Scott: Five OSU Hoopers I’m Most Excited About This Season

Basketball season is here.

Oklahoma State hosts Rogers State at 7 p.m. Friday night in an exhibition game, and everyone will get their first looks at what could be Mike Boynton’s best squad yet. Here are the five players I’m most intrigued by entering the season.

5. Thomas Dziagwa

I’ll start this in saying that I’m a Thomas Dziagwa truther.

Dziagwa has a lot of haters out there. Is he an elite defender? No. He’s a sharpshooter. That’s what you sign up for when he’s on the floor, and that’s what he gives.

Last season Dziagwa hit 105 3-pointers, the third-most in a season in program history. He did this at a high clip, knocking down 42.5 percent of his 3-point attempts, the 15th highest percentage (with at least 30 makes) in OSU history.

If Dziagwa hits another 105 3s as a senior, he’ll finish third on the Cowboys’ career 3-point list with 280, trailing only Phil Forte (329) and Keiton Page (299). But right now Dziagwa’s career 3-point percentage is an even 41 percent, while Forte (39.5) and Page (36.8) are both below him.

The 3-point line moves out a little farther this season, but something tells me this won’t be an issue for Dziagwa.

This is what you call a heat check pic.twitter.com/9GeGeBpxAd

— Marshall Scott (@Marshall_Once) February 19, 2019

4. Keylan Boone

The lowest-rated (American) prospect in Boynton’s 2019 class has started making waves lately.

At 6-foot-8, Keylan Boone is the fourth-tallest player on OSU’s roster, but expect him to play on the wings much more than in the post. His 247 recruiting profile listed him at 175 pounds, but he is up to 200 pounds on the OSU roster. It seems like each time I see him, he looks more athletic.

Boynton said Boone played well in OSU’s closed-door scrimmage against Tulsa on Sunday, particularly defensively. Boynton said Boone had nine rebounds and seven deflections in about 20 minutes. That’s all the more impressive when Keylan was thought to be more of an offensive-minded player coming in.

He and his brother are also quite the interviews. Here is Keylan talking to Kyle Boone (no relation) and I at OSU’s media day.

3. Hidde Roessink

You had to know he was coming.

The mystique of Hidde Roessink has grown to a fever pitch heading into the year.

Out of The Netherlands, he committed to OSU with little fanfare, doing so from his private Instagram account. Boynton said on his visit, the 6-10 big man was dead eye from 3-point range.

Since he got to campus this summer, his teammates have talked him up as a guy to look out for, and Boynton has gone as far as to say Roessink could make a case to be the best shooter on the team. Boynton also said Roessink might be the smartest player he has ever coached.

He’s a stretch four, but at 6-10, he’ll have a height advantage over most of the power forwards he plays against. Defense is probably a question for him as he adjusts to the more athletic American game, but Boynton said Roessink’s basketball IQ helps him understand defensive concepts quicker than most.

2. Isaac Likekele

Isaac Likekele returns for his sophomore season as a world champion.

Likekele took home a gold medal at the U19 Fiba World Cup in Greece this summer with USA Basketball. Likekele started every game for OSU last season as a freshman, and he played well.

Likekele had 126 assists last season, trailing only Marcus Smart (139) among freshmen in program history. He averaged 8.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists a game as a freshman.

If there was one area that needed improvement in Likekele’s game, it was his jump shot. He went 6-for-25 from 3-point range last season, so it’ll be interesting to see how he improves in that area in Year 2.

The 3-point line being moved out, will likely help Likekele’s game, though, as it will create more space for him to get to the basket.

Likekele is a legitimate NBA prospect. ESPN recently released a 2021 NBA mock draft (the same one that had OSU target Cade Cunningham going No. 1 overall) that had Likekele as the 40th pick.

1. Yor Anei

There weren’t many stretches in all of college basketball last season as dominant as what Yor Anei did in the Cowboy’s final three games.

In OSU’s last three, Anei averaged 15.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and seven (!!) blocks a game and did so while shooting 70.4 percent from the field.

Anei tied the program record of 85 blocks in a season as only a freshman, and after just the one season, Anei already ranks 13th in program history for career blocks.

If he can find similar form in his sophomore season, he too will soon be NBA bound. Bryant Reeves was the last Cowboy big to be drafted, and that was all the way back in 1995.