The Impact of Cade Cunningham's Commitment

Five-star recruit Cade Cunningham committed to Oklahoma State Tuesday evening. What's the potential impact?

STILLWATER -- Tuesday evening, Oklahoma State landed a commitment from the No. 2 overall prospect in the 2020 class, Cade Cunningham. Not only is he ranked as the No. 1 overall combo guard in the class, he's also be projected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.

He's the highest rated prospect to commit to Oklahoma State since Gerald Green in the 2005 class, but Green never ended up on campus as he went directly into the NBA.

Let's take a look at the impact, and potential impact that this commitment is going to have on the program.

First, let's start with the most-obvious: production. If we look at Cunningham's stats from the Nike EYBL circuit from over the summer, he was one of the most productive players in the country. He averaged 25.1 points per game on 56 percent shooting, while recording 6.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.5 blocks per game.

The Pokes are set to lose seniors Cameron McGriff, Thomas Dziagwa and Lindy Waters. They'll also lose grad transfer Jonathan Laurent after this season.

D1 basketball programs are allowed 13 scholarships, and Oklahoma State currently only has 12. So, with the one remaining scholarship, and the four seniors set to depart after this season, Mike Boynton and Co. will have five scholarships to give in the 2020 class.

Cunningham and Rondel Walker make two, so let's take a look at a few of the options that are possible now that Cunningham's committed.

Bryce Thompson. Thompson is a 6-5, 175-pound combo guard out of Tulsa, OK. He checks in as a five-star prospect and is the No. 19 overall prospect and the No. 4 combo guard in the 2020 class.

Just like Cunningham, Oklahoma State was the first school to offer Thompson and Mike Boynton and Co. have kept up that relationship. Thompson will be in Stillwater Wednesday evening for the Pokes' season-opener against ORU. The news came down just a few days after Thompson included the Pokes in his top-four schools. The other schools are Kansas, North Carolina and Oklahoma.

Thompson was set to be in Norman Tuesday evening for the Sooners' season-opener, but he cancelled the trip. Instead, he changed it for an in-home coaches visit at some point following his trip to Stillwater.

It's being predicted that Thompson will wind up in Lawrence, KS with the Kansas Jayhawks, but the Cunningham commitment has seemingly thrown a wrench in things.

A couple of other prospects to keep an eye on is four-star forward JT Thor out of Norcross, GA and three-star point guard Mike Miles out of Lancaster, TX.

Both guys were in Stillwater on the weekend of Sept. 6 for their official visits. What's significant about that? That's the same weekend as Cunningham and Walker's official visits, AND Miles was on teammates with Cunningham and Walker on Texas Titans.

247Sports currently has Oklahoma State as the No. 20 ranked class in the 2020 recruiting cycle. Should Oklahoma State add all three prospects, Thompson, Thor and Miles, it would shoot the Cowboys up to the No. 3 spot in the country, just behind North Carolina at No. 2 and just ahead of Kentucky.