Who is Lindy Waters III?

Oklahoma State starts their basketball season on Friday. And already there’s some hype building around freshman wing Lindy Waters III, who made a splash in his exhibition game last week against Pitt State by going 6-of-8 from the floor for 15 points and 5 boards.

So who is Lindy Waters — and where did he come from?!

Waters, who is listed at 6-foot-6, 200-pounds on the online roster, hails from Norman North High School in Norman, Okla. Travis Ford and the old Oklahoma State regime plucked him from behind enemy lines last year, and Waters signed his letter of intent in the early signing period of 2015.

The young man spent his entire high school career at Norman North, minus one semester. After a joke on snapchat was blown out of proportion, school administrators came down with a harsh one year suspension that forced him to take a detour. He spent the fall semester of 2015 at Sunrise Christian Academy, and went on to finish his second and final semester back at Norman North after an appeal was granted.

Upon his return, Waters was a key piece of Norman North’s run at a state title alongside highly touted point guard Trae Young. The Timberwolves came up just short in the championship game as Waters poured in seven points, and fell to Putnam City in the state championship game 67-66.

On the recruiting front, he was a hot commodity among many schools. He picked the Cowboys over other enticing offers that included Harvard, Cincinnati, Houston, George Mason, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Princeton, and even Brad Underwood’s Stephen F. Austin regime.

And after last week’s breakout performance against Pitt State, many, including myself, believe he will be an integral part of Oklahoma State’s young core this season. He has a knack for finding the ball on offense, and has a sweet outside shot that provides the Cowboys another deep threat that could free up some of the added attention teams may pay to Phil Forte and Leyton Hammonds outside.

“He makes the game look easy,” Underwood told KFOR recently of his budding freshman. “Not many people can do that. Lindy is one of the freshmen that the game has slowed down for him a little bit. With most young guys, the game gets really fast. So I’ve been very very pleased with his progress.”

As a freshman, there is always a learning curve as players make the big leap from high school to college. Heck, I could barely make it to class as a freshman.

But Lindy Waters already has a natural instinct and feel for the game that has exceeded head coach Brad Underwood’s lofty expectations, and his defensive effort, at least through one exhibition game, was tremendously underrated. If he continues to provide value as a perimeter defender and outside threat on offense, the Cowboys may have some serious potency with a three-and-D player like Waters coming off the bench. And that’s something fans should be excited about.

Cowboy Spotlight: @LindyWatersIII was 6-of-8 from the floor for 15 points and 5 boards. Hear from the freshman about his 1st OSU appearance. pic.twitter.com/yT5VvDzJTA

— Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) November 2, 2016