Oklahoma State Set for Critical Transfer Portal Window

Steve Lutz needs to make some splashes in the portal.

Feb 21, 2026; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys head coach Steve Lutz calls out in the second half against the Colorado Buffaloes at the CU Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Oklahoma State has an important offseason ahead, and the transfer portal will again be the biggest tool for the Cowboys.

Over the next few weeks, the transfer portal will become chaotic, just as it does every offseason. With a plethora of players from around the country set to be looking for their next school, OSU will need to find some of the top talent in the country to avoid another disappointing season.

Although OSU will have some returning players and some incoming freshmen, it will need to make some big splashes in the portal. Under Steve Lutz, the Cowboys’ rosters have almost exclusively been built through the transfer portal, with vastly different approaches in each year.

In Lutz’s first offseason in Stillwater, he was at a bit of a disadvantage, getting into the position a bit late in the cycle and having to settle for some players who didn’t necessarily fit. For the most part, Lutz went all-in on defense, and it led to an atrocious offense throughout the 2024-25 season as the Cowboys were never able to make the pieces fit together quite right.

There was a similar theme this season with not being able to make the pieces fit, but Lutz probably went a bit too extreme in the other direction, getting talented individual offensive players. While OSU had plenty of options to go to for a bucket, it was never able to get its players to gel together perfectly on that end, while the defense was among the worst in the country.

Given that Lutz has tried both extremes to no avail, it would seem likely that Lutz goes for more two-way players this time around. Of course, that’s easier said than done, given that the best two-way guys in the country will demand a big NIL payout, and OSU seemingly lacks the resources to compete with the best in the Big 12.

Still, finding players who can contribute on both ends, and most importantly, help OSU avoid being a complete liability on one side of the floor, will be critical. While it’s hard to make any definitive list of potential targets for the Cowboys at this point, there should be plenty of players in the mix for Lutz over the next several weeks.

It won’t be easy to build a roster for next season through the portal, but Lutz still has a good track record of acquiring transfer talent, and this offseason will be his biggest test yet.