STILLWATER – Armed with a much-anticipated top-10 signing class, the Oklahoma State basketball team will open the 2020-21 season on Nov. 10 against Green Bay in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The matchup against the Phoenix will be the first collegiate game for Naismith High School Player of the Year Cade Cunningham and the incoming Cowboys class, which will enter the spring signing period on April 15 ranked No. 6 by Rivals and No. 8 by ESPN.
Mike Boynton and the Cowboys also bring back All-Big 12 Conference guard Isaac Likekele and the Big 12’s top shot blocker, Yor Anei, who return for their junior seasons. The Boone Twins, Kalib and Keylan, as well as speedy guard Avery Anderson III, return for their sophomore campaigns.
Green Bay is coming off a 17-win season under sixth-year head coach Linc Darner, an 18-year head coaching veteran with a 384-197 record. The Phoenix has finished in the top four of the Horizon League standings in four of his five seasons, including a conference title and NCAA Tournament trip in 2016.
The Phoenix will return the Horizon League Freshman of the Year, Amari Davis, who took home nine conference freshman of the week awards and averaged 15.8 points per game - ninth among all Division I freshmen in 2019-20. Green Bay will also add the services of Leon Ayers, who was named a JUCO All-American earlier this week.
This will be the first hardwood meeting between Oklahoma State and Green Bay. The Cowboys are 13-6 all-time against Horizon League opponents, including a 10-1 mark in GIA.
According to KenPom, Oklahoma State has faced a national top-15 schedule in each of the last two seasons. Last year, the Cowboys won 18 games against the country’s No. 14 ranked schedule despite the season ending on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
