2011 Oklahoma State Basketball Preview


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2010-11 Results

Overall: 20-14
Conference: 6-10 (9th)

Roster

Seniors

Keiton Page
Darrell Williams

Juniors

Jéan-Paul Olukemi
Reger Dowell
Philip Jurick

Sophomores

Fred Gulley
Markel Brown

Freshmen

Cezar Guerrero
Le’Bryan Nash
Brian Williams
Marek Sou?ek
Christien Sager
Michael Cobbins

Head Coach

Travis Ford

Key Losses

The Cowboys were heavily dependent on forwards Marshall Moses, who led the Cowboys in scoring and rebounding, and Matt Pilgrim who averaged 5.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Both of them are now gone which leaves Oklahoma State badly lacking in experienced big men.

Schedule

DATE OPPONENT
Fri, Nov 11 vs Texas A&M-CC
Tue, Nov 15 vs Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Wed, Nov 16 vs UTSA
Wed, Nov 23 vs Stanford*
Wed, Nov 30 vs Tulsa
Sun, Dec 4 vs Langston
Wed, Dec 7 @ Missouri State
Sat, Dec 10 vs #9 Pittsburgh
Sat, Dec 17 vs New Mexico*
Wed, Dec 21 @ #15 Alabama
Wed, Dec 28 vs Southern Methodist*
Sat, Dec 31 vs Virginia Tech
Wed, Jan 4 vs Texas Tech
Sat, Jan 7 @ Texas
Mon, Jan 9 vs Oklahoma
Sat, Jan 14 @ #12 Baylor
Wed, Jan 18 @ Iowa State
Sat, Jan 21 vs Kansas State
Wed, Jan 25 vs #25 Missouri
Sat, Jan 28 @ #18 Texas A&M
Tue, Jan 31 @ Texas Tech
Sat, Feb 4 vs #12 Baylor
Tue, Feb 7 vs Iowa State
Sat, Feb 11 @ #11 Kansas
Wed, Feb 15 @ #25 Missouri
Sat, Feb 18 vs Texas
Wed, Feb 22 @ Oklahoma
Sat, Feb 25 vs #18 Texas A&M
Mon, Feb 27 vs #11 Kansas
Sat, Mar 3 @ Kansas State

2011-12 Preview

The Cowboys look like a potential NCAA Tournament team and will be disappointed if they don’t make it. They certainly have the size and plenty of talent in the frontcourt plus valuable experience in the backcourt. Their biggest problem may be overcoming a difficult non-conference schedule.

The key player is undoubtedly going to be Le’Bryan Nash. He is the most talented player on the team and is capable of turning Oklahoma State into a serious threat this season. His focus has been called into question throughout his high school career but if he can knuckle down to the task he will be a major contributor for the Cowboys.

If Nash falls short, the onus will be on Michael Cobbins who is still recovering from a serious knee injury. It may be that OSU is a year away from making a serious run at the NCAA Tournament but Travis Ford will be looking for a progressive season from his young team.

Oklahoma State finished fourth in the Big 12 two years ago and they look to have enough talent in their team to put up a similar showing this time.

Keiton Page will lead the Cowboys backcourt and will need to step up his game on last year. He showed himself to be a streaky and fearless shooter and made just 30 percent of his attempts. If he gets a bit more scoring assistance from Nash on the wing, Page could play his more natural role as a three-point specialist. Page has 196 career three-pointers made, just one short of the top five in the school record books and is just six short of reaching 200 assists in his career.

Starting point guard, Fred Gulley, had his season curtailed after just seven games by a bad shoulder injury last year. His return could also relieve the pressure on Page. In his freshman season, Gulley started 14 of the final 15 games at point guard and was ranked 11th among Big 12 freshmen in assists per game (1.27) and steals per contest (0.7), and seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.11).

Ford will be relying on talent to fill the void left by Moses and Pilgrim. Oklahoma State beat some fierce competition for the services of 6-7 small forward LeBryan Nash, rated the No. 10 overall player in the class of 2011 by ESPN. He is tall and strong, with a body to play inside and the skills to play on the wing.

Nash was named a McDonald’s All-American in 2011, competing for the West Team at the 34th annual McDonald’s All-American High School Basketball game.  He also won the slam dunk competition at the McDonald’s All-American Powerade Jam Fest. Nash was ranked as the second-best small forward in the country and the No. 6 player overall by Rivals.com in the class of 2011 and as a five-star recruit by Scout.com and the No. 2 small forward in the nation.

Ford will probably pair Nash with 6-5 junior Jean-Paul Olukemi, a returning starter, to form a new-look frontcourt. What they lack in strength they make up for in agility and skill. The Cowboys have other options to fill the forward spots so they could move Nash out to the wing but his natural strengths are in a power forward role.

Michael Cobbins, who was ranked the No. 9 power forward in the class of 2010, was redshirted as a freshman last year due to a severe knee injury as a senior in high school. He was named the boys basketball Player of the Year and the SuperTeam MVP in 2010 by the Amarillo Globe News.

More Big 12 Basketball Predictions

Kansas Jayhawks Missouri Tigers
Baylor Bears Iowa State Cyclones
Kansas State Wildcats Texas Longhorns
Oklahoma State Cowboys Oklahoma Sooners
Texas A&M Aggies Texas Tech Red Raiders
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