Oklahoma State basketball: What postseason ban means for future of Cade Cunningham

Cade Cunningham may want to re-evaluate playing for Oklahoma State basketball.

Oklahoma State basketball received a postseason ban this coming year and was placed on three years of probation after Level I violations committed by former assistant coach Lamont Evans.

Evans received bribes between $18,150 and $22,000 to steer players from South Carolina to Oklahoma State. He received a 10-year show-cause penalty, all but ending his college basketball coaching career.

Oklahoma State said they will appeal the verdict that also sees them lose three scholarships from the 2020-2021 season through 2022-2023 and were hit with other restrictions in recruiting.

“The University is stunned by the severity of the penalties and strongly disagrees with them,” a school statement says. “The penalties do not align with the facts and are unfair and unjust. The NCAA agreed with OSU that Lamont Evans acted alone and for his own personal gain. Evans was terminated by OSU on Sept. 28, 2017, within 72 hours of learning of allegations against him.

While the outcome of the appeal and fallout of this verdict will take years to fully unfold, what’s interesting is how it affects the Cowboys this coming season and whether Cade Cunningham will still want to be a part of the program.

Cunningham is the nation’s No. 1 recruit and the projected top pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. The 6-foot-6, 215-pound point guard picked Oklahoma State basketball over his other offers in part because his older brother was added to Mike Boynton’s coaching staff.

What Oklahoma State basketball postseason ban means for Cade Cunningham

Could the postseason ban now influence Cunningham’s decision and make him consider other options? And what would those other options be at this point?

Cunningham could stay at Oklahoma State and compete for a Big 12 title and continue to boost his chances of being the top pick in next year’s NBA Draft as planned. He won’t get to play in the NCAA Tournament, but that doesn’t mean he would see his NBA stock take a hit. It didn’t hurt Ben Simmons when he couldn’t lead LSU to an NCAA Tournament berth when they were eligible and he was still the No. 1 pick and won the NBA Rookie of the Year.

The more complicated matter could be if Cunningham asks out of his letter of intent and tries to find room at another school. Would there be a scholarship available for him at this point? Of course, schools could make room for a player of his talent. But if he’s going to play college basketball, why would he change his mind for the potential of playing at least one NCAA Tournament game?

But what could be the most tantalizing alternative for Cunningham is exploring the G-League where other top recruits have been attracted to its ability to pay top dollar and get better competition without doing all the “extra” stuff that student-athletes have to do.

“We’re going to have conversations,” Boynton said on a Friday conference call. … “We’re gonna try to look at all the options, whatever they are: G-League, overseas, transfer to another school, stay at Oklahoma State. … Whatever he decides is best for his future, I’m gonna support 100 percent.”

This is a mature and welcome response from Boynton who isn’t trying to keep Cunningham bound to Oklahoma State after the program was blindsided by this NCAA ruling. This is no fault of Cunningham’s and Boynton isn’t trying to force him into a situation that is not much different than the one he was entering when he committed and signed his letter of intent.

Not every college coach is like this as evidenced by transfer restrictions placed on student-athletes when they enter the transfer portal.

So Cunningham has three options:

1. Stay at Oklahoma State and ball out.
2. Transfer to a different school and ball out.
3. Play in the G-League and ball out.

Whatever Cunningham decides is best for him and his future is what is the best decision. Regardless of that means he never plays for Oklahoma State or not.

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