The Future of Oklahoma Basketball
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The future of Oklahoma basketball is as promising as it has been in a while By Bryce McKinnis Since joining Prep Hoops in summer 2018 as a “recruiting reporter,” I’ve had a myriad of responsibilities and day-to-day tasks: semi-yearly prospect…
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Continue ReadingThe future of Oklahoma basketball is as promising as it has been in a while
By Bryce McKinnis
Since joining Prep Hoops in summer 2018 as a “recruiting reporter,” I’ve had a myriad of responsibilities and day-to-day tasks: semi-yearly prospect rankings, outreach to college coaches, filming and cutting highlights, travel, writing — and paramount to all others, staying in-the-know on 70-thousand-ish square miles of Oklahoma high school basketball — over 400 schools and dozens of summer weekend travel teams; keeping an eye on the dunk on court 1 and the game-tying 3-pointer on court 12, both during the 9 a.m. time slot in a city I’d never visited.
The 2022 class, however, bears some significance for me, compared to the others; it was the first class I covered from its members’ freshman years and all the way through — half of — their senior years. Since the summer going into their freshman seasons, players like Adante Holiman Adante Holiman 6'0" | PG McAlester | 2022 State #224 Nation OK , Chase Martin Chase Martin 6'5" | SG Jenks | 2022 State OK , JV Seat JV Seat 6'3" | SF Edmond Memorial | 2022 State #250 Nation OK , Marcell Perry Marcell Perry 6'4" | SG Southeast | 2022 State OK , and all others, have kept me grounded in my responsibility to prospects and college coaches on identifying talent, facilitating relationships and assisting, to the extent that I’m capable, in the tricky process of high school recruiting.
Lately, I’ve been reflecting on the class of ’22 and what I’ve learned about that aforementioned tricky process since they were eager freshman establishing their places in the basketball world. I know, their chapters aren’t over yet, but I can’t help but look ahead to what’s to come. How can I do a better job in this odd job of fulfilling my responsibility to them?
I’ve now been doing this long enough to have seen many players I’ve covered playing for their college teams on TV. From the Sun Belt to the Big 12, from the JUCO Tournament to the Summit League, from the Athletic Conference to the Division-II National Championship game.
So, today I examine the question, which player will be the next great prospect? Which Oklahoman, perhaps only a freshman or sophomore occupied with acing geometry or government, will grace our Twitter feeds a half-decade from now? I had a couple in mind, who, albeit with a limited basketball intellect, I predict to be the next stars to watch from your couch.
David Castillo | 6’1″ PG | Bartlesville ’24
By every metric of which I’m aware, this one is a winner. Already a Team USA U16 camp attendee in May, Castillo’s talent is particularly unique in Oklahoma, as few players have been heralded as early or vehemently as the Bartlesville sophomore has been on the national stage. The occasional Trae Young drew national attention, but even Bryce Thompson was not the subject of as much hype as an underclassman.
His game is worthy of the recognition he has received and the attention it has garnered for him, not the least of which are his numerous high-major offers, including Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, UNLV and others.
As Tulsa basketball socialite and former Golden Hurricane Rod Thompson will tell you, to play at a given level, you have to display, at minimum, one skill sufficient to play at that level. Compared to the curve, Castillo has plenty of high-major capabilities (or at least talents that project in that direction), but one above others is his comfort in playing in tight spaces.
Zeph Moore, a friend and Oklahoma City-area basketball trainer, observed that space cannot be created on the court, but it can be manipulated and benefitted from, and there is hardly a better example of that than the sophomore guard. When Castillo brings the ball up the floor, crosses by a defender and bursts toward the basket for a routine lay-up, it may look effortless on film, but if that was true, there would be many more 6-foot-1-inch sophomore guards about the state announcing offers from Big 12 schools. There are no tricks or arbitrary methods to Castillo’s game, no loose ends. He’s well-trained, well-coached, developed and coordinated, not to mentioned rarely panicked. He gets to the basket with intention and uses subtle maneuvers with his hips, eyes and ball-handling technique to push defenders in one direction, then slips the other way efficiently and with purpose.
Another particularly advanced aspect of Castillo’s game is his vision. When the Bruins need improvisation, Castillo can pass the ball off with seamless accuracy, but it doesn’t always require a compromised situation for him to give the ball to a teammate. Sure, Castillo can quickly redirect his attention to finding a cutter or corner shooter if a defender happens to slide onto his path, but Castillo often looks to create the passing before the play blossoms. He anticipates and acknowledges doubles quicker than most and even invites pressure, in some situations, if it creates a scoring opportunity off of the screen for a teammate.
Castillo approaches the game like a chess table, and that’s where he shines above most others. He’s not un-athletic, nor is he small, but there are quicker, more explosive and taller prospects in his area code — but what Castillo is is the most mistake-averse player I have seen at his age; the most early prepared, the most disciplined and the most instinctive, strategically sound player in the Oklahoma class of ’24 to this point.
