Oklahoma State enters Steve Lutz's third season with a more competitive roster, but also with a clear test: Can a team that made incremental progress last year turn that improvement into a meaningful rise in the Big 12?
The Cowboys finished 20-15 overall last season and went 6-12 in conference play, earning a place in the NIT and advancing to its quarterfinals. That marked a step forward from the program Lutz inherited in 2024, when Oklahoma State was coming off a 20-loss season.
The progress has not yet translated into consistent conference success. Oklahoma State is 13-25 in Big 12 games across Lutz's first two seasons, and the Cowboys have posted a winning conference record only twice in the past 16 seasons. The most recent examples came in 2020-21, when they went 11-7 and reached the NCAA Tournament, and in 2012-13, when they finished 13-5.
Returning experience comes with an important question
Oklahoma State brings back starters Kanye Clary and Parsa Fallah from last year's 20-win group. Their return gives Lutz two established pieces, although Fallah's health remains a central part of the team's outlook after a knee injury ended his season in late February.
Clary, a senior point guard, was one of the Cowboys' most dependable returning players. He averaged 10.6 points and 4.6 assists per game and matched a program record by recording more assists than turnovers in 23 straight games. That kind of ball security will be especially important for a team incorporating a large group of newcomers.
Fallah, a 6-foot-10 senior forward, averaged 14.7 points and 6 rebounds in 26 starts before the injury. His production gives Oklahoma State an interior scoring option, while his size provides another dimension for a roster that also added several frontcourt transfers.
A major scoring replacement project
The Cowboys lost four players who averaged at least 10 points per game last season. The most prominent departure was Anthony Roy, the team's leading scorer at 16.9 points per game. Replacing that production will require more than one player, making the transfer additions central to Oklahoma State's plans.
The new group includes 10 players, six of them transfers. Four of those transfers started at least 27 games for their previous teams last season, giving the Cowboys experience that may help offset the loss of so much established scoring.
- Luka Bogavac: The 6-foot-6 guard started 21 of 33 games at North Carolina and led that team with 52 made 3-pointers. He averaged 9.8 points.
- Jordan Burks: The 6-foot-9 forward made 60 3-pointers at UCF while producing 13.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
- Kashie Natt: He averaged 10.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and a Conference USA-leading 69 steals at Sam Houston.
- Jacob Walker: Natt's Sam Houston teammate averaged 11.5 points last season.
The additions of Andrija Grbovic and Julius Halaifonua add additional size. Grbovic is a 6-foot-11 transfer from Arizona State, while Halaifonua is listed at 7 feet after transferring from Georgetown.
The schedule will reveal how far the rebuild has moved
Oklahoma State opens its season at home against Incarnate Word on Monday night. The nonconference schedule also includes games against Southeastern Conference opponents Texas A&M and Oklahoma, giving the Cowboys early opportunities to test a reshaped rotation.
The first opponent from the preseason AP Top 25 is scheduled to be Iowa State, ranked No. 18, when Oklahoma State travels there Jan. 9 for its third Big 12 game. That contest will arrive after the Cowboys have had time to establish roles among their returning starters and transfer additions.
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Last season's overall record | 20-15 |
| Last season's Big 12 record | 6-12 |
| Lutz-era Big 12 record | 13-25 |
| Newcomers | 10 |
| Incoming transfers | 6 |
For Oklahoma State, the immediate challenge is balancing continuity with replacement. Clary and Fallah return with proven roles, but the team must rebuild much of its scoring and integrate players arriving from several programs. The Cowboys' next step will be measured not only by their overall record, but by whether they can improve on a conference mark that has remained below .500 for years.
That makes the season's central storyline straightforward: Oklahoma State has moved beyond the starting point Lutz inherited, yet the program still needs Big 12 wins to demonstrate that the improvement is durable. With a returning senior point guard, a potentially important frontcourt return and a deep transfer class, the Cowboys begin the season with more experience on paper—but with the pressure of turning that roster into sustained conference progress.
