On Tuesday, September 25, the Tulsa men's and women's basketball programs began practice in preparation for the upcoming season. Both squads return vital pieces but also welcome newcomers that will push for extensive playing time.

TU men's head coach Frank Haith begins his fifth season in charge and is excited about this year's squad.

"I'm excited about this group," Haith said. "I think we've got a good group. I think we've got a fun group. I think we've got an experienced and deep team. We're ready to get started."

Tulsa returns eight players from last year's team, including three starters. The Hurricane won 19 games and finished fourth in the American Athletic Conference last season.

Senior point guard Sterling Taplin, who averaged career highs of 11.8 points, 4.4 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game last season, will be one of the top guards in the conference, but TU has to replace two of its top three scorers from last year. Coach Haith expects veteran big man Martins Igbanu and wing DaQuan Jeffries to help in that transition.

"I think you'll see Martins Igbanu take his game up another level," Haith explained. "I think you'll see DaQuan Jeffries, who missed six games last year, do more. It will be a number of guys you'll see improve and do more things than what they did last season."

Tulsa's five newcomers includes several players that already have Division I experience. Jeriah Horne, a transfer from Nebraska, sat out last season. Junior college transfers Zeke Moore and Chris Barnes began their college careers with St. Louis and UTEP, respectively. Juco big man Peter Hewitt redshirted the 2016-17 season at UC Davis.