Lutz: "We Still Need Some Depth" In the Paint
STILLWATER – Recruiting in college basketball has never been an easy task for most programs, especially ones with new coaching staffs. Oklahoma State head coach Steve Lutz has done a very good job so far piecing together a talented roster on paper out of the transfer portal.
Entering this week, Lutz and Co. had just two spots left to fill. But now there’s three spots to fill as the lone 2025 high school signee, Jeremiah Johnson, requested his release from his National Letter of Intent on Tuesday and reopened his recruitment.
Johnson was a talented young point guard, but Lutz and Co. added two talented college transfer point guards, Arturo Dean and Khalil Brantley, which certainly prompted Johnson to request his release. This is one of the main dangers to high school recruiting that’s been talked about the past few years as the transfer portal has become more and more prevalent.
The current “bigger” bodies on the roster come in the form of two forwards and a center: UCF transfer Marchelus Avery, Texas Tech transfer Robert Jennings II and Xavier transfer Abou Ousmane.
You’ll most likely see two bigs added, preferably out of the transfer portal as they’ll be college-ready and ready to compete day-one. And with the departure of Johnson, you’ll most likely see another guard added.
Pokes Report’s Robert Allen had the chance to interview Lutz on Monday’s Coaches vs. Cancer Classic out at the Stillwater Country Club.
When asked about how he felt about his current recruiting class, Lutz was quick to mention the need for depth in the paint.
“We still need some depth, especially on the interior,” Lutz said of is recruiting class. “Last week, signing Khalil Brantley, that helped us shore up some at the guard position, but we still need some size. You can’t go into [conference play] with 6-7, 6-8 at the forward and the post for a year and be successful. But with that being said, we had a young man on campus last week and we’ve got one on campus right now, and both of those guys are people of size. I feel like we’re making progress in that direction, but it just doesn’t happen overnight.”
So, as mentioned above, expect there to be two more bigs added to the roster. While there haven’t been any official announcements as of yet, Lutz and Co. have already hosted two more bigs on campus, with one of them being here this week. Plus, if you go back throughout the years, not all of the roster has been filled before the summer as Moussa Cisse first committed to the Pokes in the middle of July. So, it’s not time to panic yet.
Another fun part of the interview with Lutz was about his short time he’s been in Stillwater.
“[Stillwater’s] been great,” said Lutz. “This has been in the easiest transition for me in however many years I’ve been doing this, 28, 29 years. We have a press conference and then we look at a couple of houses the next day, my wife settles on a house. It never even went on the market, they just did it for sale by owner. So, it’s been the easiest transfer I’ve had thus far. The people have been great; they’re excited about Cowboy basketball and they’re very, very supportive and you can’t ask for much more than that.
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