‘Sauce’: Anderson’s Mixtape Flair Translating to College Game

Cade Cunningham is the best player on Oklahoma State’s roster this season, but Avery Anderson might be the most fun to watch.

The electricity Anderson, a sophomore guard, brings to a game isn’t anything new. He did it back in his days at Northwest High School in Justin, Texas. Simply putting his name into a YouTube search will provide numerous highlight videos of Anderson as a high schooler before anything pops up about OSU.

Anderson’s high octane style of play pairs perfectly for the internet’s mixtape game.

“To be honest, I would say just watching the YouTube highlights of Allen Iverson, Chris Paul, Baron Davis and just a lot of one-on-one guards when I was little,” Anderson said. “In the house, I used to dribble the ball when my mom wasn’t home because if she was home, she would tell me to stop dribbling. I used to hate it when she would should say that.”

When Anderson committed to Oklahoma State in September of 2019, the already committed Kalib Boone said he went and watched some highlights.

“When I first saw him, I was like, ‘Avery got some sauce to him. Avery got some handles,'” Boone said. “He was explosive in high school.”

Anderson’s explosivity didn’t stop in Justin, Texas. Through his first two seasons of college basketball, Anderson has pulled off some dribble moves and acrobatics that have made Gallagher-Iba Arena crowds ooh and aah.

In a game against Arkansas on Jan. 30, Anderson took a pass from Cunningham before doing an up-and-under layup past projected lottery pick Moses Moody.

Anderson is also a terror for guys to guard one-on-one. Earlier this season Rondel Walker said Anderson is the toughest guy on OSU’s squad to guard off three dribbles.

In the Iowa State game in Ames, Anderson had 6-foot-10 forward George Conditt switched on him on the perimeter. Anderson nearly turned Conditt inside out before hitting a floater.

“The thing, and it’s kind of with him, Bryce [Williams] and Rondel, they have unbelievable feet,” OSU coach Mike Boynton said. “It’s a really small thing that probably most fans are like, ‘What the heck are you talking about?’ They have unbelievable feet. They can change direction, they can move laterally and they can get off the floor as quickly as anybody.”

Anderson will meet another human highlight reel on Monday in Texas Tech’s Mac McClung.

McClung broke Allen Iverson’s Virginia season scoring record as a senior in high school, and McClung did so in style. At just 6-foot-2, McClung has incredible leaping ability, and he was able to put together myriad highlight-worthy dunks.

His senior season mixtape at Gate City High School from BallIsLife has more than 2 million views.

The path from being a mixtape star to being a good college player doesn’t always work out, but it has for Anderson and McClung. For as dominant as McClung was in high school, he was a three-star prospect and ranked 245th in the 2018 recruiting class. He didn’t have many high-major offers, initially signing with Georgetown over offers from Boston College, Rutgers and others.

Now Anderson is averaging 9.6 points a game in a sophomore season where some questioned how many minutes he would be able to play with Cunningham and Isaac Likekele in town. McClung is fourth in the Big 12 in scoring, averaging 16.9 points a game for the Red Raiders.

Not bad for a pair of mixtape guys.