Oklahoma State Makes the Cut for Four-Star Florida Forward
STILLWATER -- The hunt to land the first commitment of the 2021 class for Mike Boynton and Co. continues as they made the cut to land four-star forward Michael James.
Along with Oklahoma State, other schools to make the cut were Alabama, Arkansas, Cincinnati, Louisville, Texas A&M, USF and Virginia Tech.
Michael James checks in at 6-5, 180-pounds and is one of the top prospects in the country in the 2021 class. He checks in as the composite No. 105 ranked prospect in the country and the No. 20 ranked small forward in the 2021 class.
This past season as a junior, James helped lead Oak Ridge out of Orlando, FL to a 21-9 overall record and was just one game shy of making the Class 7A state championship game. Oak Ridge fell in the semifinals to the eventual champions, Miramar, 59-55. James would lead both sides in scoring with 27 points.
James was the leading scorer and rebounder on the team and in 30 games this past season, James averaged 18.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, 4.1 of those rebounds coming on the defensive end.
Since Mike Boynton added assistant Erik Pastrana to the coaching staff, Oklahoma State has had a much higher presence in the Sunshine State and certainly have had a much higher chance of landing prospects.
In fact, Pastrana's the reason the Pokes' landed sharpshooter guard Bryce Williams late in the 2020 recruiting cycle. Williams played for Pastrana for one season as a freshman at Daytona State. As a sophomore, Williams played in 31 games and averaged 15.3 points a game. He shot 53% from the field and 44.9% from beyond the 3-point line.
James is just the latest in the line of Florida prospect the Cowboys have been after and it's believed the Pokes will make the next round of cuts as well, though it appears Texas A&M is in the driver's seat.
