Three Oklahoma State Football Players Who Could Help the Men’s Basketball Team

Mike Boynton had to cut three of his players Wednesday due to a violation of team rules. That now leaves his roster at just nine players, two of which are former walk-ons Luke Major and Trey Reeves. Not exactly ideal for running 5-on-5 drills.

To help the problem, Boynton is holding open tryouts Thursday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena to try and add more depth to a thin roster.

For anyone seriously interested that has had a physical in the last six months, please try out! The team wouldn’t be holding open try-outs if they didn’t really need an extra body or two.

In the past, when the team was desperate for depth, they’ve brought on some athletes from other teams to help out. Specifically from the football team. Eddie Sutton more than 20 years ago and brought in cornerback R.W. McQuarters. Sean Sutton did it in the 2006-07 season, bringing in wide receiver Adarius Bowman, who played a grand total of 17 minutes in five games.

So, if Boynton were to grab a couple of Mike Gundy’s kids to ride the bench help out, who could he turn to?

Phillip tweeted out a poll on Wednesday asking that question, and out of Jelani Woods, Tylan Wallce, Shane Richards, and Keondre Wudtee, fans thought Woods would be the best pick.

We decided to look at three in particular we think we could make an immediate impact for the team.

Linebacker Kevin Henry

Henry has experience playing basketball from his high school days and even tweeted out a few of his highlights after OSU announced the walk-on try-outs. Henry is 6 feet tall and 230 pounds. He would be strong enough to defend at a high level, though rotating and lateral movement could be an issue. As you can see below, the man has a pretty good looking jumpshot.

Cornerback Rodarius Williams

Williams would fit into the backcourt nicely at 6 feet tall and 180 pounds. He’s an athlete who can run and jump with the best of them. I could see him being a tenacious rebounder, similar to Terry Rozier of the Boston Celtics. He claims to be a solid three point shooter, and if that’s the case, the offense could use his talent. He should be able to keep up with other guards on the perimeter. Even if Williams is a bad defender, Boynton could always hide him on the worst offensive player on the opposing team.

Cowboy Back Jelani Woods

Let’s just be honest for a second here, who wouldn’t want to see Jelani Woods throw his absolute wagon around in the paint? The 6-foot-7, 251-pound tight end could surely move some bodies around down low. Every basketball team needs a unit of a football player at the end of the bench to serve as a hype man and to bring in situationally to carve out enough space under the basket to drive a semi through the lane. I don’t know about the hype man part, but Woods has the size to move some bodies.

Honorable Mention:

The Wallace Twins!

Ok, maybe this one is just me. I played basketball with my twin growing up and it was fun to share a backcourt together. Plus, these two fit the hype man role better than almost anyone on the team. Just imagine Tylan assisting Tracin on a game winning bucket in Bedlam next Wednesday. If that isn’t the definition of Orange Power then I don’t know what is.

I also want to take a second to say that it’s a shame that Ramon Richards graduated last year. This moment was made for him. He would have handshakes with every player, coach, fan and parking attendant at GIA before the end of this week. That’s not to mention the insane bench celebrations he would have choreographed.