KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One of the most valuable players for OU’s women’s basketball team has not played a single minute this season.

As the 19th-ranked Sooners prepare to begin the Big 12 Tournament at 1:30 p.m. Saturday against TCU at the T-Mobile Center, redshirt senior Jordan Moser is a big part of why OU is the tournament’s top seed.

“Put-ups” have always been a part of the Moser household.

As soon as Jordan was old enough, she started going to the kids’ basketball camps run by her dad, Sooners men's basketball coach Porter Moser.

“I have this theme in camp about ‘put-ups, not put-downs.’ We promote ‘put-ups,’” Porter Moser said. “Jordan’s the queen of put-ups, constantly putting people up, giving them things. … Lift people up, that’s what she does. She puts people up.”

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From NCAA longshot to Big 12 champion

When the Sooners were going through a rough stretch that started in late November and stretched through much of December, Jordan Moser was a critical piece of helping turn the tide.

OU dropped five of six games and just making the NCAA Tournament seemed a longshot, much less winning the Big 12 and making a run at a potential top-16 national seed.

Behind the scenes, Moser was integral in pulling the Sooners together and keeping them there.

Lexy Keys was struggling, along with many of her teammates, through December.

Keys’ shots were straight, but were missing short or long. Keys’ wasn’t sure what to do to snap out of her funk.

Late one night, Keys’ phone buzzed with a text from Moser.

“It was super, super encouraging,” Keys said. “Having teammates like that who see you every single day and know every extra rep behind the scenes in the dark, knowing that they have your back is a really, really special feeling.”

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'She’s our glue'

Moser has also played a key role in working with five-star freshman Sahara Williams, who has surged late in the season.

Unsurprisingly, given her dad’s coaching background, Moser plays a key part in game preparation, helping the Sooners with their scout work.

It’s a role Moser embraces.

“I really do love the sport and to love the people you’re doing it with who also love it is special as well,” Moser said.

In practice, Moser regularly helps track defensive stop stretches. Unsurprisingly, she delivers the information with unflinching positivity.

“I couldn’t imagine a better person in that position that she’s in right now,” Keys said. “She’s someone that is so positive that i makes you question why you’re ever negative yourself.

“She’s our glue.”

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Teaming up with Jennie Baranczyk

Porter Moser and Jennie Baranczyk came to Norman at nearly the same time.

After spending her first two seasons at Loyola Chicago, Jordan Moser met with Baranczyk shortly after her family’s arrival in Oklahoma.

Moser had competed against Baranczyk’s Drake teams.

When they met to discuss the possibility of Moser walking on, all sides were hooked.

“She’s got a spirit that she’s poured into my daughter,” Porter Moser said. “As a coach, you can’t ask for anything more than the people that are coaching your kids to have a positive impact.

“I became a better coach the older my kids got, because I started looking through the lens of someone coaching my own kid. I couldn’t be blessed more than someone pouring into my daughter than Jennie Baranczyk. She pours into her in every facet of life.”

Jordan Moser knew that coming to OU would mean she wasn’t likely to play much.

She appeared in six games in 2021-22, then three games last season. She has yet to make an appearance this season.

But she continues to make an impact.

“Jordan, her whole life, has this amazing spirit about her,” Porter Moser said. “When you’re around her, she just exudes kindness, energy, joy, happiness. She exudes is. She makes it contagious.”

She certainly has for the Sooners.

“This is my role,” Moser said. “I love energy. I feel like I’m a big energy person and I love pouring into my team. I think that’s why I’ve enjoyed my role so much this year. I like being behind the scenes or someone on the bench because I love pouring my energy into others. I love putting people up.”

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No. 19 OU vs. TCU

TIPOFF: 1:30 p.m. Saturday at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. (ESPN+)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU women's basketball: Jordan Moser excels in behind-the-scenes role