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OSU Signees Rondel Walker, Donovan Williams Affirm Commitment After Ban

Some positive news!

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It would be understandable for Oklahoma State’s incoming freshmen class to bail after the NCAA slapped Oklahoma State upside the head Friday with a postseason ban to be served in 2021.

Thus far, though, none are jumping ship.

Class of 2020 signees Donovan Williams and Rondel Walker both affirmed their intentions to The Oklahoman to still attend Oklahoma State despite the news on Friday, a small win for Mike Boynton and his staff as the program looks to mount their appeals case to the NCAA.

Their intentions may come with a 6-foot-6 caveat, however. Walker is a former AAU teammate of Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 incoming recruit who has signed with OSU, and Williams made clear Cunningham’s decision may sway him.

“One of the main reasons I decided to come here was because of Cade,” Williams told The Oklahoman’s Jacob Unruh. “If he decides to leave, where does that put both (me and Walker)?”

What Cunningham ultimately decides to do could, quite literally, make or break the present (and near-term future) of OSU’s basketball program. If he stays committed, the class would likely stay intact. If he pursues the G League, or goes overseas to play, or requests a release from his NLI to play college elsewhere, then all bets are off.

Boynton and his staff — of which includes Cade’s older brother, Cannen — will no doubt want Cade to keep his pledge. But in a show of Boynton’s character on Friday, he said he’ll help his top-ranked incoming recruit make the best decision for him, whatever that may be.

“I told him I didn’t spend four years recruiting him and telling him how much I care about him to now abandon what’s important,” Boynton said Friday “We’re going to have conversations over the next few days, probably weeks, and we’re gonna try to look at all the options, whatever they are. G-League, overseas, another university, stay at Oklahoma State. At the end of the day, whatever his family and he decide is best for his future, I’m going to get right in tow with that and I’m going to support him 100 percent.”

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