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NORMAN — It’s safe to say this season hasn’t been what Nijel Pack envisioned for his final year of college hoops.
With two regular-season games remaining, Oklahoma men’s basketball sits at 15-14 overall and 5-11 in SEC play — nowhere near the NCAA Tournament conversation.
Yet, the sixth-year guard Pack continues to be one of the leading voices in the Sooners’ locker room, maintaining the belief that there’s still a track for this team to end the season in a memorable way. No matter how slim the odds are.
Pack’s whirlwind of a collegiate career — spanning six years, three collegiate teams, 151 career games and 2,213 career points — is coming to an end. He plays his final home game Tuesday night as OU hosts Missouri.
“Honestly, it hasn't hit yet,” Pack said Monday before practice. “I try to just take it one day at a time and for this to be the last college home game for me is kind of a crazy thought.
“I still believe that we’ve got so many games left to play that it really hasn't hit that it’s almost come to an end. But, it's been a great journey and I'm so grateful for everything I've gone through and everything that's happened.”
Pack has been in the limelight since he arrived in college.
As a true freshman at Kansas State, he led the Wildcats in scoring. He then earned first-team All-Big 12 honors and was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year as a sophomore at KSU.
Following his two seasons in Manhattan, Kansas, Pack took his talents to Miami and became one of the early faces of NIL. He inked an NIL deal with LifeWallet worth $800,000 across two years, which also came with a car.
Pack helped lead the Hurricanes to the program’s first Final Four and started all 35 games during the 2022-23 season. He started 25 games in 2023-24 and then missed most of the 2024-25 season due to injury.
However, after longtime Miami coach Jim Larranaga retired, Pack sought a medical waiver for one final go around and another home.
He found just that and lifelong brotherhood with his Sooners teammates despite a disappointing season that included a nine-game conference losing streak. Pack will carry the lessons he learned amidst the struggle this year with him forever.
“At the end of the day, it’s about life — life beyond basketball, because learning different life lessons, being a man, you’re having to fight through adversity, fight through when times are hard,” Pack said. “You’ve still got to get up every day and do your job. That’s what we learned here. When things aren't going our way, how do we continue to fight?
“People outside the locker room were looking down on us and things weren’t going good, but you have to continue to fight.”
OU coach Porter Moser hasn’t had to look too far down his roster to find someone to carry his “there’s still a path” message. His point guard has been everything he hoped he’d be when he signed him.
“Nijel is one of those everyday guys,” Moser said ahead of senior night. “He comes to practice every day, takes care of his business, does his recovery and does his prep. He’s just a veteran that way. He doesn’t take days off in practice. He’s one of our hardest workers in practice every day, and that’s a form of leadership.
“Might not be really loud or an alpha dog voice of leadership, but he leads with his belief and his work ethic and his prep.”
Pack’s presence hasn’t just been felt within the facility. He’s averaging a team-high 16.1 points per game and leads the SEC in 3-point percentage and 3-pointers per game.
The Indianapolis native has also been sizzling of late, shooting 60% from long distance in his last five outings.
While the team results haven’t been there, Pack still has an unwavering belief. One thing is for certain: if there are still games left to play, he’ll be giving it his all.
Despite the underwhelming team success and inconsistency that have plagued these Sooners, he’s grateful he experienced this season.
Pack wouldn’t have done anything differently.
“It has meant everything,” Pack said. “To be new here, but still feel like I've known these guys for so long, just the bonds we've created and the memories and things like that, good and bad that we fought through, which is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
“I'm glad I made the decision I did to come here and I'm glad everything's happened the way it has, because it builds us as men at the end of the day. I really still think we have a chance to do something special.”
Colton Sulley covers the Oklahoma Sooners for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Colton? He can be reached at [email protected] or on X/Twitter at @colton_sulley. Support Colton's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Nijel Pack's unique 6-year, college basketball journey nears end at OU