/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49154625/usa-today-8459901.0.jpg)
Brad Underwood has had a pretty busy week. Sunday, his Stephen F. Austin team lost a close game at the horn that would have sent them to the Sweet 16. Monday he headed to Stillwater and Wednesday he was formally introduced as Oklahoma State's next men's basketball coach.
Unfortunately, things won't be slowing down for the Big 12's newest head coach any time soon.
He's got to build relationships with current OSU players, hire a staff and oh yeah find a place for he and his family to live.
On top of all of that, there's this whole recruiting thing to worry about. It's pretty important.
Former OSU head coach Travis Ford had four players committed for this upcoming season.
Let's look at the current holdovers from Ford's recruiting efforts.
Lindy Waters III (SG)
@LindyWatersIII
Lindy Waters III or "Trey" is the highest ranked commit of the 2016 class. The 6-foot-6, 185-pound shooting guard is a guy who can flat out get buckets.
His length and shooting touch could translate immediately. How does another 3-point shooter with that type of length next to Forte and Evans sound?
Waters holds 11 offers including OU, Iowa State and strangely enough Stephen F. Austin.
Sorry bro. @LindyWatersIII put you on the poster... #NormanNorth #TakeState #OKPreps pic.twitter.com/1HfZFvyk19
— Jed Dembowski (@jdembowski) March 12, 2016
The former Norman North guard has taken an unusual journey over the last year. Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman wrote a great piece on him in January. I recommend you read it. Here's the link.
Waters' retention should be priority number one in recruiting.
Check out some of Trey's highlights.
Cameron McGriff (SF)
247Sports
Cameron McGriff is 6-foot-6, 215-pound small forward from South Grand Prairie HS (Grand Prairie, TX).The three-star prospect received eight offers, including OU, Tulsa, Texas, Creighton and Arkansas before committing to Oklahoma State.
McGriff is athletic and has the length to play at the three or the four.
Check out some of his Hudl highlights.
Thomas Dziagwa (PG)
The 6-foot-4, 180-pound high school point guard could play at either guard position. The three-star prospect from Tampa Catholic (Tampa, FL) is another sharp-shooter from three.
Here's the good news. Dziagwa is already familiar with Coach Underwood.
Apparently, SFA was not too far behind Oklahoma State when he was making his decision last year. Check out the Tulsa World's Mark Cooper's story here.
I would expect Dziagwa to stick with his commitment, as well.
Ever heard the phrase "shooter's roll"?
Gorjak Gak (C)
247Sports
Gak, a 6-foot-10, 205-pound three-star center out of Victory Rock Prep (Bradenton, FL), definitely has the length and frame to grow into.
When Gorjak Gak committed last year, we all wondered if Travis Ford had actually finally found a big man. That's still to be seen. But Underwood may have his work cut out for him on this one.
After the news of Travis Ford's dismissal, a source close to Gak shared that the center was likely looking to reopen his commitment and request a release from his letter of intent.
It's important that we understand that recruiting is not just about seeing potential where some may not. It's also, and sometimes more importantly, trying to find players that fit your system and culture.
It's going to be very interesting to see how this recruiting process goes. While I'm sure all of these commits will be welcomed by Underwood. How far does he go to convince some to stay if they express interest to look elsewhere?