Parker Friedrichsen commits to Oklahoma State

Bixby sharpshooting guard Parker Friedrichsen announced Monday he’s committing to Oklahoma State.

Friedrichsen is rated as a four-star guard and No. 104 in the nation according to the 247sports composite. The Bixby, Oklahoma, native becomes Oklahoma State’s first commitment in the class of 2023. Friedrichsen chose the Pokes against offers from Creighton, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma among others.

Members of OSU’s current squad are certainly excited for Friedrichsen to join the team.

Friedrichsen addresses a particular area of need for Oklahoma State. A hallmark of the last several Boynton squads at OSU is a lack of jump shooting talent, and Friedrichsen profiles as a pure shooter according to recruiting analyst Brandon Jenkins of 247sports.

“One of the more pure and accurate shooters in the class, Friedrichsen is a lethal marksman from all areas on the floor. He specializes in knocking down shots from behind the arc (and then some) and he has seen stock rise during his sophomore year summer because of it. Although he needs to get physically stronger and will struggle putting the ball on the floor and getting to his spots against bigger and more athletic defenders, he has shown comfort in creating for himself and knocking down the pull-up mid-range jumper at the high school level. Defensively, he will need to improve overall as he will struggle with quick, burly, or athletic guards at the high major level. However, Friedrichsen skillset as a deadeye specialist will make up for it as a player like him always will fill a need.”

One of the things that stands out with Friedrichsen is Oklahoma State keeping Oklahoma talent at home. In the class of 2021, each of the top players in Oklahoma held OSU offers, but four-star Trey Alexander chose Creighton and three-star Sean Pedulla chose Virginia Tech. Bryce Thompson, from Tulsa, chose Kansas originally in the class of 2020 before transferring to OSU.

Pedulla in particular helped key the Hokies to upset North Carolina and Duke en route to winning the ACC Tournament last week. Pedulla, a true freshman, scored eight points in 18 minutes in the win over UNC. That’s the kind of talent OSU would benefit from keeping in state. Friedrichsen certainly profiles as that kind of player, a spark plug shooter that can help end scoring droughts through the respect for his own shot and his ability to move the ball.

Friedrichsen still has one more year at Bixby, but will be much needed on the 2023-24 squad as many members of the current team will likely graduate and move on if they decline their “COVID year” of eligibility. Friedrichsen is a strong start for Mike Boynton in the OSU class of 2023.