Parker Friedrichsen Parker Friedrichsen 6'4" | SG Bixby | 2023 State #165 Nation OK | 6’4″ W | Bixby ’23
Writing about Friedrichsen feels like it requires a disclaimer by now, and it shouldn’t to anybody who has watched him play once (or to anybody who is familiar with my track record of unbiased reporting), but here goes:
Parker Friedrichsen Parker Friedrichsen 6'4" | SG Bixby | 2023 State #165 Nation OK plays on the Prep Hoops Circuit. I have watched Friedrichsen play more often than any other player on this list.
Friedrichsen needs no help from a recruiting publication to boost his stock in the basketball world; I couldn’t write enough articles to make him a 27-points-a-night scorer as a sophomore, the best among any underclassman in the state last year; I couldn’t post enough highlights to make Friedrichsen go 86 percent from the free throw line last year; And I certainly couldn’t tweet enough stats to convince numerous high-major programs, including Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Virginia and others to visit Friedrichsen in Bixby the first chance they got.
Now that that’s out of the way, here’s the scoop on Friedrichsen: he shoots the daylight out of the ball, and he can manufacture his own opportunities on the perimeter. He’s a rapid-fire, soaring with confidence marksman with a short fuse release and consistent shooting mechanics. Friedrichsen is effective getting to the spot and utilizing his lanky frame to manage separation. Often, that space comes by way of a simple one or two-dribble move, a step-back or inverted drag, or something of the sort, before he loads the ball and fires it off swiftly, high and out-of-reach against opposing defenders. He shoots the ball at a Division-I level, and it will land him a Division-I roster spot soon.
Don’t just take my word for it. Here’s what 247 Sports’ Brandon Jenkins thinks of the junior sharpshooter from Bixby:
“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.”
Next summer, Friedrichsen will play against inevitably better competition following his announcement in November that he will be joining MOKAN, an esteemed Kansas City-based grassroots program that plays on the Nike EYBL (and often wins grassroots basketball’s most prestigious league). The leap from the Prep Hoops Circuit to the best summer circuit in the world will be one that may disprove Friedrichsen’s doubters or confirm reasonable skepticism.
But for now, Friedrichsen’s trajectory appears to be consistent with his high-major aspirations.
Brandon Garrison Brandon Garrison 6'8" | C Evans | 2023 State #33 Nation OK | 6’9″ C | Del City ’23
Well, it never hurts to be the biggest guy on the floor. There’s more to Garrison than his stature, but his 6-foot-9-inch frame is nothing to scoff at.
Garrison has a great wingspan, even exceptional for his size, and he moves better, more agile, each time I see him play.
Defensively, Garrison is already back to tormenting attempting paint scorers 32 minutes-per-night in the first half of his junior season, especially at the Tournament of Champions last weekend. There, Garrison recorded double-doubles against Jenks, ranked first at the time in Oklahoma’s highest classification, and Tulsa Memorial, No. 1 in the second-highest class. However, it was his defensive performances against those teams that were so miraculous.
Sure, Garrison blocked shots face-up and beat others off the glass, but his stat-lines didn’t appropriately reflect how dominant he was defensively — how many shooters he intimated in the interior. Some of the shots he forced from the most competent scorers in the state were downright miserable, and those players’ frustrations swelled as they forced highly compromised tries. Some kept trying, unfruitfully, to create newer, more creative shots from inside, but Garrison’s defense only stiffened.
Others who had arrived at the acceptance stage simply retreated back to the other end of the floor and gave their coach a well, what am I supposed to do against that look. It was almost comical.
Garrison, although somewhat raw, has gradually and consistently improved since his freshman summer, and collegiate programs have not ignored his progress. So far, he has passed the eye test for Kansas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and roughly a half-dozen others that have offered a cut of their hard-earned revenue in exchange for Garrison to wear one of their uniforms in 2023.
Of those that have drawn his attention, Garrison hasn’t made it apparent, at least not publicly, in whom he is most interested, but the cat’s already out-of-the-bag in terms of level: Garrison is made for high-major basketball, and it won’t be too long before his talents are realized by one lucky Division-I fan base.
Jeremiah Johnson Jeremiah Johnson 6'4" | PG Wasatch Academy Prep Class Of 2024 | 2024 GA | 6’3″ PG | Norman North ’23
Before a despicable February night left Johnson with multiple gunshot-inflicted wounds, he was having a sophomore season unlike many I have seen. A season-opening 30-point performance against Midwest City saw the then-P.C. North guard showcasing his magic, his ball-on-a-string handles, his remarkable vision and his explosive athleticism in an all-around performance that exclaimed to the Oklahoma City basketball community, “Hey, I’m next.”
Although Johnson has since been experiencing a gradual recovery and only recently returned to the court in new green-and-white threads, he still believes he’s next.
So do I.
The difficult and delicate topic regarding his injury is whether it will interfere with his recruiting ceiling, but so far that hasn’t seemed to be the case. Both in-state schools, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, along with Texas and Illinois, offered Johnson before his injury. Aside from a tweet regarding a school visit from Cowboys assistant Terrence Rencher in September, we don’t know which of those schools are still hot on him.
