For the first time in his head coaching career, Steve Lutz did not reach the NCAA Tournament. He’s looking to break that streak early and take this Oklahoma State basketball team back.
The tradition continues! It’s another year of our countdown of the top 100 preseason teams in college basketball until the start of the season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Oklahoma State basketball.
Before coming to Oklahoma State, Steve Lutz coached three seasons, two at Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, and one at Western Kentucky. In all three years, he led his team to the NCAA Tournament. Oklahoma State fans were hoping he could continue that streak, but with the roster they had, they knew that was a long shot. They finished third to last in the Big 12, not a great start, but an expected finish based on preseason polls.
This year, with a relatively clean slate, he went out and built the team that he wanted, and boy, does it look like an improved roster.
Oklahoma State basketball brings in two Power Conference guards to fill the backcourt. Isaiah Coleman was the lone bright spot on a putrid Seton Hall team last year and was only a sophomore. Then, they add several mid-major bigs to round out the starting lineup, both of whom averaged double-figure scoring for their teams.
The theme of this team is wild cards. That starts with Kanye Clary and Anthony Roy, who we’ll discuss later in the article. Lefteris Mantzoukas is a 22-year-old freshman from Greece, who at 6-10 is a great shooter and adds an interesting element to this team. Then, they also have a former top 100 recruit in Vyctorius Miller, and a current top 100 recruit and borderline top 100 recruit in Ryan Crotty and Ben Ahmed.
If we see more booms than busts from those guys, this team should have no problems getting back into the tournament. There’s a lot of ifs, though, making this one of the more intriguing teams to watch in the Big 12 this upcoming season.
Head coach:Â Steve Lutz (2nd season at Oklahoma State, 5th season overall)
2024-25 record: 17-18 (7-13)
2025 postseason finish:Â Lost in the Quarterfinals of the NIT Tournament
Notable departures:Â
- Bryce Thompson (13.0 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 1.7 APG)
- Abou Ousmane (12.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 0.7 APG)
- Marchelus Avery (11.4 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.3 APG)
- Arturo Dean (7.6 PPG, 3.4 APG, 3.1 RPG)
- Brandon Newman (7.3 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 0.8 APG)
- Khalil Brantley (6.2 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 2.4 APG)
- Jamyron Keller (5.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.4 APG)
Notable non-conference games:Â
- vs. Texas A&M (Nov. 9)
- vs. South Florida (Nov. 19)
- at Northwestern (Nov. 27)
- at Grand Canyon (Dec. 6)
- vs. Oklahoma (Dec. 13)
Projected Rotation
PG: Kanye Cleary (6-0, 190, Jr.)
2024-25 stats: 6.3 PPG, 2.6 APG, 1.3 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 7 games played (Mississippi State)
SG: Isaiah Coleman (6-5, 200, Jr.)
2024-25 stats: 15.6 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.7 APG, 1.5 SPG, 76.1 FT% (Seton Hall)
SF: Anthony Roy (6-5, 205, Gr.-Sr.)
2024-25 stats: 25.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.5 SPG, 50.3 FG%, 43.2 3P%, 86.4 FT%, 11 games played (Green Bay)
PF: Christian Coleman (6-8, 210, Gr.-Sr)
2024-25 stats: 11.6 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 1.4 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 53.3 FG% (UAB)
C: Parsah Fallah (6-10, 250, Sr.)
2024-25 stats: 12.8 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.5 BPG, 59.8 FG%, 69.3 FT% (Oregon State)
6: Vyctorius Miller (6-5, 190, So.)
2024-25 stats: 8.9 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.5 SPG, 44.7 FG%, 72.9 FT% (LSU)
7: Lefteris Mantzoukas (6-9, 230, Fr.)
2024 EuroLeague champion with Panathinaikos Athens
8: Jaylen Curry (6-1, 175, Jr.)
2024-25 stats: 13.3 PPG, 3.9 APG, 3.8 RPG, 1.2 SPG, 34.6 3P%, 64.5 FT% (UMass)
9: Robert Jennings (6-7, 230, Rs.-Sr.)
2024-25 stats: 5.4 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 0.3 APG, 47.4 FG%, 78.3 FT%
10: Ben Ahmed (6-10, 275, Fr.)
2025 247Sports #110 ranked recruit
11:Â Ryan Crotty (6-6, 215, Fr.)
2025 247Sports #83 ranked recruit
Oklahoma State Basketball team MVP: Kanye Clary & Anthony Roy
It’s rare for a team to have two MVPs, but both are very capable at their ceilings. In Clary’s sophomore year, he averaged nearly 17 PPG on good splits. Last year for Roy, he actually led the country in scoring, averaging 25.7 PPG in the 11 games he played. He shot the ball extremely efficiently and didn’t just do it against low-major programs. Against Ohio State, he scored 30 points on 10-16 shooting and 8-12 from three.
They don’t have to combine to score 42 a game, but they can average around 35-38 a game combined on good splits, it’ll be tough to beat this team. Both guys have a lot of experience, and that’ll play to their advantage. There’s a lot of ifs with these guys, though, which we’ll highlight below.
Oklahoma State Basketball make-or-break player: Kanye Clary & Anthony Roy
While these two guys are exceptional players, there’s a big question mark regarding them. The two played a combined 18 games last season, with the most recent being December 14th. Roy and Clary both suffered lower leg injuries that required their seasons to end early. So, after 11 months of not playing, can they get back to their top form? We’ve seen both sides from players with similar injuries, and Oklahoma State basketball desperately needs the answer to be yes.
They have depth at guard if one doesn’t pan out, but both of these guys really raise the ceiling of this team. Clary also left that Penn State team for other reasons, so his availability is fairly a concern for the program.
Key analytic: Tempo
Coach Lutz likes to go fast. In his sole season at Western Kentucky, they had the fastest tempo in the country. Last year, they weren’t #1, but weren’t far behind at 12. The goal is to get as many possessions as possible and not allow the defense to get set. It worked at times last year, but also let games get out of hand because they just didn’t have the talent to make it work at times. With the improved roster, this could be a strategy that can swing a few games their way.
Oklahoma State Basketball 2025-26 projections
Projected conference finish:Â 11th in the Big 12
Projected postseason ceiling:Â NCAA Tournament Round of 32 Exit