Big 12 Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2020-21 season

This was supposed to be the big year for Cowboy Basketball, once No. 1 overall class of 2020 recruit Cade Cunningham picked the program nearly a year ago. He is joined by a top-15 overall class of talent that includes four-star guard Rondel Walker and three-star power forward Matthew Alexander-Moncrieffe.

There also are transfer guards Ferron Flavors (Cal Baptist) and Bryce Williams (Ole Miss) who are eligible to play. The hope is that they can replace the production from Thomas Dziagwa and Lindy Waters. Add all-around stat-stuffer Isaac Likekele and Oklahoma State could argue that they have one of the top overall backcourts in all of the Big 12.

The frontcourt is another question though. They don’t have a clear replacement of last season’s leading scorer and rebounder Cameron McGriff at the forward position. And making matters worse, starting center and elite defender Yor Anei transferred to SMU after news that the basketball program was banned from the 2021 NCAA Tournament after the NCAA punished them for recruiting violations.

JUCO center Bernard Kouma will likely be the starter and the underclassmen have a chance to get minutes inside. There’s also a chance that Oklahoma State uses small lineups since many of their guards are good rebounders and can defend bigger opponents. Trying to find production from inside though could be their biggest weakness.

Barring a successful appeal, the Cowboys won’t be going dancing no matter what happens. But with players deciding not to leave, this could be the chance for them to come together and still have a special season since they’ll have multiple games against likely top-5 opponents. Can Cunningham be the best freshman in all of college basketball and lead them to a top-half finish? Or is the lack of frontcourt depth going to be too much for the guard to overcome?