teams. History Before the co ...

and was a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) former

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

at that time. The team posted a 21–10 overall record and a 10–4 conference record to finish first in the Conference for head coach Dave Bliss. This was the only Big Eight Conference Regular Season Championship for Bliss. The team was led by Big Eight Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year John McCullough. Despite losing two of three games in the Big Eight Conference Pre-Season Tournament, the team posted a 10–4 record during the conference regular season and won all three of its games during the Big Eight Conference Post-Season Tournament. Because of the conference tournaments, the team played both Kansas and four times. It swept the season series with Kansas State and split the season series with Kansas. The team also played three times, only winning the home game. The team reached the sweet sixteen round of the

1979 NCAA Division I basketball tournament The 1979 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 40 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 9 and ended with the championship game on Ma ...

by beating Texas before losing to

Indiana State Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

. The Sooners' appearance in the 1979 NCAA Tournament marked their first participation in the event since 1947.

Schedule

, - !colspan=9 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Big Eight tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament

Honors

* Big Eight POY: John McCullough

Team players drafted into the NBA

The following players were drafted in the 1979 NBA draft: The following letter winners from this team were drafted in the NBA draft in subsequent years (all in the

1980 NBA draft The 1980 NBA draft was the 34th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 10, 1980, at the Sheraton Centre Hotel & Towers, before the 1980–81 season. In this draft, 23 NBA teams took turns selectin ...

Terry Stotts Terry Linn Stotts (born November 25, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He most recently served as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After a playing as a fo ...

(2nd, 38th,

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

), Al Beal (3rd, 63rd Milwaukee Bucks), and Aaron Curry (5th, 98th, New Jersey Nets).

References

Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball seasons

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

{{Oklahoma-sport-stub

Schedule

Honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

See also

References