However, schools like Arkansas and Texas Tech offered Johnson since February, presumably with full knowledge of his injuries, and Johnson is doing all he can to prove them right.
Now at Norman North, Johnson is already participating in some of his old activities, primarily embarrassing defenders and hitting tricky shots against C.O.A.C opponents. The junior guard scored 24 points and had five assists against 5A No. 1 Tulsa Memorial, arguably the best team in the state regardless of classification. A highlight clip from Hoop Dawgs portrayed Johnson as a competent scorer with the same energy, shooting capabilities, and intuitive playmaking that characterized his play before the injury. All in all, he doesn’t look half-bad for a kid who contended with life-treating injuries just a few months ago.
Aside from that, Johnson has been relentlessly ambitious in his recovery process. From his Twitter feed, it appears he’s doing everything he can to return to 100 percent, and judging by every indication available to me, it looks like he’ll get there soon.
Trent Pierce Trent Pierce 6'6" | SF Union | 2023 State #73 Nation OK | 6’8″ SF | Union ’23
Pierce is built for the big screen. The past calendar year has produced offers from each of the four Oklahoma schools, plus Kansas State, Minnesota and others as he continues to develop his game in accordance with aspirations to play at college basketball’s highest level.
His 6-foot-8-inch frame looks the part, and thankfully, a coach or coaches identified his ability to play the wing at some point during his development, rather than planting him in the paint and interrupting his trajectory.
Pierce handles the ball very well for his size. He’s not so much of a quick-twitch athlete, but he is fine-tuned and intentional with the ball. Pierce keeps it on a string, has a catalog of attacking moves, and he understands body control, often manipulating his hips to draw defenders off-balance or to adjust acrobatically at the rack.
Most importantly, Pierce can shoot the ball and can build scoring situations at the perimeter by his own means. Pierce’s pace, you may notice, is particularly un-rushed, as he may be one of the most deliberate scorers in his class. He uses everything, his body, screens and his handle, to deceive defenders before squaring up to hit shots.
Pierce hardly has trouble converting against defenders at the high school level, though he would benefit from developing a quicker trigger. Regardless, Pierce is headed for a bright future in college basketball.
Jaden Nickens | 6’3″ G | Millwood ’25
Only a freshman, Nickens is already considered a blue-chip prospect by many thanks to his reputation as a grassroots superstar.
The Oklahoma City native plays with famed California-based Nike team Strive For Greatness and has participated in other notable camps and combines, and when Nickens chose to “stay home” and compete for Millwood headed into his freshman season, it instantly drew attraction from various characters and basketball socialites familiar with Nickens’ capabilities (some had the chance to watch him play during Skinz League’s high school league last spring).
Only a month into his first semester of high school, Nickens received offers from Auburn and Oklahoma State in September, and first looks at Millwood’s scrimmages alerted the Oklahoma basketball scene that he was no fluke or gimmick.
Nickens is a relentless scorer with an ambitious motor on the floor, who frequently exerts himself playing full-court basketball, going coast-to-cast and bringing the house down with a demanding dunk or finish at the rim through contact. He already brings the Falcons tremendous energy, and his demeanor alone is built for the college game.
Athletic talents and explosive power aside, Nickens is a stellar ball player. He handles it well and plays within control at an exceptional pace, and he can create shots on the perimeter. He shoots the ball consistently, and he has no shortage of range.
Time will tell what becomes of Nickens’ aspirations to players high-major basketball, but if his start is any indicator, he’s already on a good path in that direction.
WATCH LIST
The players listed above aren’t the only ones who have displayed major collegiate potential. Many others, like those listed below, have been exceptional in their own rights:
Chris Mason Chris Mason 6'6" | PF Victory Christian | 2024 State OK | 6’6″ F | Union ’24
Dylan Warlick Dylan Warlick 6'6" | SF Edmond North | 2024 State #226 Nation OK | 6’7″ C | Edmond North ’24
Terry McMorris Terry McMorris 6'5" | SF Douglass | 2023 State OK | 6’6″ SF | Del City ’23
Jadon Cool Jadon Cool 6'3" | CG Holland Hall | 2023 State OK | 6’3″ G | Holland Hall ’23
Jarreth Ingram Jarreth Ingram 6'4" | SF Noah | 2023 State OK | 6’7″ F | Tulsa Memorial ’23
Connor Dow | 6’5″ G | Broken Arrow ’23
Cedric Dixon Cedric Dixon 6'3" | SG Grind Prep | 2024 State #323 Nation OK | 6’1″ G | Union ’24
Sebastian Perry Sebastian Perry 6'1" | PG Heritage Hall | 2023 State OK | 5’11″ PG | Heritage Hall ’23
Cal Furnish | 5’11″ PG | Crossings Christian ’25
Ja’Mon Valentine | 6’2″ G | Choctaw ’24