OU announced Monday the hiring of Lucas McKay as its first-ever men’s basketball general manager. The appointment was made by Vice President and Director of Athletics Roger Denny and head coach Porter Moser.
McKay joins the Sooners with more than 20 years of experience in college basketball, including 14 seasons at Clemson under head coach Brad Brownell. He served as the Tigers’ general manager in 2025-26 after previous roles as director of recruiting, operations and video coordination. McKay also spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Kansas City from 2019 to 2021.
In his new role, McKay will oversee roster management, player acquisition, analytics, NIL and revenue-share strategy, recruiting operations and risk management. He will work alongside assistant general manager and former OU, now Washington Wizards guard, Trae Young, who joined the program’s staff in 2025.
The general manager position adds professional-grade structure and market intelligence to roster and recruiting strategy, aiming to strengthen competitive performance and player development.
McKay helped lead Clemson to unprecedented success in recent years, including a program-best 18-2 ACC record in 2025 and an Elite Eight appearance in 2024. The Tigers won 115 games in his five seasons after returning from Kansas City, marking the most victories in any four-year stretch in program history.
Before arriving at Clemson, McKay held roles at Wright State and UNC Wilmington, where he began his career as a student manager. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from UNC Wilmington and a master’s in student affairs in higher education from Wright State.
McKay is now OU’s second general manager, following Jim Nagy, who currently serves as the general manager for OU football.
This story was edited by Laurie Jones.
