Bryce Thompson Picks Kansas; Who's Left?
STILLWATER -- It wasn't the news that Oklahoma State fans wanted to hear, but on Tuesday morning, five-star guard Bryce Thompson committed to Kansas. He chose the Jayhawks over Oklahoma State, North Carolina and Oklahoma.
Oklahoma State and Mike Boynton were the first to offer Thompson and thought to be the favorite until up to just a few months ago.
While it's exactly ideal to miss out on a top-20 player in the country, it was expect that Thompson was going to pick KU and Bill Self. Self coached Rod Thompson, Bryce's father at TU back in the 90's, so there was already a great relationship there. Add that to the history of KU, and well...you can do the math.
All of that aside, Mike Boynton and Co. have already put together a great class with five-star Cade Cunningham and four-star Rondel Walker, and they still have spots to fill.
D1 basketball programs are allowed 13 scholarships, and Oklahoma State currently only has 12. So, with the one remaining scholarship, and the four seniors set to depart after this season, coupled with Cunningham and Walker, there's three spots left.
With Thompson out of the picture and signing day starting up tomorrow, Wednesday the 13th through the 20th, let's take a look at the possible guys the Pokes will be gunning for.
JT Thor: Thor is a 6-8, 190-pound power forward out of Norcross, GA. He's listed as the No. 49 overall prospect in the country and the No. 8 overall power forward. Up this point, Thor's received 18 offers that include Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kentucky, UConn, Georgia, Florida and LSU among others.
He was in Stillwater the weekend of Sept. 7, along with Cade Cunningham, for his official visit. Oklahoma State is considered the favorites to land Thor.
Mike Miles: Miles is a 6-2, 170-pound point guard out of Lancaster, TX. He was teammates with both Cunningham and Walker on Texas Titans (AAU) and was also in Stillwater the weekend of Sept. 7 on an official visit.
With Cunningham and Walker, Oklahoma State is currently ranked as the No. 22 class in the country. Should Boynton and Co. land both Thor and Miles, they would jump up to within the top five.
There's no need to worry about that third spot that this time as there's a late signing period in the spring. There's always several guys that don't sign in November for some reason or another. High school and JUCO talent that's still trying to figure out where they want to go, along with guys that needed to take care of a few academic qualifications.
