NEW YORK — The Big 12 conference tournament is not played at Madison Square Garden, and that’s a good thing for LeBryan Nash and his Oklahoma State teammates.
The Cowboys are 6-3 on the season, with all three losses coming in the World’s Most Famous Arena — to Stanford, Virginia Tech and then No. 15 Pittsburgh on Saturday.
Yet the 6-foot-7 Nash, a McDonald’s All-American and Oklahoma State’s prized freshman swingman, did not leave New York discouraged about the team’s prospects this season. To read more of this story, click here
No one has ever doubted Karron Johnson’s basketball talent.
At 6-foot-8, 240 pounds, Johnson has drawn comparisons to Tracy McGrady of the Detroit Pistons and Marquis Daniels of the Boston Celtics.
Johnson’s father was murdered when he was 5 and a series of academic and off-the-court issues prevented the Richmond, Va., never from ever making it into the Division 1 basketball ranks.
“Karron’s talent has never been an issue,” said James Black, Johnson’s North Carolina-based mentor. “He does have NBA talent. But his path is going to be a little longer.”
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Oklahoma State scored a double-dip Friday.
The Cowboys landed 6-foot-4 small forward Marcus Smart (pictured) and 5-11 point guard Phil Forte, both from Flower Mound (Texas) Marcus.
“It was a very tough decision,” Forte told Star Local Sports. “The whole process was pretty overwhelming and I’m excited to have made my decision, even though it hasn’t really set it in yet. Having to tell all of the great coaches that were recruiting me that I’m going to be going to Oklahoma State was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life.”
“It’s a big relief,” added Smart, the Rivals No. 3 small forward in the Class of 2012 who also considered North Carolina, Kansas and Texas. ”Phil and I visited and sat down and prayed and it just felt right. Getting a chance to continue playing with Phil played a major role in my decision.”
The pair led their high school to a 90-13 record and back-to-back state titles in the last three years, according to Newsok.com.
The duo joins New York power forward Kamari Murphy and shooting guard Adam Wing in Travis Ford’s 2012 recruiting class.
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Kamari Murphy liked everything about Oklahoma State.
“Yes,” the 17-year-old Brooklyn native said by text. “The town, the coaches, the conference, the facilities, the players. I love it!”
So the 6-foot-8 Murphy pulled the trigger and pledged to the Cowboys on Tuesday, choosing them over Florida, Miami, Missouri, UConn, Auburn and Louisville.
“He felt comfortable with the coaching staff and felt that he could come in and play right away and be a factor,” said Dana Dingle, Murphy’s AAU coach with the Long Island Lightning.
He tripped to Oklahoma State right before landing at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academies, where he will spend a postgraduate year.
“He is a combo forward who is athletic and can score and rebound well,” Dingle said.
Said Andy Borman, Director of the IMG Basketball Academy, “Kamari is good enough to be in college right now. He’s at the IMG Basketball Academy to be college-ready next year as a student, as a person and as a basketball player. When he goes to Stillwater next year, he’ll be a freshman eligibility-wise, but a sophomore mentally.”
(Photo courtesy NY Post)
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Jamari Traylor is back from his Kansas visit and says he likely won’t decide on a college until sometime in May.
Kansas and Oklahoma State are his top two options at this point, although Indiana and Texas Tech are expressing interest.
Asked if Kansas and Oklahoma State were equal at this point, he said,”Yes, I would say so.”
He took his latest official to Kansas this past weekend. To read more of this story, click here
BOSTON – Jamari Traylor, a 6-foot-7 power forward from Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academies, enjoyed his official visit to Oklahoma State, according to IMG Academies coach Andy Borman.
“He loved his visit to Oklahoma State,” Borman told SNY.tv Monday. “
“He loved the coaching staff, loved the facilities, really got along well with the guys that are on that squad. He was just extremely impressed and I think Oklahoma State and Jamari make a lot of sense on a lot of different levels. To read more of this story, click here
Jamari Traylor, a 6-foot-7 power forward from IMG Academies, will take an official to Oklahoma State Thursday-Saturday, according to IMG coach Andy Borman.
Traylor will also visit Kansas, though no date has been set.
He has also visited Indiana.
St. John’s, Memphis and Mississippi State are also in the mix.
“He has a tremendous upside,” Borman said. “Jamari has only been To read more of this story, click here
Oklahoma State suspended starting forward Darrell Williams on Monday after he was charged with four felony counts alleging he inappropriately touched two women without their consent.
Williams, a 21-year-old junior forward, made a brief court appearance after he was charged with one count of sexual battery and three counts of rape by instrumentation.
“It goes without saying that we take the charges very seriously,” coach Travis Ford said in a statement. “Darrell will not travel or play while the legal issues are addressed.” To read more of this story, click here
Quincy Miller and Deuce Bello are teammates at Westchester (N.C.) Country Day school, and beginning next year they will be teammates at Baylor University.
Both players announced Thursday on ESPNU.
“I will be taking my services to Baylor University,” said Bello, who also considered Louisville.
“And I’ll be taking my services to Baylor also,” added Miller, who said he also considered Louisville, Duke and Oklahoma. To read more of this story, click here
Quincy Miller, Deuce Bello and LeBryan Nash are all slated to announce their colleges choices at 5 o’clock EST on ESPNU.
As reported here earlier this week, the 6-foot-9 Miller (pictured) is expected to pick Baylor after Louisville dropped out of his recruitment and he didn’t take his visit to Duke last weekend.
Bello could join Miller at Baylor since the two are teammates at Westchester (N.C.) Country Day and have often spoken of playing together.
The 6-7 Nash is down to Kansas, Baylor and Oklahoma State and recently said Oklahoma State was his leader. To read more of this story, click here
