Oklahoma State's Steve Lutz Recruiting for Future of Cowboy Hoops
The road was bumpy a season ago for the Oklahoma State Cowboys’ basketball program. They finished 2023-24 with an overall record of 12-20 and were 4-14 in conference play. The Cowboys put all their chips on the table this season under first-year head coach Steve Lutz.
Lutz has the tall task of rebuilding a basketball program with a once-proud tradition. The hoops program has won just one NCAA Tournament game in the last nine years. Lutz must rebuild a roster that returns only three players from a season ago.
4⭐️ Ryan Crotty is LIGHTS OUT 🤩 The 6’5” guard just committed to Oklahoma State! 🚨🔥
— SLAM HS Hoops (@SLAM_HS) September 6, 2024
Is he the best shooter in the country⁉️@ryan_crotty32 @slam_university pic.twitter.com/AQ7GDiMnTz
The O-State recruiting trail has been busy thus far under Lutz. He landed his first commitment as a Cowboy in 2025, four-star shooting guard Ryan Crotty. Crotty, a 6-foot-5, 180-pound swingman, was the fourth-ranked player in Virginia and boasted 17 offers before committing to OSU in early September.
NEWS: 2025 4⭐️ Mekhi Ragland has committed to Oklahoma State, he told @LeagueRDY.
— 24/7 High School Hoops (@247HSHoops) October 8, 2024
Ragland is an inside-out big man who is a force in the paint. Has good touch around the basket, rebounds well and can stretch the defense to the perimeter.
He chose Oklahoma State over DePaul,… pic.twitter.com/ha8Lc2OdUu
Coach Steve Lutz didn’t wait long in landing his second big name of the 2025 class. Mekhi Ragland became the second OSU commit under Lutz, and boy, is it a ‘big’ one. Ragland checks in at 6-foot-10, 250 pounds out of Lilburn, GA. Ragland is a big man who fits the modern-day mold. He is capable of knocking down shots from 3-point territory, but he makes his living on the blocks.
Young hoopers around the nation have started to take notice in what Lutz is trying to do at Oklahoma State. Recently four-star 2026 standout Jaxon Richardson listed Oklahoma State as one of his top six colleges that have shown interest.
2026 4⭐️ Jaxon Richardson had a big-time performance last night at @brdrleague.
— 24/7 High School Hoops (@247HSHoops) October 19, 2024
Jaxon, who’s the son of former NBA vet Jason Richardson, finished with 24PTS and 7REBS on an impressive 10-11 from the floor in the 90-72 win over AZ Compass.
He told me Alabama, Louisville,… pic.twitter.com/JRIVGivFSW
Richardson is the son of former NBA legend Jason Richardson and the younger brother of current Michigan State commit Jase Richardson. Considering the fact that Jason played his college ball at Michigan State and older brother Jase has committed, the chances of landing Jaxon at Oklahoma State are bleak.
If Lutz can flip around the 2024-25 Cowboy basketball program, then anything is possible on the future recruiting trail. What high school basketball player wouldn’t want to play their collegiate career in front of the nearly 14,000 fans of Gallagher-Iba Arena?
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Taylor Skieens has been an avid sports journalist with the McCurtain Gazette in Idabel, Oklahoma for seven years. He holds the title of Sports Editor for one of the oldest remaining print publications in the state of Oklahoma. Taylor grew up in the small lumber town of Wright City Oklahoma where he played baseball and basketball for the Lumberjax.