Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Basketball Preview
October 10, 2011 | Cowboy Basketball
Oct. 10, 2011
When Oklahoma State opens basketball practice on Friday night, it will be the beginning of the final season for Cowboy senior Keiton Page. When the Pawnee, Okla., product has played his final game in an OSU uniform, he will be one of the most prolific long-range shooters in school history.
Before you know it, Page will become the fifth player in the OSU record books to have connected on 200 three-pointers in a career, joining a very elite group (Randy Rutherford – 279, Obi Muonelo – 245, Adrian Peterson – 228, and James Anderson – 225). He is just four shy of that milestone entering the 2011-12 season, having made 196 treys in his career.
Not only is Page a sharp-shooting threat, but he also has the uncanny ability to drive the lane and draw fouls. He ranks second in OSU history for free-throw percentage in a career, connecting on more than 86 percent of his free tosses. He's also started 65-straight games, dating back to his sophomore season.
While Page is the only player with extensive Division I experience, he's not the only returning starter for the Cowboys. In fact, OSU has a pair of point guards entering the 2011-12 season who have both started several games. Fred Gulley started 17 games for the Pokes as a freshman and was the starting point guard through the first seven games of last year before a shoulder injury sidelined him for the rest of the season. Reger Dowell filled in admirably, and took on the role of floor general for a 10-game stretch at the end of the year.
Also returning for the Cowboys after nice starts to their careers are junior Jéan-Paul Olukemi and sophomore Markel Brown. After coming off the bench until early January, Oukemi started 11-straight games through the conference portion of the schedule. He is the second-leading returning scorer behind Page this season, averaging just over 11 points a year ago.
Coming off one of the better freshman seasons in school history, Brown started 10 games a year ago for OSU. He led the team with 33 blocked shots, the most ever by a Cowboy guard and the fifth-most ever by a freshman at Oklahoma State. The uber-athletic guard averaged 8.4 points in league play.
A pair of redshirt freshmen have spent a year learning the system and getting stronger. Their patience should pay off as they will both be great contributors this season. Michael Cobbins and Brian Williams are both extremely athletic and will both see extensive court time.
Coach Ford and his staff went out over the last year and added four players who could help out the Cowboys immediately. The first player they signed was Le'Bryan Nash, one of the top-10 players nationally and an All-American on everyone's list. The 6-7 freshman is capable of playing any position, and was named the Big 12 Conference's Preseason Player of the Year by the league coaches.
Guard Cezar Guerrero joined Nash during the early signing period and will definitely help out at the guard position. The 6-0 ball-handler is such a good shooter that he won the three-point competition at the inaugural National High School Slam Dunk and 3-Point Championships over Final Four weekend last spring.
OSU also added some bulk with the signing of junior-college transfer Philip Jurick. A 6-11 second-team All-American, the juco transfer led the nation in blocked shots last season, averaging 9.5 per contest. He's also a terrific rebounder and should give the Cowboys some much-needed height at the center position.
A late addition to the Cowboys' roster was Marek Soucek, an international player from the Czech Republic. Soucek spent a year at the Canarias Basketball Academy in Spain last season and despite the apparent help he'll give in the paint at 7-feet, he's also a good shooter from the outside.
The final player to join the OSU squad is Christien Sager, a two-sport athlete in high school who elected to focus on basketball in college. While originally a walk-on for the Cowboys, he was granted a scholarship by Coach Ford. Sager averaged 19 points as a senior at Rider High School in Wichita Falls, Texas.
As stated earlier, Oklahoma State begins practicing on Friday, Oct. 14, and will host the annual Homecoming & Hoops celebration on Friday, Oct. 28. The Cowboys have a pair of exhibition games scheduled for Nov. 2 and 6, and will open the regular season on Friday, Nov. 11, hosting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Other exciting games on the home slate include the first- and second-round contests in the Dick's Sporting Goods Preseason NIT Tip-Off, as well as a game against in-state rival Tulsa on Nov. 30. OSU hosts Virginia Tech in a nationally televised game on New Year's Eve.
Oklahoma State has a challenging non-conference schedule, including games at Missouri State (Dec. 7), vs Pittsburgh in New York City (Dec. 10), New Mexico in the All-College Classic in Oklahoma City (Dec. 17), vs Alabama in Birmingham (Dec. 21) and a game against SMU at the American Airlines Center in Dallas (Dec. 28).
For the first time in 16 seasons, every league school will pass through the doors of Gallagher-Iba Arena. OSU will host every Big 12 school this season, including Bedlam vs Oklahoma (Jan. 9) and a Big Monday matchup with Kansas on Feb. 27.
Good seats are still available for season tickets. Fans can contact the OSU Athletic Ticket office at (877) ALL-4-OSU or by clicking the link HERE.
