Cowboy Basketball Lands Four-Star Sharpshooter Ryan Crotty
Oklahoma State has its first high school commitment of the Steve Lutz era.
On Friday, four-star forward Ryan Crotty announced his commitment to OSU. At 6-foot-5, Crotty is from Miller in Charlottesville, Virginia, and is considered one of the best shooters in the 2025 class.
Crotty made his official visit to Stillwater last week, and it appears that was enough for the Cowboys to land a high-rated recruit. In his junior season, Crotty averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.1 steals.
Considering his shooting ability, Crotty should be a nice fit for the Cowboys and Lutz’s system. Outside shooting has been an area OSU has struggled with in recent years, and adding a potentially instant-impact player is massive.
While the Cowboys will not see Crotty on the floor until the 2025-26 season, Lutz’s system and playstyle will be in action in a couple of months. Known for his up-tempo offenses at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Western Kentucky, Lutz also stressed the importance of defense in his introductory press conference.
To compete in a loaded Big 12, OSU will need to get as many easy buckets as it can. The simplicity of a system like that will not only help incoming commits such as Crotty in coming years, but it will also help a team of veterans from the transfer portal find chemistry next season.
After Mike Boynton’s firing saw most of the team’s impact players go elsewhere over the offseason, Lutz has rebuilt the squad through the transfer portal. After being one of the youngest teams hurt the Cowboys last season, they will have an edge in experience in 2025.
Still, the road back to the NCAA Tournament and competing in the Big 12 will take some time. With a four-star recruit on the way next year, the program seems to be headed in the right direction.
READ MORE: Game Preview: Oklahoma State Set For Battle Against SEC Foe Arkansas
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.