Why Oklahoma State’s Next NBA Draft Pick May Already Be on Campus

The Oklahoma State Cowboys haven’t had an NBA Draft pick since 2021. That could change as soon as next summer.

Oklahoma State Cowboys head coach Steve Lutz. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

The Oklahoma State Cowboys were fortunate to land Cade Cunningham as a recruit before the 2020-21 season.

Cunningham was the top player in the country when then-head coach Mike Boynton Jr. and his staff signed the future NBA star, who helped them reach the Big 12 Tournament championship game and lead them to the program's only NCAA Tournament appearance under Boynton.

Cunningham was selected No. 1 overall in the 2021 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons. Since then, the Cowboys have come up empty in the NBA Draft. It's been a five-year drought.

Recently, ESPN posted its Top 60 prospects for the 2027 NBA Draft. There were no Cowboys among the Top 60, but there is one player that fits the profile and has something in common with a dozen incoming freshmen that were on the Top 60 list that could lead him to playing his way into NBA Draft prospect status next spring.

Latrell Allmond’s Draft Path

Petersburg Crimson Wave forward Latrell Allmond. | Jonah Hinebaugh/Naples Daily News/USA Today Network-Florida / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oklahoma State head coach Steve Lutz probably didn't recruit Latrell Allmond as a one-and-done player. The 6-8 forward out of Petersburg High School in Virginia was one of the best players in the country. He was a four-star player who was considered by most to be a Top 40 recruit. He was also named a McDonald’s All-American and played in the annual game, held during Final Four weekend.

He was on the floor with some of the best players in the country. In fact, 12 of those players were listed on the ESPN Top 60 list for next year’s draft, led by Kansas recruit Tyran Stokes.

Allmond not being included in the Top 60 doesn’t mean he can’t play his way onto the list. In fact, being a McDonald’s All-American isn’t always foreshadowing to reach the NBA the next year. A good example of that is Houston guard Kingston Flemings.

He was not a McDonald’s All-American coming out of high school and not seen as that type of player. But he had a tremendous freshman season. Flemings emerged as Houston’s starting point guard — and the Cougars had a holdover starter in Milos Uzan — and earned All-Big 12 honors. By season’s end, his head coach, Kelvin Sampson, was openly telling media that he didn’t expect Flemings to be at Houston the next season.

The guard tested the NBA Draft and stayed in it when the late May deadline to return to school came and went. On Tuesday, he was a lottery pick, selected No. 8 overall by the Atlanta Hawks.

Allmond has many of the qualities NBA teams want. He’s tall, long, athletic, can shoot and projects to playing multiple positions. How he plays defense in his first year of college will be scrutinized by NBA scouts. But if he plays above-average offense and can project to be a solid NBA defender, he could put himself in position to test the NBA Draft waters next spring and become OSU’s next one-and-done player.