'Film Room': Boynton and Pastrana on Moncrieffe
STILLWATER – This is the final part of Oklahoma State basketball’s ‘Film Room’ series with Mike Boynton and Eric Pastrana. Ironically enough, Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe was the first signee that was featured, but we’re doing him last.
Moncrieffe is a 6-7, 195-pound forward out of Orangeville Prep in Ontario, Canada, who primarily flew under-the-radar in this recruiting class even though both 247Sports and Rivals list him as a four-star prospect. As a composite ranking, Moncrieffe checks in at No. 148. Moncrieffe was tabbed the BioSteel All-Canada Player of the Year for the second-straight year in April and according to Mike Boynton recently, had he grown up and played his high school ball in America, he would’ve been a top-25 prospect.
Same with his coach from Orangeville Prep, Tony McIntyre.
“The kid will be an NBA player,” Orangeville Prep coach Tony McIntyre said. “It’s just a matter if it’s one year or two years. He would be a top-25 to top-50 kid if he played his high school basketball in the U.S.”
"He drives to put people on posters."
— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) April 17, 2020
Watch @thacoachmike and @ErikPastrana break down tape on ferocious Cowboy signee @MA_Moncrieffe.#NewEra I #LetsWork pic.twitter.com/AezOmwG3G0
In the video, this is how the coaching staff labels Moncrieffe:
-Aggressive driver – athletic finishers at the rim
-Long physical defender – guards multiple positions
-High motor on both ends – rebounds his position
Also, out of all the hype surrounding him, the opening quote from Boynton is probably my favorite.
“Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe, I think there’s been some confusion on where the hyphen is in his name, the hyphen is between Matthew and Alexander,” said head coach Mike Boynton. “May be the guy coming in with the least amount of perceived hype, partly because he’s in Canada, right? So, he’s not on the US message boards all the time; a kid we’re really high on.”
“If you watch these clips of FIBA, obviously he’s a high-level athlete, but I love the fact that he’s been in high-level competition: internationally, Orangeville Prep played a great schedule,” said assistant coach Eric Pastrana. “He’s a guy that’s not going to be surprised by playing against and with other really good players. What you see here is his athleticism is off the charts.”
Moncrieffe was on the Canadian U19 FIBA World Cup team last summer, the same games that Isaac Likekele and Cade Cunningham won the gold medal in.
In the seven games he played in, Moncrieffe averaged 3.1 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in 9.5 minutes of action. It’s also important to note he played in those games before the start of his senior season.
“As we got to know each other and build a relationship, he’s a guy that wants to be great,” said coach Pastrana. “He knows he has to get better in places, but he wants to be great every single day and he wants to work at it every single day. He takes unbelievable pride in his work ethic and I think that’s something our program values.”
If you watch the game film in the video above, or check out his highlight reels, you’ll see right away just how talented Moncrieffe is. Boynton talks about his game in the quote below and there’s no doubt that he’ll make an impact as soon as he’s on campus.
“He’s a driver; he drives with force, he drives understanding that’s his identity and he drives to put people on posters,” said coach Boynton. “I think as a rebounder and defender, he’s going to be able to make an immediate impact for us.”
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