The 2011–12 Oklahoma Sooners basketball team represented the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

in the

2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 7, 2011, with the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and ended with the 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April 2, 2012, at the Mer ...

. The Sooners were led by

Lon Kruger Lonnie Duane Kruger (born August 19, 1952) is an American former college and professional basketball coach (sport), coach who was most recently the men's basketball head coach of the University of Oklahoma. Kruger played college basketball for K ...

in his first season. The team played its home games at 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 and women's gymnastics teams ...

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and were members of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

Preseason

Coaching Change

On March 14, 2011, Oklahoma fired

Jeff Capel Felton Jeffrey Capel III (born February 12, 1975) is an American college basketball coach and former player who is currently the head men's basketball coach at the University of Pittsburgh. He played for Duke University and was a head coach at V ...

, after the Sooners had back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 1967. Capel led the Sooners to a 17-36 record since

Blake Griffin Blake Austin Griffin (born March 16, 1989) is an American former professional basketball player. Griffin primarily played with the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and played college basketball for the Oklahoma ...

left for the NBA. Overall, Capel was 96-69 in five seasons. Capel received a $1.75 million buyout from Oklahoma. On April 2, 2011, it was announced that

would leave

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

to become the Sooners new coach. Kruger will be paid about $2.2 million annually.

Preseason Poll

The Sooners were picked to finish 9th in conference play.

Class of 2011

Roster

Source The Sooners' second leading scorer, Calvin Newell, transferred to the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

. Newell decided to leave Oklahoma due to family issues.

Schedule

, - !colspan=9, Exhibition , - !colspan=9, Regular Season , - ! colspan=9, 2012 Big 12 men's basketball tournament

Rankings

References

External links

Official Athletics Site of the Oklahoma Sooners - Men's Basketball
{{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball seasons

Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball The Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team represents the University of Oklahoma in intercollegiate men's basketball. The program competes in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). ...