What Will Oklahoma State Do With It’s Final Three Roster Spots?

PORTAL TRACKER

And then there were three.

With Arizona State transfer Andrija Grbovic committing to Oklahoma State on Wednesday, Steve Lutz is down to three roster spots remaining.

To have a little fun on a Thursday, here’s what archetypes of players I could see the Cowboys going after and a handful of players in the portal who fit those profiles.

1. A Big with Experience

If you read my thoughts following basketball games or listened to The Reload, you’d know there aren’t many people with more Ben Ahmed stock than me. But, given how important the center position has been to the first two seasons of the Steve Lutz Era (Abou Ousmane and Parsa Fallah), I’d be a little concerned if two sophomores were all the Cowboys had down low.

Ahmed is going to be really good — maybe as soon as next season. But, he averaged 5.9 fouls per 40 minutes. I believe Mekhi Ragland could develop into a really fun big, but he averaged eight fouls per 40.

Through two seasons in Stillwater, Lutz seems to like big bodies at center, but you wonder if given the defensive struggles this past season if OSU will opt for a more athletic rim-protector.

So, someone who is experienced, who can help the the defensive effort and can still allow those young guys room to grow.

Four in the portal who fit the profile: 

Jerald Colonel (Stephen F. Austin) — OSU was reportedly in contact with Colonel when the portal opened. He was the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year this past season, averaging five points, 7.3 boards and 2.6 blocks a game. He comes in at 6-9, 200 pounds.

Massamba Diop (Arizona State) — Diop will draw a lot of attention in the portal and might be out of the Pokes’ price range, but as a freshman in Tempe, he averaged 13.6 points, 5.8 boards and 2.1 blocks a game.

Franck Kepnang (Washington) — listed at 6-foot-11, 247 pounds, Kepnang averaged 6.2 points, 6.3 boards and 2.1 blocks a game for the Huskies last season. He’s already taken part in six NCAA seasons (two at Oregon and four at Washington), so he’d likely need a waiver to become eligible).

Chol Machot (Charleston) — Machot isn’t the most experienced, having just finished up his redshirt sophomore season, but the 7-foot, 190-pounder averaged 8.9 points, 5.5 boards and a CAA-leading 2.5 blocks a contest. He was the CAA Defensive Player of the Year.

2. A Long Wing (Or Two?)

A lack of length on the perimeter gave the Cowboys some trouble in Year 1, so I wouldn’t mind a guy with some experience who is a capable defender and 3-point shooter.

I imagine a lot of teams would love to add a long, defensive-minded wing who can shoot the 3, for what it’s worth.

I could be persuaded to pick up two of these guys in place of option No. 3.

Five in the portal who fit the profile: 

Christian Harmon (Arkansas State) — Harmon was an All-Sun Belt Selection this past season after averaging 12.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 0.9 steals a game. He shot 35% from 3. It was his first year at the Division-I level after spending two seasons in the JUCO ranks.

Dennis Parker (Radford) — Parker was a four-star recruit in the 2023 class who Mike Boynton offered. He played two seasons at NC State before making the move to Radford. He averaged 18.3 points a game this past season to go with 5.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.4 steals a contest while shooting 38% from 3. He’s listed at 6-6.

BJ Omot (Minnesota) — Omot did not play this past season at Minnesota because of injury. He last played at Cal in 2024-25, where he averaged 10.8 points, three rebounds and a steal a game while shooting 35% from 3.

Isaiah Johnson-Arigu (St. Thomas) — After playing in eight games as a freshman at Miami, Johnson-Arigu played this past season at St. Thomas, where he averaged 10.5 points and four boards a game while shooting a respectable 33% from 3 on 80 attempts. His defensive rating of 102.7 would’ve been seconds among Cowboys this season, but the Summit is quite a bit different from the Big 12. He’s 6-7.

Mookie Cook (San Francisco) — Listed at 6-6, Cook started his college career at Oregon. After two seasons where he played sparingly, he transferred to San Fran for this past season and averaged 7.6 points, 4.2 boards and 1.5 assists a game. He has a career defensive rating of 105.4.

3. Maybe Another Point Guard

You can never have too many ball handlers, if you ask me.

Kanye Clary, Jacob Walker (Sam Houston), Luka Bogavac (North Carolina) and Kashie Natt (Sam Houston) are all capable facilitators, so I don’t see this being a must-need. But it might be safe to just get one more guy capable of running the point.

Three-point shooting and/or defensive acumen is always a plus.

Three in the portal who fit the profile: 

Javontae Campbell (Bowling Green) — Campbell is from Muskogee and spent two seasons at NOC-Tonkawa. He was the MAC Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 18.7 points, 4.5 boards, 5.1 assists and three steals a game this past season. He might need a waiver to get one of the JUCO years back, but I feel like that would be a slam dunk on many fronts.

Christian Jeffrey (Villanova) — Jeffrey was a freshman at Villanova this past year but before that was a four-star recruit who visited Oklahoma State. He played 180 total minutes across 22 games for Villanova, averaging three points, a rebound and an assist a game. He went 5-for-14 (36%) from 3 and had a 103.3 defensive rating.

Jordan Marsh (USC) — Out of North Carolina, Marsh averaged 7.3 points, two rebounds and 1.9 assists at UCS this past season while shooting 36% from 3. He was an All-Big South selection the season before after averaging 18.8 points, 4.2 boards, 3.7 assists and two steals a game at UNC-Asheville.