Prep Hoops Oklahoma Awards: All-State first team
Illustrations by Bryce McKinnis. Photography by Matt Reynolds/Joshua Cleary.
Bryce Thompson Bryce Thompson 6'5" | CG Booker T. Washington | 2020 State #15 Nation OK | Sr. | Booker T. Washington / MVP |
25.1 PPG | 5.8 RPG | 2.8 APG |
T wo-time Gatorade Player of the Year. State Champion. Kansas-signee.
Thompson set out on a mission three years ago. Whatever the task, Thompson vowed to respond with ferocity.
Among many of his accolades, Thompson’s senior season concluded with him earning the Prep Hoops Oklahoma Player of the Year award.
It became more apparent each season, each award, each summer with Oklahoma Run PWP, that the 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Tulsa was on the verge of something unprecedented.
As the trajectory of his career increased, Thompson dashed past his competition on the floor and into the national spotlight.
Treating a few of the best players in the country as prey, Thompson’s senior summer became a national spectacle.
From May to August, Thompson earned scholarship offers to play at more than a few of the most prestigious basketball programs in the country, including Michigan State, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Texas and the victor of his commitment, the Kansas Jayhawks.
Rondel Walker Rondel Walker 6'2" | SG Putnam City West | 2020 State #120 Nation OK | Sr. | Putnam City West |
25.8 PPG | 4.3 APG | 5.5 RPG | 4.1 SPG |
Walker seized the crown to Putnam City’s basketball oligarchy two years ago. Late in the 2020 regular season, Walker became P.C. West’s all-time leading scorer and steals leader.
Averaging over four steals and almost 26 points-a-game, the Oklahoma-State signee commit ensued on an under arching cross-state battle with the aforementioned Thompson; whether either were privy to the arranged rivalry was curious, but everybody else knew it was happening.
However, Walker awakened such an impressive standard of play in his final games — 32 against Midwest City and 33 to down Southmoore — that for the first time all season, curiosity emerged from all who paid attention: could the Patriots take down their Goliath, Booker T. Washington?
As long as relevancy persists of the 2020 season for all its unresolved potential, Walker will be cemented as its central storyline.
Nobody was outplaying Walker. As December, then January passed, Oklahoma saw the fierce determination, the diligence of an 18-year-old without a ring to bring a Gold Ball home.
Though the pinnacle of Walker’s accomplishments never came to fruition, Walker nailed one thing down: his legacy will not soon be forgotten on 23rd Street.
Christian Cook Christian Cook 6'2" | SG Midwest City | 2020 State OK | Sr. | Midwest City |
18 PPG | 60% FG | 45% 3FG | 52 Steals |
If you wanted to make a list of game-changers from the 2020 season, that list would begin with Cook.
He led the way for the 22-3 Bombers who were just 7 points away from recording a perfect season. If the measure of a team is its obstacle to its opposition, the Bombers were the best team in the state.
And its senior scoring guard, Cook, was the beating heart of Midwest City’s success.
The East-Central commit recorded 18 points-a-night while sharing the ball with numerous scorers and shooting the ball at a high percentage.
Perhaps his best moment came in one of the Bombers’ few-and-far-between losses: a Jan. 11 loss to Edmond Memorial by two points in the Championship of the Bishop McGuinness Classic.
The Bulldogs took a 60-55 lead with 58 seconds to go, and the situation appeared grim for Midwest City.
Until a Christian Cook Christian Cook 6'2" | SG Midwest City | 2020 State OK sequence happened.
He took the ensuing inbound and passed to his brother, Israel Hart Israel Hart 6'3" | PG Midwest City | 2021 State OK . Trapped near the half-court seconds later, Hart tossed the rock back to Cook in the long corner.
With a body adhering close to his, Cook launched a 3-pointer. Splash. Cold-blooded (an argument could have been made that Cook should have been eligible for a four-point play).
After a timeout, Jacobi Johnson Jacobi Johnson 6'5" | PF Midwest City | 2020 State OK gathered a rebound from a forced Edmond Memorial shot. He passed it down-floor to Cook, who took it to the rim before flushing a vicious dunk to tie the game at 60.
His performance during that sequence alone defined the level of talent, grit and resiliency that earned Cook a spot on this list.
If not for a fortuitous bounce going Sean Pedulla Sean Pedulla 6'1" | PG Edmond Memorial | 2021 State #81 Nation OK ‘s way in the closing seconds of the game, Cook would have single-handedly forced overtime and, potentially, led the Bombers to a win.
