Oklahoma has hired Loyola-Chicago's Porter Moser as its men's basketball coach, a person familiar with the situation said Friday.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the move has not been announced.
Moser will replace Lon Kruger, who retired last month after 10 years coaching the Sooners.
Moser, 52, led the Ramblers on two deep runs in the NCAA Tournament -- they reached the Final Four in 2018 and the Sweet 16 this year. He went 188-141 in 10 years at Loyola and has a 293-242 record in 17 seasons as a college head coach, with stops at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (2000-03) and Illinois State (2003-07).
In 2017-18, the Ramblers went 32-6 and charmed the nation in an unexpected run buoyed by one last-second shot after another. Along the way, their 98-year-old nun and team chaplain, Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, became a celebrity, with bobbleheads and athletic apparel and national TV interviews. The Ramblers beat Miami (Fla.), Tennessee, Nevada and Kansas State to reach the national semifinals, where they lost to Michigan.
Loyola made another run this year, led by the nation's stingiest defense. The Ramblers went 26-5 in their fourth consecutive year with 20 or more wins. They earned their first AP Top 25 ranking since March 1985 and won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament for the second time in four years.
Sister Jean, 101 and fully vaccinated, was on hand for the NCAA Tournament this year. She watched in Indianapolis as Loyola beat ACC Tournament champion Georgia Tech and dominated top-seeded Illinois in the second round before falling to Oregon State.
Moser takes over a program that is used to success -- Kruger led the Sooners to a 195-128 record and reached seven of the past eight NCAA Tournaments. Oklahoma reached the Final Four in 2016 with Buddy Hield leading the way. In Kruger's final season at Oklahoma, the Sooners went 16-11 and finished the season with a loss to top-seeded Gonzaga in the second round.
Moser spent two years as an assistant at UALR before being hired as the Trojans' head coach. He inherited a 4-24 team but led the Trojans to an 18-11 record in his first season. He finished 54-34 overall at UALR. Statistically, the Trojans moved from last to first in the Sun Belt Conference in field goal percentage defense and three-point field goal percentage defense in Moser's first season.
