Oklahoma State Extends Late Offer to 2020 Big Man Brandon Lieb

With Yor Anei and Hidde Roessink opting to enter the transfer portal the past few days, the Cowboys have a need for front court depth in 2020-21, and Mike Boynton might have found his guy.

Brandon Lieb announced an Oklahoma State offer Thursday afternoon. Lieb was an original 2020 guy before reclassifying to 2021, but in recent weeks schools have started flocking to the 7-footer with 2020 offers.

Thankful to have recieved an offer from Oklahoma State University and Coach Boynton for the class of 2020 #gocowboys pic.twitter.com/tgXEK5h1rA

— Brandon Lieb (@brandonlieb12) June 18, 2020

Here are the need-to-knows on Lieb.

Who Is He?

Lieb plays 3A basketball in Deerfield, Illinois.

Where he plays is likely the biggest reason his recruiting hasn’t skyrocketed because, from the looks of it, Lieb has all the tools a high-major coach would want in a big man.

He is 7-feet tall, but he isn’t the typical lanky, uncoordinated 7-feet you might expect to come out of a small town. He shows solid footwork in the post, and he even has a decent jump shot with the ability to knock down high school-range 3s.

This past high school season, Lieb shot 58 percent from the field while averaging 13.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks a game.

He isn’t a finished product and will need some developing (particularly adding weight to his frame), but with Anei and Roessink exiting this week, this is the perfect type of prospect to be falling into Boynton’s lap this late in the cycle.

In the Rankings

Rivals lists Lieb as a three-star prospect.

Others Involved

As perfect as a match this might seen for Lieb and OSU, there are other potential suitors.

Since the start of June, Lieb has announced offers from Tulsa, Toledo, Oklahoma, Penn, DePaul and OSU. His OSU and OU offers were the only ones he noted as being for the 2020 cycle in that span, but it’s unsure when those other programs would want to bring him in.

Why This is Important

As things stand now, it looks as if OSU’s front court might consist of Kalib Boone, Keylan Boone, Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe and Montreal Pena. Of those four, Kalib Boone is the only who has played a solid amount of college post minutes, as Keylan Boone spent a lot of his time last season on the perimeter.

Moncrieffe is expected to be good, but at 6-7, he also might spend time on the wing if given the opportunity.

So right now, if Kalib Boone got in foul trouble it looks as if Pena would be the likely guy to relieve him at center. Pena isn’t proven at the college level, and neither is Lieb. So, in that scenario, Boynton would likely rather have two guys for the one job of back-up center than one.

This is also interesting because if Lieb came to OSU, it would fill all of Boynton’s 13 scholarships. Part of the NCAA’s sanctions on the program include three scholarship losses over the next three years. They could take one of those hits this year, but with OSU attempting to appeal the sanctions, that could be a nonissue entirely.

The Highlights