OSU Basketball Lands UCF Transfer Marchelus Avery
Oklahoma State has another transfer portal addition.
Recently hired OSU coach Steve Lutz’s first team in Stillwater is beginning to take shape after receiving another commitment. On Sunday, UCF transfer Marchelus Avery announced on social media that he is committing to OSU.
After three seasons of coaching at Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Western Kentucky, Lutz came to OSU after a lengthy coaching search. After OSU’s 12-20 season, he has already recruited a few talented players to his first roster.
Avery committed to OSU after one season at UCF, where he helped the Knights to a 17-16 record and a trip to the NIT in their first Big 12 season. Avery started two of his 31 games last season, providing important minutes for the Knights.
He averaged 7.6 points and four rebounds in 17.7 minutes per game. In getting to those averages, Avery had a handful of scoring outbursts.
His highest-scoring performance last season came in the Knights’ mid-November win against South Dakota State, where he scored 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting in 30 minutes. That matchup was one of 11 double-digit scoring games for Avery, which included four games against Big 12 opponents.
With one season of Big 12 experience already, Avery comes to OSU knowing what it takes to get through and be successful throughout the grueling 18-game conference schedule. Before joining UCF last season, Avery had a successful run at a couple of smaller schools.
After beginning his college career at Northwest Florida State College, Avery spent two seasons at New Mexico State. He started nine games across two seasons there before the program suspended its season in 2022-23.
As OSU continues to build its roster for next season, additions like Avery can give the team some optimism as it enters a new era.
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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.