ESPN's Joe Lunardi Is High on the Pokes Entering Big 12 Play
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State hoops has gotten off to a nice 6-0 start to the 2020-21 season. That includes wins over a tough Marquette team on the road, a team that’s knocked off No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 9 Creighton this season, a road win over Wichita State and wins over hot-handed ORU and Texas Southern teams.
We found out earlier this month from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi the Pokes have been deemed eligible by the NCAA for the tournament until the appeals process comes to a close. Patrick Wheeler and myself interviewed Lunardi on the Afternoon Sports Drive, our radio show on the Triple Play Sports Radio Network, and asked him what he though about the Pokes so far and their chances on making the NCAA tournament.
“I think anytime you can win on the road, and I don’t care whether there’s fans or not, it’s still harder than winning at home,” said ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. “We are talking kind of young kids here in foreign environments; to be able to go on the road at Marquette, a borderline [NCAA] tournament team, Wichita State, in some turmoil certainly, but still, winning on the road. I was on radio in Arkansas talking about the Razorbacks and they’re also 6-0. They haven’t left their gym, they haven’t left their state and they haven’t played anybody ranked inside the top-150 in the country. Well, Oklahoma State’s done much more than that and I think for a young team with the uncertainty surrounding the program, that if anything, they’ve been a little extra aggressive in scheduling and they’re probably as well prepared as they can be under the circumstances for league play.
“With a shorter non-conference season for pretty much everyone, league play is going to be what determines your eventual fate. It’s going to come down, like it often does for all except the very, very top teams in major conferences, ‘can you stay above .500 in your league?’ Because generally speaking, history will tell you that if you’re a winning team in the Big 12, you’re going to see your name on Selection Sunday. That’s going to be the challenge for Oklahoma State.”
Big 12 play starts for the Pokes on Wednesday, Dec. 16 in Stillwater against a TCU team that’s started the year well. From there, things only get tougher as Baylor’s one of the best teams in the country, Kansas is always really good, as has been Texas Tech and West Virginia. Lunardi said he believed that both Baylor and West Virginia have the potential of being Final Four teams.
But we asked Lunardi what made Oklahoma State so dangerous this year and he had a lot of positive things to say about the Pokes, especially the three freshmen that’s been tearing it up through the first six games.
“Well, I got to tell you, it’s more the way than the who, because they just have a toughness and a defensive mindset under Mike Boynton that I think is really admirable,” said Lunardi. “The other freshman, [Matthew-Alexander] Moncreiffe, impressive to start, good shooting start. Rondel Walker, I think, is an interesting player. You have three freshmen like that throwing Cade Cunningham in there and you figure they’ll just keep getting better and better as the year goes along. I certainly think they’ll be in the tournament and I just hope that for Cade Cunningham’s sake, he’s not like a Ben Simmons that never gets the chance.”
A new ESPN Bracketology comes out on today (Tuesday) and Lunardi said the Cowboys will be entering this one as a No. 10 seed. The way things went over the in regards to the NCAA investigation and punishment, I think OSU fans, and certainly the team, will be ecstatic with a 10 seed going into Big 12 play.