The Oklahoma State Freshman I am Most Excited About

Oklahoma State’s 2016-17 season starts with a bit of a dud on Friday evening, as the Cowboys open the regular season against the Campbell Fighting Camels.

But there’s a lot of buzz and excitement around the basketball program, thanks in large part to the offseason acquisition of head coach Brad Underwood.

Included in that buzz is the freshmen recruiting class that showed out in the exhibition game against Pittsburgh State. Lindy Waters III deservedly received a ton of attention after the game, after his 15-point outburst that saw him go 3-of-4 from deep proved he could be an immediate contributor at the wing.

But perhaps the freshman I am most excited about is the one who is flying lowest under the radar. Cameron McGriff, a 6-foot-8 forward from South Grand Prairie, Texas, was secretly the teams second leading scorer last week putting 16 points and 5 rebounds.

McGriff was arguably the most sought after recruit in Oklahoma State’s 2017 class. He spurned offers from Texas, Oklahoma, SMU, Arkansas and several others for the opportunity to play in Stillwater.

Not only can McGriff excel in the intermediate game as a small forward, but he also has an outside game that could prove to be valuable as well. He’s already shooting 100 percent on the year in one exhibition game. (1-of-1).

He proved in high school that he can be a consistent scoring threat as well. He averaged 14.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game as a senior to lead his team. He was also named to the Dallas Morning News All-Area First Team.

What makes McGriff so unique is his versatility that will benefit OSU from day one. I don’t expect that his offense will be relied upon heavily as a freshman with Leyton Hammonds at his position likely to take over a lot of the volume of minutes and scoring expectations. But McGriff is a versatile, long defender who can stretch the perimeter with his defense. At 6-foot-8, he could be called on to guard multiple positions during his freshman year.

Underwood’s calling card is his intense, man-t0-man defense he brings to Stillwater. And with McGriff’s known defensive prowess and tenacity, I think he will develop as a force under the coaching staff and has a very high ceiling to develop into one of the team’s best defenders.