Men’s basketball team prepares to make run

The OU Men’s basketball team faced Oklahoma State University and the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) to finish their preparation for this upcoming season Nov 3.

Even though they lost both games by a comfortable margin, senior Stephen Feighny talked positively about the experience.

“It is a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to play those teams,” Feighny said. “They were very talented.”

Feighny also added that this two-game series showed them that they have the ability to compete when everyone plays well together.

Coach Andy Carrier said he and his players are very grateful for the opportunity that those schools provided them.

“For our school, it is a great occurrence to play two of the best schools of the country at their places,” Carrier said. “We are going to remember it.”

Coach Carrier said he was sure the team was ready to face this challenge.
“I would not have done this if I had a really young team and we did not have some experience and strong leadership,” Carrier said. “It could backfire on us, but we have a very mature group that could live this experience and keep the perspective. We just keep positives from this.”

Players and Coaches were not the only ones that enjoyed this journey. The student senate rented a couple of charter buses to take a group of students to Stillwater, Okla. to support the team.

Sophomore Senator Bethany Cobbs said the idea came up in a meeting.

“Somebody mentioned during one of the meetings of the student senate that our basketball team was playing OSU and that it was a big deal and the players wanted us to go.”

The next step was to find out how many people were interested in the idea.

“People seemed to be excited, so we started planning on renting the buses and buying the tickets,” Cobbs said. “It was stressful at the beginning, but then everything flowed. We went and had a good time. I am sure the basketball team appreciated our support.”

Some students complained because they could not go and they did not receive the same support for their sports.

Cobbs said this could happen with other sports in the future.

“If any other sport makes it further into the playoffs, we will try to rent a charter bus and go watch and support them,” Cobbs said. “We have to support everyone.”

The basketball team is now ready to face what Coach Carrier described as the toughest calendar they have ever faced.

“I have always believed that the best way to prepare yourself for conference is to play very good people on the road to find out what are your strengths,” Carrier said. “We are going to go through some adversities and we better be prepared for that and be in it together.”

Both Carrier and Feighny think this team has everything they need to achieve their goals.

“We have great coaches, great senior leadership, talent and great camaraderie throughout the team,” Feighny said. “When you have all of those components, you are going to get results.“
Coach Carrier said he likes the make up of the team and that they are well prepared, but still nowhere near as good as he thinks this team is going to be.

“I think we have the chance to be one of the best basketball teams we have had since the ‘08 and ‘09 back-to-back championship teams,” Carrier said. “There is no question. We have all the pieces.”