Owasso’s Jalen Montonati is a four-star basketball recruit, the top college basketball prospect in the state and ranked No. 74 nationally by 247 Sports in the class of 2026. On Thursday afternoon, he announced his decision to play basketball at Oklahoma State.
Montonati explains why he selected OSU:
“I just feel so loved by the whole coaching staff, the whole fan base, really. They’ve known me ever since I was about how tall this dude is (pointing next to his 11-year-old brother Kai). So just the support they they’ve shown me throughout since Coach (Steve) Lutz got the job. He contacted me the day after he go tit, I’ve been building a relationship with him ever since, with the whole coaching staff. It’s just really welcoming and really cool to see that they made me their priority in this class, especially in today’s day and age where a lot of coaches are just so focused on the portal and older guys. It was really cool to see they were focused on a high school kids such as myself. So it just feels like home and I’m ready to get Oklahoma State back to its glory days.
“It’s literally a dream come true, like since the day I was born, I’ve always been an Oklahoma State fan, whether it was baseball, football, basketball, softball, any sport that OSU was on TV, I was constantly watching it. I was always a fan before I was a player. So to now know that I’m going to be suiting up for them next year, it’s crazy. So it’s a surreal feeling.
“My dad didn’t push me in any way. He always just told me, `Go where you’re wanted.’ And Oklahoma State has shown that ever since Coach Lutz got the job.”
barry.lewis@tulsaworld.com
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Barry Lewis
Tulsa World Sports Editor
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