OSU Basketball Star Announces Return Despite Head Coaching Change
Steve Lutz is beginning to build out his roster through the transfter portal, working towards having the roster filled out for his first season as the head basketball coach at Oklahoma State. He's landed two players in the transfer portal, reaffirmed the commitment of four-star guard Jeremiah Johnson and has a few players from last season's roster.
With the last roster being full of Mike Boynton's recruits, it's no shock the majority of the eligible returners hit the transfer portal, but with less than a week remaining, Jamyron Keller, Connor Dow and Bryce Thompson have yet to enter their name.
On Friday, star Cowboys guard Bryce Thompson announced his decision to return to the program for his fourth year in Stillwater and fifth season of college basketball.
Talking about roster construction in his introductor presser, Lutz alluded to the idea of talking to the current roster -- well, what remained of it -- to see if there is a fit for returners. The former five-star and Lutz must have had a solid conversation for him to remain in Stillwater for yet another season.
Thompson played just 18 games last season, starting in 17 of those appearances, while he dealt with a shoulder injury. He averaged 11.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 27.8 minutes per game. He's an amazing talent, hence his five-star rating out of high school, and the former Kansas transfer can have an even more impressive final season under the system Lutz is going to place.
The on-court product during the Boynton era never panned out, though the talent was always there. Now, Thompson gets a fair shot at competition during the new era with Lutz leading the ship. He's averaged double-figures in the scoring department since arriving at Oklahoma State, and that'll be able to build on that next season.
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Kade has been covering a wide variety of teams ranging from the NFL to the NBA and college athletics since joining Sports Illustrated's On SI in 2022