Five Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 2025-26 Basketball Season

WICHITA STATE RECAP
WICHITA STATE PHOTOS

STILLWATER — Year 2 of the Steve Lutz Era comes to a close in the second round of the NIT.

Wichita State thumped Oklahoma State 96-70 on Sunday night in Gallagher-Iba Arena, ending the Cowboys’ season at 20-15 — a three-win improvement from Lutz’s first year.

Rather than going in depth on a game that means little at this point, here are five thoughts on the year.

1. The Defense Wasn’t Good

“I think our biggest area for growth thus far is gonna be defense.”

That’s what Steve Lutz told reporters in his first preseason media availability of the school year — all the way back on Sept. 22. He was right.

There were brief stints where the Cowboys’ defense held its own this season, but for the most part stopping other teams from scoring was the team’s biggest defect.

It was particularly off the perimeter.

OSU allowed opponents to hit 343 3s this season, which I believe is the most OSU has ever allowed in a season. Sports Reference’s opponent stats go back to the 2007-08 season. If any team was giving up north of 343 3s in the early 2000s or before, woof.

OSU’s defensive rating on KenPom was at 156 going into Sunday’s game. That’s the Cowboys’ worst standing in that rating since the first year KenPom has in its system — 1996-97.

The defense was not good. In fact, you could call it bad.

2. It At Least Brought A Different Style of Basketball

The Cowboys finished the year averaging 83.9 points a game.

That’s the second-most an OSU team has ever averaged throughout a year, trailing the 85.7 points OSU averaged during the Brad Underwood year.

In some ways that stat says more about the defense, but it was nice watching shots fall after OSU spent four of the previous seven seasons with averages in the 60s.

There’s probably an argument to be made that Lutz perhaps overcorrected from his defensive-focused first group that couldn’t hit water from the boat on an ocean. It would’ve been hard not to overcorrect after watching OSU shoot 42.8% from the field last season (283rd nationally).

“Obviously, I think that from Year 1 to Year 2, we’ve grown exponentially offensively, but I know we took a step backwards defensively,” Lutz said. “So I’ve got to hold them accountable on both ends of the floor so that we’re fantastic all the way through. Like, Year 1 we were very good defensively, but we had a hard time scoring. This year, we were a top, I don’t know, 30, 40 offense in the country — whatever the number is — but we were 125 in defense.

“You’ve gotta find the right mix. And a lot of that starts with recruiting, but it also comes down to coaching, too. So I’ve gotta make sure that we have a very good blend of both.”

3. Team MVPs: Anthony Roy, Parsa Fallah

I’ll split the MVP vote here because I think both guys deserve to be recognized.

Fallah was the fan favorite of the group, and justly so.

His story is remarkable — waiting six months in Senegal to get his visa.

His play was superb — despite being banged up all year, he averaged 14.7 points, scoring in the 20s seven times.

But most notably, he is just a good dude. In this midst of OSU’s early Big 12 struggles, he’d convey messages of perseverance, and then of course his news conference after tearing his ACL when he poured his heart out to OSU, Stillwater, Steve Lutz and the OSU fanbase. Fallah was in GIA on Sunday night cheering on his team, as well.

From an on-court perspective, though, I’m going to likely refer to this season as “the Anthony Roy year” in my head.

As advertised, Roy could fill it up. He finished the year with 524 total points. That’s the most a Cowboy has scored since Cade Cunningham poured in 544 in his lone year in a Cowboy uniform.

Roy also hit 89 3s, which sits sixth in a season in program history behind the likes of Randy Rutherford (146 in 1994-95), Brooks Thompson (110 in 1993-94), Thomas Dziagwa (108 in 2018-19), Keiton Page (103 in 2011-12), Phil Forte (100 in 2013-14) and John Lucas (100 in 2004-05).

Sure, there were some frustrating moments throughout the year, but Roy could fill it up with the best of them. When I’m old (older than I am now) and think back to this season, Roy will likely be the first player who pops in my head.

4. Underrated Player of the Year: Kanye Clary

OSU’s most-consistent performer this season was probably point guard Kanye Clary.

He finished his first year in orange and black averaging 10.6 points a game and finished with 157 assists. That’s brutally one assist shy of being on the program’s Top 10 lists for assists in a season (John Lucas had 158 in 2003-04).

Clary closed the year particularly strong. Across the final eight games, Clary averaged 15.6 points and 3.8 assists a game.

Clary is only a junior and will have a year of eligibility remaining. Who knows what the future holds, but it sounded as if he has enjoyed his time in Stillwater.

“This is my third school,” Clary said. “I ain’t ever been part of a community like this. I grew to love this school. The place and just the people here, as far as just that, I love each and every one of these guys. As far as just Coach Lutz, man I learned a lot from him. I learned a lot about myself and what I’m capable of and what I can bring to the table. …

“The people (have made Stillwater stand out) — how bubbly, how happy they are. I got neighbors. I wake up at 7 a.m. to go take the trash bin out, they ‘Good morning, Kanye!’ waving, you know, smiling. Where I’m from, you don’t see that too much.”

5. What Does Next Season’s Roster Look Like?

The transfer portal opens April 7.

The Cowboys will lose Christian Coleman, Kirk Cole, Anthony Roy and Parsa Fallah to eligibility. Lefteris Mantzoukas left the program midstream.

OSU has signed three high schoolers in Latrell Allmond, Jalen Montonati and Parker Robinson.

That means off the bat, there’s two spots open, but portal movement beyond that is still likely. This year, OSU retained just three players from its roster from last season’s roster — Robert Jennings, Andrija Vukovic and Kirk Cole.

Lutz said after Sunday’s game that between now and the portal opening he’ll sit and meet with each guy, but he also noted it’s tough to predict what is going to happen in portal season.

“There’s several that we would like to keep, but at the same time, you’ve also gotta be able to find a middle ground financially,” Lutz said. “We’re not gonna have the same money that some of the other Big 12 programs are gonna have, and that’s not an excuse. That’s the facts. And we’ve gotta figure out a way to spend our money wisely to get the right people, get the right players and then do more with less. That’s what the Cowboy Code says. We’re not gonna complain. We’re gonna go out and do our jobs, but all of that will evolve in the next week to 10 days.

“You guys just don’t understand it. There’s no way for me to forecast what’s about to happen here in the next week to 10 days.”