“Appreciate the hard work” - Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione expresses confidence in Porter Moser and team as Sooners officially join SEC
It is the start of a new era for the Oklahoma Sooners as they officially joined the Southeastern Conference on Monday. Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione is confident that basketball coach Porter Moser will lead the program to new heights.
Moser, who joined the Sooners in 2021, has yet to take the team to the NCAA Tournament. Thr 2023-24 season was another lackluster one as Oklahoma tied for ninth in the Big 12. However, Castiglione still strongly believes that Moser is the right person for the job.
"It just felt like it was the right thing to do to show him and his assistants that we really appreciate the hard work that they're putting into the program," Castiglione told On3.
Since taking over in 1998, Joe Castiglione has had only one goal for Oklahoma: to make the school compete for titles. However, 25 years into his leadership, the Sooners basketball team has not won any championship, and its best runs in the NCAA Tournament were reaching the Final Four twice in 2002 and 2016.
Castiglione has faith that coach Moser is the guy who can fulfill his dreams. A few weeks ago, Moser received a contract increase, which Castiglione explained was simply a gesture of goodwill towards Moser.
"We thought, given what our team accomplished this year, that it was definitely important to show coach Moser that we appreciate him and what he’s providing in leadership," Castiglione said.
Joe Castiglione explains the reason behind OU's move to SEC
Oklahoma joined the Texas Longhorns as the new members of the SEC. During the announcement, OU AD Joe Castiglione said that the move had been planned a decade ago, long before it was officially revealed in July 2021.
"Understanding some way, shape or form those things that we saw eight, 10 years ago are happening," Castiglione said. "It became apparent we needed to be strong in creating a path for Oklahoma and learned that Texas was thinking the same thing.
"It became intentional to consider doing something together if the situation were to present itself. That’s where the conversations started."
Joe Castiglione further highlighted the financial incentives as one major motivation behind the move. He noted that each Big 12 team is projected to receive around $39.8 million from the conference distribution in 2024.
In contrast, the SEC offers even more lucrative payouts. During the 2022-23 fiscal year, the SEC distributed an average of over $51 million per team. With a new television deal with ESPN starting next season, this figure is expected to increase substantially.