Former Oklahoma State Basketball Players to Play in NBA
Oklahoma State has produced quality basketball talents in its history. They’ve sent 30 players from the program to the NBA over the course of history. Current talents in the league include Cade Cunningham, Marcus Smart and Lindy Waters III.
Waters’ story is a cool one, as the in-state product played four years at OSU before taking a unique path to the NBA, eventually landing him with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Here’s a list of the 30 NBA talents that played at Oklahoma State:
- Tony Allen
- James Anderson
- Maurice Baker
- Joe Bradley
- Markel Brown
- Leroy Combs
- Cade Cunningham*
- JamesOn Curry
- Pete Darcey
- Richard Dumas
- Lonnie Eggleston
- Jawun Evans
- Joey Graham
- Stephen Graham
- Bob A. Harris
- Terrel Harris
- Byron Houston
- Thomas Jordan
- John Lucas
- Desmond Mason
- Ivan McFarlin
- Cameron McGriff
- Doyle Parrack
- Bryant Reeves
- Melvin Sanders
- Marcus Smart*
- John Starks
- Brooks Thompson
- Lindy Waters III*
- Corey Williams
*Active NBA players
Of the three active players, Cunningham has the highest ceiling. Waters is back on a two-way contract with the Thunder and Smart is with the Grizzlies in a role that will be hard to define beyond Ja Morant’s return to the team.
Cunningham has the opportunity to lead a Detroit Pistons team back to the playoffs and future title contention. He played one year at Oklahoma State, averaging 20.1 points per game, as he was the top recruiting talent in his class.
Playing in a tough conference, the program will be able to pitch a high level of play alongside recent talents making the league to other recruits. Cunningham is the most recent case study of a high-level recruit playing good basketball in a tough conference and being a high draft pick.
With two four-star talents – Eric Dailey Jr. and Brandon Garrison – coming into town, there’s a possibility more NBA talent will come through Stillwater, and consistently landing solid recruits helps their case.
Mike Boynton landed Cunningham and has been active in the transfer portal in his years with the team.
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