ESPN Has Cade Cunningham as a Top-20 Player for 2021, That’s Too Low, Right?

OSU will lock down its 2020 class today with the final few players who haven’t made things official signing with the Pokes. One of the ones who’s already in the fold doubles as the No. 1 player in the country and the projected No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA Draft.

You all obviously know his name, and soon the entire college basketball world will. So how good is Cade Cunningham actually going to be at OSU during his one year in Stillwater? Well, it remains to be seen (heck, it remains to be seen if there’s even a season), but ESPN recently had him as the 19th-best player for next season.

Mike Boynton scored a major recruiting coup when he beat out the likes of Kentucky, North Carolina and Florida to sign Cunningham, a 6-7 point guard from Arlington, Texas. Perhaps the fact that Cade’s brother, Cannen, was hired as an OSU assistant last summer was a factor in the decision, though Cade has maintained his family “encouraged me to explore my options.” Cunningham gave Tyrese Haliburton a run for his money for the No. 1 position on the assists leaderboard when the two teamed up on Team USA at the FIBA U19 World Cup last summer. [ESPN]

Cunningham is the third-highest freshman on ESPN’s list — both Jalen Green and Evan Mobley rank ahead of him — and also the third-highest ranked Big 12 player. There is a world in which Cunningham contends for Big 12 Player of the Year next season the way Marcus Smart did in his freshman campaign in Stillwater.

There’s also a world in which he’s one of the 10 best players in the country next season. The more you watch, the smoother it gets and the easier it seems. His game doesn’t overwhelm you in a “he’s dunking on little kids!” kind of way like Greg Brown’s, but in terms of how it translates to college, the step won’t be a big one.

But he’s obviously not the only player OSU has in the class. One of the other guys I’m fired up about — one of the four in OSU’s top-32 recruits of all time — is Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe.

Jacob Unruh of The Oklahoman did a good story on him this week, and his high school coach made my knees buckle with this quote.

“The kid will be an NBA player,” Orangeville Prep coach Tony McIntyre told The Oklahoman. “It’s just a matter if it’s one year or two years. He would be a top-25 to top-50 kid if he played his high school basketball in the U.S.”

I … think I believe him? Moncrieffe’s entire ethos just screams “I’m going to grow into being a pro someday,” and that’s backed up by how much he loves the grind.

“I spent a whole day in [the gym], and it became natural,” Moncrieffe told the Oklahoman. “It doesn’t feel right if I’m not in the gym the majority of the day. They’re already getting on me to rest my body and stuff like that. I’ve gotten better at that over the years, but I’m still a gym rat.”

So yeah, 2020-21 is going to be a blast (provided there’s a 2020-21 to be had) with everything orbiting around Cunningham, and everybody on a very talented roster benefitting from his presence.