STILLWATER – Oklahoma State has been on the receiving end of a few successful ventures into the portal with Kendall Smith and Bryce Williams. They’ve also lost quite a few players, as has every other team in college basketball. The transfer portal is literally a give and/or take operation, but it’s certainly beneficial, which is why Mike Boynton and Co. are being so active in the portal this spring.
There’s a rather extensive list of players the coaching staff has reached out to over the past few weeks who have a legitimate chance of making a pretty decent impact over the next few seasons.
We’ll start this list with a player I wrote about a few days ago, Damari Monsanto out of East Tennessee State, the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year this past season.
Monsanto is a 6-6, 225-pound wing out of Pembroke Pines, FL, who released his top-six list this past Sunday. Joining the Cowboys is Arkansas, Butler, Iowa State, Virginia and Wake Forest. He redshirted the 2019-20 season, but averaged 11.8 points a game, second on the team in scoring, on 41% shooting from the field. He also led the team in rebounds with 7.3 per game. Those numbers jumped up in conference play to 13.2 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.
Jayden Gardner – 6-7, 235-pound forward – East Carolina
Next up is East Carolina forward Jayden Gardner. Boynton and Co. met virtually with Gardner this past Monday. The Cowboys are among several schools, including Pittsburgh, LSU, Arkansas and Miami who have either made contact or met virtually with Gardner. He had a monster season this past year as a junior. He started 18 out of 19 game and averaged 18.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, but those numbers weren’t a fluke. Gardner posted 19.7 points and 9.2 rebounds in 2019-20 and 16.3 points and 8.5 rebounds in 2018-19. Gardner would certainly be a huge addition to the roster.
Cam’Ron Fletcher – 6-6, 215-pounds – Kentucky
We’re gonna take a look at Kentucky transfer freshman Cam’Ron Fletcher, who had a bit of a rocky start with the Wildcats. Played in just nine games this past season, Fletcher averaged just 1.7 points and 1.7 rebounds per game but missed close to two months of the season after and outburst on the bench following a 75-63 loss to North Carolina. The outburst was based on Fletcher feeling he wasn’t getting enough playing time.
He was a top-70 prospect out of high school in Missouri, where he averaged 20.6 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. Along with Oklahoma State, Florida State, Marquette, Memphis, Tennessee, UCLA and USC are in the mix.
Jawaun Daniels – 6-7, 190-pounds – Prairie View A&M
Originally out of Harlem, NY, Daniels had a monster junior season after missing nearly all of the 2019-20 season with an injury. Starting in 20 games this past year, Daniels averaged an impressive 15.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, leading to being named to the Southwestern Athletic Conference Second Team. Teams who have been in contact with Daniels include Oklahoma State, New Mexico State, Loyola Chicago, Creighton, UMass, Towson and Rice among others.
Xavier Cork – 6-9, 235-pounds – Western Carolina
Cork is another interesting player to keep an eye on. Originally out of Sulphur Springs, TX, Cork has reportedly narrowed his list down to Oklahoma State, Abilene Christian, Boston College, Colorado State, North Texas, SMU, TCU, Texas A&M, UCF and Virginia Tech. Cork had a solid sophomore season as he started in all 27 games. He led both WCU and the Southern Conference in shooting percentage at 64.1% from the field while 12.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
