How Will OSU Hoops Recruiting Be Affected by the Pandemic?

How far into the future will Oklahoma State basketball's recruiting efforts be affected by the shutdown due to COVID-19?

STILLWATER -- The past few months have been anything but fun. Sure, there's been a few moments that definitely classified as fun like Mike Boynton and Co. signing a top-five recruiting class, but not much else.

After a couple of months of everything being shutdown, states are starting to open back up and life is very slowly (and hopefully) going to get back to normal.

So, how and when will basketball recruiting get back to normal? We found out pretty quick that Boynton and Co. can recruit very well. Each recruiting class brought in since Boynton took over the program has gotten better and as mentioned above, OSU just signed a top-five nationally ranked 2020 recruiting class that includes the No. 1 overall prospect in the country.

Something that's really throwing a wrench in the recruiting process for all schools, not just Oklahoma State, has been the postponement and in some cases, the cancellation, of the spring and summer AAU seasons.

Nike's EYBL was set to begin on April 17 and they've cancelled events through at least the middle of May.

Contrary to what some might think, the 2021 recruiting class isn't going to be affected too much by the shutdown. Speaking with coach Boynton last week, the coaching staff has already evaluated a ton of the 2021 recruits already and they have a really good grasp on the direction they want to go.

Boynton and Co. have sent out a decent amount of '21 offers, 25 to be exact with one going out last week to an incredibly athletic and talented point guard out of Brooklyn, NY, Khalil Brantley.

There's also a couple of talented in-state prospects that the coaching staff is after, as well as some really talented prospects out of Texas. You can read about a few of them here.

While we're still six months away from the start of the '21 November signing period, the coaching staff has extended half the offers they had in the '20 class.

The real challenge for Boynton and Co. will actually be the 2022 class as they haven't had a chance to get in front of a large majority of kids yet.

Coaches can start contacting 2022 prospects on June 15 as of right now, and with no AAU circuit for the foreseeable future, that creates quite a few challenges for the coaching staff.

With the university implementing a plan to open the campus back up, hopefully that will allow Boynton and Co. to get some '22 recruits on campus and to start building those in-person relationships.

I would expect the '21 class to be fairly similar to the '20 signing class in terms of talent and, honestly, ranking. I'm not sure they can land the No. 1 overall prospect two classes in a row, but I would expect a class somewhere between the last two and be in the top 25.