How Will Full SEC Share Benefit Oklahoma Basketball?

NORMAN — After receiving just $12.5 million in conference distributions last year, Oklahoma is set to receive a full SEC revenue distribution share in the 2026 fiscal year.

That will make a major difference across the athletic department, infusing more than $60 million more into the coffers.

After the department ran at a deficit of nearly $44 million last season, largely due to the minimal conference distributions.

The SEC distributed $1.03 billion among its members last season, an increase of more than $200 million from the 2024 fiscal year.

The schools who received a full share received an average of $72.4 million last season, and that number figures to grow over the next few years.

Among the programs that figure to benefit the most from the additional funds is men's basketball.

Porter Moser's team narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament last season, with a nine-game losing streak in SEC play ultimately leadibg to the Sooners being left out of the field.

But how will the move to a full share benefit the Sooners' men's basketball program?

In the second of a series examining how Oklahoma's programs will benefit from the move, we look at men's basketball:

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NIL Roster Building

With 15 or fewer roster spots and even fewer players in the regular rotation, a difference in money available to build a roster can be an even greater problem compared to football.

The Sooners were reportedly near the bottom of the SEC in NIL spending last season, ahead of only South Carolina in the category.

Even with those limitations, Oklahoma added Xzayvier Brown from Saint Joseph's, Derrion Reid from Alabama, Nijel Pack from Miami and Tae Davis from Notre Dame.

That group wound up being the Sooners' top four scorers and all but Reid were in the top three in assists and all but Pack were in the top four in rebounds last season.

Oklahoma is hoping for similar production — but more consistent team success — from its transfer portal haul over this offseason.

The Sooners added Tyler Hendricks from UCF and Utah Valley; veteran guard Pop Isaacs from Texas Tech, Creighton and Texas A&M; Khani Rooths from Louisville; G-Leaguer Akoldah Gak; and center Yaak Yaak, who has played for New Mexico State, Colorado Mesa, and Oregon State.

They did lose Kuol Atak and Jeff Nwankwo, who each averaged more than 11 minutes per game, to the portal.

But Oklahoma did a solid job of holding on to the potential returners, with Brown, Reid, Dayton Forsythe and Kai Rogers among the players who opted to return.

While the Sooners don't figure to be able to compete with college basketball blue bloods like Kentucky, closing the gap and at least getting into the middle of SEC basketball spending could make a big difference in the chances for success on the court.

Oklahoma also hired its first men's basketball general manager, Lucas McKay, over the offseason, a sign of their commitment to upgrading the program that was made easier with the infusion of funding that will come to the athletic department.

Major Facilities Upgrade

While the revenue deficit wasn't the biggest roadblock for the beginning of the construction of new arena that is the centerpiece of the Rock Creek Entertainment District, it certainly won't hurt.

The groundbreaking ceremonies for the arena were held in mid-May with the formal construction beginning a week later.

The arena is expected to open "sometime during the 2028-29 season."

But new athletic director Roger Denny has repeatedly talked about wanting to make incremental upgrades to facilities.

So the additional momeny could help the Sooners make small changes to Lloyd Noble Center to make their last seasons in the arena a better experience for Oklahoma fans. It could also help the Sooners make some upgrades to the team faciltiies at the arena.

Though the locker rooms in the arena — which will continue to house the practice gyms and workout facilities after the move — are fairly new, there are always changes that can be made.

Then after the move, revenue from the arena — from ticket sales and other streams — figures to help make more improvements to the program.

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