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Oklahoma State's Steve Lutz Recruiting for Future of Cowboy Hoops

Oklahoma State basketball coach Steve Lutz is landing 2025-26 talent.

Taylor Skieens

New Oklahoma State University head men's basketball coach Steve Lutz speaks during an introduction ceremony of the at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla., Thursday, April 4, 2024.
New Oklahoma State University head men's basketball coach Steve Lutz speaks during an introduction ceremony of the at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla., Thursday, April 4, 2024. / SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK
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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. 

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.

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. 

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
TAYLOR SKIEENS

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.

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