What’s in Store for Lindy Waters After Shining in First Game as a Sophomore?

I have to confess that I’ve been on the Lindy Waters Train since I first saw him play last year as a freshman. He just has … the look. Of course I said much of the same about Leyton Hammonds so I’m not sure why you should listen to me, but if last Friday’s game against Pepperdine was any indication, Waters is primed for a terrific sophomore season.

And Oklahoma State is going to need every bit of it.

Waters put up a 14-7-3-1-1 line and was the KenPom MVP of the game. Coach Mike Boynton said afterwards that No. 21 has improved maybe more than any other player he has from year over year.

“I’ve said all along that he and Mitchell Solomon had the best springs and summers of anybody on our team,” said Boynton. “They both took major strides in terms of building their bodies and becoming durable, but also from a skills standpoint, those guys did a good job of improving their individual ability. I wasn’t really surprised to see him come out and play well.”

How good can Waters be, though? He can’t make a Jeffrey Carroll-type leap after playing just 15.9 minutes last year, can he? I say no, but the numbers are pretty compelling.

I pulled Lindy’s per-100 possession numbers from his freshman year and stacked those against Carroll’s per-100 possession numbers from his freshman and sophomore years.

Pretty interesting, right? Those numbers aren’t everything, but freshman Waters sure looks a lot like freshman Carroll. The question is whether sophomore Waters will continue that trajectory.

“I’m a lot more comfortable knowing what every game is gonna be like, whether it’s non-conference or Big 12,” said Waters. “I just wanted to be more aggressive offensively, knowing that we didn’t have a couple pieces but still share the ball and play as unselfish as possible.”

I’m excited about Waters’ future in Stillwater and excited to watch him play the rest of this season. Hopefully he can help shoulder the load until No. 30 returns (if No. 30 returns) and develop into a future No. 2 or No. 3 guy. Also … hopefully OSU can find a future No. 1 guy to pair with him.