Two weeks later, again for a tournament title, the Midwest City matched-up with Edmond Memorial in the Bruce Gray Invitational.
Cook got his revenge, taking down the Bulldogs by three.
Nate Goodlow Nate Goodlow 6'2" | PG Del City | 2020 State OK | Sr. | Del City |
13 PPG | 4 RPG | 6 APG | 4 SPG |
Goodlow led the way for a revenge-burdened Del City team who was, arguably, the best squad in the state regardless of class.
The Eagles ended their 2019 season on the losing end of Tulsa Memorial’s three-peat; challenging the Chargers before ultimately falling in the Gold-Ball game on March 10, 63-52 at the Mabee Center.
He almost took down the most prolific Oklahoma basketball dynasty of the 2010s one year ago; this year, he played like a man seeking retribution.
Goodlow’s reborn squad played with so much ferocity in 2020, so much tenacity that it appeared a sure-fire bet to hoist the Gold Ball for the first time since 1980.
Leading his team to a 24-1 record, the senior guard’s best sequence came in the T.of.C., where the Eagles downed two Tulsa Public Schools with one stone.
In the semifinal game, Goodlow was brilliant on both ends of the floor as the Eagles found their redemption in a 61-49 win against Tulsa Memorial.
The following night, Goodlow’s brilliance turned to unrelenting defensive harassment to Booker T. Washington’s ball-handlers.
Behind Goodlow and the assistance of Demontreal Crutchfield Demontreal Crutchfield 6'1" | PG Del City | 2020 State OK and Keyondre Young Keyondre Young 6'7" | SF Del City | 2021 State OK , the Eagles found their most significant win of the season: 67-54 against the best team in the state.
That night, Goodlow earned his spot among Del City’s all-time greats.
I mean, how many players earn Offensive and Defensive player of the year in their respective conference?
Trey Alexander Trey Alexander 6'4" | SG Oklahoma City Heritage | 2021 State #55 Nation OK | Jr. | Heritage Hall |
27.3 PPG | 10.1 RPG | 4.2 APG | 2.8 SPG | 1.5 BPG |
If the metric for success is one’s value to his team, nobody was better than Alexander in 2020.
The lone junior was among the leading scorers in the state as he led Heritage Hall to a 20-5 record and No. 2 ranking, despite graduating most of his help from 2019.
It became so common for Alexander to face adversity in its jaw that few batted an eye when he took over to beat 6A No. 7 Union in the title game of the Putnam City Invitational.
With one of the best starting five’s in the state, Union was a legitimate title contender in Oklahoma’s toughest class at the time the Redskins met the Chargers.
Facing as big a hole as ten points in the second half, Alexander went into action, scoring 19 points in 16 minutes to pace Heritage Hall past Union as he earned the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.
Behemoth opponents seemed routine for spectators any time Alexander stepped onto the hardwood.
His play was so excellent, in fact, that it begs the question: should Alexander receive his “fifth star”?
Sam Godwin Sam Godwin 6'9" | PF Southmoore | 2020 State #257 Nation OK | Sr. | Southmoore |
16 PPG | 10 RPG | 2 BPG |
The 6-foot-9-inch power forward was already a tough task for defenders in 2019.
After a tight loss in the State Semifinal last year, however, Godwin began to take it personally.
His senior summer prompted significant improvements to his game: post-skills, explosive athleticism, elevation, footwork and aggression. The future Wofford star became a beast.
He was not just exceptional in 2020. He was nearly
unbeatableuntamed at his position.
Godwin’s senior season started with the SaberCats earning a No. 1 ranking early in the coaches’ poll as they started 12-1 (their only loss came to an out-of-state foe, SouthSide Jackson from Tenn.).
No player was more difficult to stop, nor did any require as much attention from opposing teams.
It seemed every night that whoever Southmoore played delegated a pair of defenders on Godwin, dedicated to stopping the explosive, aggressive post from getting his share at the bucket.
Even with that level of adversity, Godwin still managed a double-double for the season while ripping opposing big men in the paint.
He also allowed his teammate, Jordan Thompson Jordan Thompson 5'11" | PG Southmoore | 2020 State OK , to score with east as he averaged 20 points-a-night thanks to the spacing he offered as an offensive threat.
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