OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City men's basketball launches the Coach Sam Kohnke era Friday night when Randall visits for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
 
It is the season opener for both teams.
 
OCU Notebook
New Coaches, Both Benches: Friday will be the new school coaching debuts for both coaches. Sam Kohnke comes to OCU after a stellar first stop at Central Baptist where he was 91-38 over four seasons. On the Randall sidelines is newcomer George Milsap, who was at Barclay the previous two seasons.
 
Familiar Faces: The Stars have five players back from last season. Beau Tranter and James Cloud combined for 30 starts last season and return this year along with Jack McWilliams, Lawrence Taylor Jr. and Dylan Bower. Cloud, a 6-5 junior, averaged 7.1 points and 3.7 rebounds last season while Tranter, a 6-4 junior, averaged 5.5 points and 1.9 assists. McWilliams, a 7-1 junior, and sophomore guards Taylor and Bower look to contribute as well.
 
Newcomers Abound: Coach Kohnke imported four players from his roster at CBC and added six other newcomers to the OCU hand. The CBC converts are seniors Jonas Carlisle, a 6-4 guard, and Hykeem Hancock, a 6-4 forward, and juniors Brian Alexander, a 6-3 guard, and SaVaughn Smith, a 6-2 guard. They'll join senior transfer Destin Jenkins and juniors Peyton Ackerman, Alphonse Muteba, JD Gross, Jackson Hopps and Omel Occeus as first-year Stars. Jenkins, a 6-6 guard-forward combo, averaged 14 points at Central Methodist last season. Ackerman is a 5-11 guard coming in from Northern Illinois, Muteba is a 6-7 forward from Highland Community College, Gross is a 6-3 guard from Millersville, Hopps is a 6-4 forward from Fullerton and Occeus is a 5-9 guard from North Platte Community College. Carlisle was a two-time All-Conference selection at CBC, earning Defensive Player of the Year. Alexander was the league's Sixth Man of the Year, Hancock averaged 9.6 points and Smith made the All-Freshman team.
 
Final Game Added: OCU added a final game to the schedule on Monday. The Stars will play Hastings on a neutral court Oct. 30 at McPherson College. Game time is 1 p.m.
 
That's the Past: OCU was 10-18 in each of the past two seasons. The last winning campaign was a 17-13 mark in 2022-23. The last 20-win season came in 2018-19 when the Stars were 22-11. The Stars won the SAC Tournament and made it to the second round of the NAIA Tournament in that season.
 
History with Randall: The Stars have won three of the last four meetings but the teams haven't met since the 2018-19 season.
 
Scouting the Saints: Randall went 11-11 last season and made it to the first round of the NCCAA Southwest Regional. Koby Reed, a 6-0 junior from Chelsea, averaged 10 points last season and is back to lead RU. He was the second-leading scorer on last season's squad. Anthony Garrett-Towns averaged 9.9 points last season for Coach Milsap at Barclay.