Oklahoma State Included in Five-Star Center Daimion Collins’ Top 10

Mike Boynton has seemingly been everywhere this offseason while, at the same time, quarantining in Stillwater.

Boynton and Oklahoma State made five-star 2021 center Daimion Collins’ cut down to 10 schools Friday. OSU joins Texas, Houston, Oklahoma, Kansas, Alabama, LSU, Texas Tech, Arkansas and Baylor in Collins’ group. That’s right, six of the 10 Big 12 programs made the list.

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— Daimion Collins (@CollinsDaimion) July 3, 2020

Here is a breakdown of the potential Poke.

Who Is He?

Collins is from the small town of Atlanta, Texas, a town near the Arkansas and Louisiana boarders.

He is the opposite of his town, though, standing at a long 6-foot-8. He played AAU ball last summer with the Oklahoma-based Team Griffin alongside fellow OSU offerees Trey Alexander (Heritage Hall), KJ Adams (Austin, Texas) and Bijan Cortes (OU commit). That AAU squad won the Peach Jam last summer for its age group, the same event the Cade Cunningham/Rondel Walker/Montreal Pena Texas Titans won in their age group.

OSU was Collins’ fifth offer, coming back on May 2, 2019.

Jerry Meyer, 247Sports’ director of basketball scouting, projects Collins as a future first round NBA Draft pick and compares him to Denver Nuggets forward Jerami Grant.

“Quite thin but has long arms and is quick off the floor as an explosive leaper. Highly mobile with good hands. Finishes with strength around rim and can score facing. Has potential to greatly improve as a face up player. Defensively, is a high level shot blocker who can also move his feet on perimeter. Can also rebound outside his area. Raw offensively in general but has great potential.” [247Sports]

Although he is apparently just at 10 programs, Meyer and 247Sports national analyst Brian Snow have both recently submitted predictions that Collins lands at Texas.

In The Rankings

Being from a small town, Collins wasn’t always a recruiting-site darling.

In June of 2019, he was ranked 83rd in the composite rankings but has since worked his way up to No. 22.

Rivals is the highest on Collins of the major recruiting outlets, rankings him 20th in the 2021 class. He is a composite five-star, but it’s interesting because 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN all rank him as a four-star recruit.

Here are his national rankings:

247Sports Composite — No. 22 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rivals — No. 20 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
ESPN — No. 23 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
247Sports — No. 29 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

OSU’s 2021 Outlook

With Collins’ announcement, Oklahoma State has recently made cuts for two 2021 top-30 recruits.

Langston Love, the composite 26th-ranked player in the class, included OSU in his top 11 on May 20.

It’s unsure at this time how many players Boynton will take in the 2021 cycle, but a class of Collins and Love alone would be ridiculous.

As of now, it looks like Boynton will have only two scholarships to use (Cade Cunningham’s and Ferron Flavors’) in the 2021 cycle but there are quite a few variables that could see that number balloon.

If the NCAA sanctions don’t get appealed, OSU will lose three scholarships over the next three seasons, so the Cowboys could shoulder one or two of those in the next cycle.

If Ole Miss transfer Bryce Williams receives an immediate eligibility waiver from the NCAA, he will enter his senior season meaning his scholarship would be available.

Isaac Likekele was set to test draft waters after this past seasons, so there is a chance he could go after this year, and there is always the possibility of transfers.

So, two scholarships available, but also maybe five or six.

Highlights