The morning after Oklahoma's season ended in a first-round NCAA Tournament loss to UConn, Porter Moser saw a text message from a familiar name pop up on his phone screen.
It was Trae Young, the former Oklahoma All-American and current point guard for the NBA's Atlanta Hawks.
Young, whose Hawks were set to host the Golden State Warriors later that day, took notice of a comment Moser made to a small group of local media in the aftermath of the Sooners' opening-round loss in Raleigh, North Carolina. As Moser was still processing his team's 67-59 loss in its first NCAA Tournament appearance of his Oklahoma tenure, and as the clock approached 1 a.m. in Raleigh, he underscored the need for the program "to win in April and May" on the NIL front and with the transfer portal to get to where it needed to be.
"Really, it hit home whenever coach brought up in an interview how you have to win in April and May, especially in this NIL era," Young said in an appearance on The Sideline podcast with NCAA.com's Andy Katz. "I think I really agreed with him."
That message resonated with Young, who fired off a text to Moser the next day, wanting to talk to the Sooners' coach about how the four-time NBA All-Star could get more involved with the program. Young wanted to help Oklahoma be more than just an NCAA Tournament team in this current landscape of college athletics. He wanted to help the Sooners "take it to the next level," as he relayed to Moser during their end-of-season exchange.
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"It was just a passion right away," Moser said on The Sideline, joining Young for a joint interview. "Literally, it was probably within—I don't even know if it was 12 hours after the UConn game, and then it just blossomed from there of just going back and forth, talking about this. He just has a real passion, and he also has an understanding of what a young student-athlete — if the NIL is that kind of opportunity that young student-athletes are going to look for that. It's going to be something, and we have to position ourselves to be competitive. And he gets that. That's why he wanted to jump in and help right away."
It's what ultimately led to Young being named as assistant general manager for Oklahoma's basketball program on March 31, less than two weeks after that initial text message to Moser. Young's hiring—which was announced in tandem with a $1 million donation by the All-Star guard to the program—was part of a growing trend of NBA players getting involved in front office roles with college teams. Warriors guard Steph Curry was the first active player to step into such a position, taking over as general manager of his alma mater, Davidson, earlier in March.
Since then, others have followed suit, including one of Young's teammates with the Hawks. Terance Mann was named assistant general manager of his former college program, Florida State, less than a week after Young took on his role at Oklahoma. On Monday, Los Angeles Clippers veteran guard Patty Mills was named general manager at Hawaii; although Mills did not play at Hawaii (he spent his college years at Saint Mary's), he has lived on Oahu during the NBA offseason for the past decade.
(Photo: Ricardo B. Brazziell-Imagn Images, USA TODAY Sports)
"There's a lot of reasons; I don't think there's just one reason why I wanted to (get involved as assistant general manager)," Young said. "Over the years — even before I got into the NBA — I think it's every kid's dream to ultimately go to a school, make it to the NBA, and then if you have a possibility to give back to the school you played for, you want to do that in any way you can. We have one of the best ADs in the country in Joe Castiglione, and we've been talking for years about little things and how I can give back and be part of the school.
"It's crazy the era we're in now with NIL and stuff like that. Steph obviously started the trend of being a GM, and I think it's cool I can be part of my old school and alma mater in this way and help out any way I can. I think it's cool. I'm always supporting it, and now I can really be a part of it."
In his role at Oklahoma, Young is serving as a key front office representative who has so far provided assistance for the Sooners as they navigate the landscape of NIL, the transfer portal and — beginning July 1 — revenue sharing in the wake of the approval of the House settlement. Since being hired, Young — whose salary with the program has not yet been released — is supporting Oklahoma's player personnel and strategic roster management planning. As a paid employee of the program, Young is also permitted to have contact with recruits during their visits to campus as well as make recruiting phone calls.
"Every student-athlete in the country knows who Trae is," Moser said.
His responsibilities have included assisting with the evaluation of high school and portal prospects, as well as helping negotiate player contracts in accordance with NCAA and conference guidelines and the Sooners' impending revenue-share budget. Since his hire, Oklahoma brought in the nation's No. 11 transfer portal class, signing a quarter of highly regarded four-star transfers: guards Nijel Pack (Miami) and Xzayvier Brown (Saint Joseph's) and forwards Derrion Reid (Alabama) and Tae Davis (Notre Dame).
"When Trae was talking about that comment, you have to win in April and May, it is true," Moser said. "You can't be way down here (in NIL) to retain your guys and not (be) competitive, because that also is something for these young people to put themselves in a position. That's why I think Trae's position, where we're heading, to help bridge that gap to where there isn't a huge gap, to where we can retain our guys so that these guys can call it home and not want to leave. Retention is such a big thing, but I'm looking forward to the future of this and to continue to collaborate with Trae to see how this can evolve.
"It's the beginning stages of having something like this go on. I'm looking forward to collaborating with him, like hey, where can this go? The creative ideas of how this can evolve and be beneficial and help Oklahoma get to where we're talking about — get to a national championship, get to a Final Four. That's what we've been bouncing around in our heads and talking about."
That, Young said, is the ultimate goal and a major reason why he wanted to get involved as assistant general manager. During his lone year at Oklahoma, Young was named the National Freshman of the Year and guided the Sooners to the NCAA Tournament after they missed it the year prior to his arrival.
Having experienced that himself and then seeing Oklahoma fall short in the first round this year — after returning to the postseason for the first time since 2021—Young wants more for the Sooners. And he believes "a lot of championships" are attainable in the current landscape and with his involvement in the front office.
"You know me; I just want to win," Young said. "…I understand what it takes to make it to the next level, and it's winning and winning at a high level. I'm involved as much as Porter wants me to. He'll text me, and there's things we see and things like that, and throughout the season I'm going to be an open book.
"Whenever he needs me, my phone is open. He has my number, and if I change it, he'll have that one too. That ain't ever going to change now."