It’s time to call NBA MVP race. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has repeat all wrapped up.

The votes haven’t been tallied — or even submitted — but we’re ready to make a projection: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will win the 2025-26 NBA Most Valuable Player award.

Spurs center Victor Wembanyama had late momentum, and yes, there’s still a week to play, but the latest MVP straw poll conducted by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps all but guarantees SGA becoming the seventh player this century to win back-to-back MVPs.

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Bontemps polled 100 likely voters, asking for their top-five MVP ballot. The results were published April 3.

The ballot I submitted matched the consensus.

More: Chet Holmgren, OKC Thunder score highest point total of season in rout of Utah Jazz

1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder: He’s shooting 55%. As a guard. He’s improved as a playmaker (career-high 6.5 assists) and as a 3-point shooter (38%).

2. Victor Wembanyama, Spurs: Who’s the best offensive player in the world? It’s a close call between SGA and Jokic. Who’s the best defensive player in the world? Wembanyama is in his own stratosphere.

3. Nikola Jokić, Nuggets: SGA and Wembanyama are impactful on both sides of the floor. Jokić is not. It’s hard to argue against a guy who’s leading the league in both rebounds and assists, though.

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4. Luka Dončić, Lakers: Is Dončić going to be eligible under the 65-game minimum? He’s seeking an exception for the two games he missed in December for the birth of his child.

5. Jaylen Brown, Celtics: The Brown-led Celtics have been the best story in basketball. It’s rare to see a player make this kind of leap in Year 10. Brown has only made one All-NBA team, and here he is on the MVP ballot.

SGA received 88 of a possible 100 first-place votes in ESPN’s straw poll. Wemby received eight first-place votes, Jokić three and Brown one.

The results showed that the race for second place, between Wembanyama and Jokić, is closer than the race for first place.

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This will be the fourth consecutive season in which SGA has finished in the top-five of MVP voting and the third consecutive season in which he’ll finish top-two.

This could be the first season since 2019-20 in which Jokić does not finish either first or second on the ballot.

More: OKC Thunder, FanDuel Sports Network will part ways after 2025-26 NBA regular season

OU football spring spotlight: DL Brian Harris

Brian Harris, a three-star defensive lineman from Jacksonville, Florida, narrowed his list of finalists to five schools: Alabama, Michigan, OU, Penn State and South Carolina.

But it was the Sooners that he kept coming back to. OU became the bar that no other program reached.

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“When I first got here, it was something crazy out of the ordinary,” Harris told The Oklahoman. “I’ve been everywhere around the country, and there was nothing like Oklahoma. I can say that with a passion and a pride about it.”

Upon first meeting head coach Brent Venables, the fact that Venables shook Harris’ parents’ hands before giving Harris a bear hug left a positive impression on Harris.

Harris ran through a checklist when he visited other schools.

“Was it better than Oklahoma?” he’d ask himself. “Were the coaches better than Oklahoma? Were the players? Was the atmosphere?”

When all of those answers were no, Harris said yes to the Sooners.

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Harris will join a defensive line group headlined by Jayden Jackson and David Stone.

“Learning from those guys and being a little brother to them is special,” Harris said.

Harris is also eager to develop under co-defensive coordinator Todd Bates, who oversees the defensive line.

“He’s one in a million,” Harris said. “He’s something special. He takes his time to make sure you understand every single coaching point.”

More: OU football center Jake Maikkula returns to Sooners for spring camp after infection

OSU’s Ethan Fang in Masters field

Oklahoma State junior Ethan Fang is one of six amateurs who will tee it up in the Masters, which begins Thursday at Augusta National.

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Fang, 20, qualified for the Masters by winning the Amateur Championship last June at Royal St. George’s in England. This will be Fang’s second major, as his win in the Amateur Championship earned him a spot in the Open Championship a month later at Royal Portrush, where Fang missed the cut by two strokes.

Fang, from Plano, Texas, is in his second year at OSU. He transferred from Cal after his freshman year. Fang helped lead the Cowboys to the national championship last season — the 12th in program history.

Fang and the Cowboys are coming off a runner-up finish Sunday at the Haskins Award Invitational at Forest Hills, also in Augusta, Georgia. Fang’s teammates stayed to watch his practice round Monday at Augusta National.

“I think it keeps me more loose seeing my friends goofing off over there, chirping (at) me, but it’s a good time and I’m glad they’re out there,” Fang told reporters Monday.

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Fang is the No. 8 amateur in the world, according to the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Four Cowboys have finished the Masters as the low amateur. Viktor Hovland most recently did it in 2019.

“My goal is to be low-am for the week,” Fang said. “That would be really cool, getting to go up there at the trophy presentation. But yeah, I’m going to go out there and just try to play my best, do my best and see what happens.”

More: Who has committed to Oklahoma State football in 2027 recruiting class? See the list.

Keep an eye on these other players with Oklahoma ties

Wyndham Clark: The 2023 U.S. Open champion was an All-American at Oklahoma State, where he spent four years before transferring to Oregon. Clark, ranked 78th in the world, is competing in his third Masters. He tied for 46th last year.

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Chris Gotterup: The only Sooner in the field, Gotterup has been on a meteoric rise ever since he transferred from Rutgers to OU. He was the best player in the country as a fifth-year senior in 2021-22. Gotterup, ranked 11th in the world, is making his fifth major start and his first in the Masters. He finished third in last year’s Open Championship.

Viktor Hovland: The former OSU great is teeing it up in his seventh Masters. He has one top-10 finish at Augusta and has made the cut five times. Ranked 22nd in the world, Hovland is on the short list of best players without a major.

Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen: The four-year Cowboy from Denmark won the 2025 Australian Open. He’s making his Masters debut. Neergaard-Petersen is ranked 69th in the world.

Alex Noren: At No. 19, Noren is the highest-ranked former Cowboy in the field. He’s also the oldest at 43. Noren was an All-American at OSU in the early 2000s. Noren is making his fifth Masters start and first since 2003. He’s only once made the cut.

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Sam Stevens: Stevens is another former Cowboy making his Masters debut. He was teammates with Hovland on OSU’s 2018 national title team. Stevens has played in five majors. His best finish was a T23 at the 2025 U.S. Open.

Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has all but wrapped up another NBA MVP award