Hoops Recruiting: Another 'Big' Weekend

The Oklahoma State Cowboys hope the commitment from top-100 recruit Martavius Adams on Tuesday gets the ball rolling in the right direction as the November signing period approaches. Last weekend’s visits by James Anderson and Jai Lucas were important but another big recruit – big as in 7-foot tall – will be visiting Oklahoma State this Friday and Saturday.

Ibrahima Thomas, a 7-footer originally from Dakar, Senegal who now plays at Stoneridge Prep in Simi Valley, Calif., will be making an official visit to Stillwater this weekend.

Thomas is the only recruit who will be visiting OSU this weekend. Junior college standout Victor Dubovitskiy of Chipola College in Florida said that he wants to visit OSU but wants to do so when he can watch a basketball game so he has scheduled his official visit for the weekend of Nov. 9-10. The Cowboys open the 2006-07 season against Florida Atlantic on Nov. 10 at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Charlie Coley, a preseason first-team junior college All-American from Dodge City (Kans.) Community College, is not scheduled to visit Oklahoma State this weekend, his coach said. “We have a scrimmage Saturday so he’s not making any trips,” Dodge City coach Brian Hoberecht said. Coley plans to be an April signee and does not have any visits set up for this fall, Hoberecht said.

Thomas will be visiting Oklahoma State as the third of his five official visits over the span of three weeks. He just returned to California after spending two days at Rutgers and two days at Ball State. He will be in Stillwater this weekend and also has visits set for Fresno State and Auburn before the early signing period begins Nov. 8.

The 7-foot, 185-pound Thomas is not your typical foreigner who is still struggling to learn the game after playing it for just a handful of years. “He’s got a real nice feel for the game,” said Stoneridge Prep’s Mike Mahoney. “People who have seen him play love his enthusiasm. He’s got a great, great personality, and enjoys playing the game, and is fun to be around.”

Mahoney says that Thomas is more suited to play the three or four position, and has the outside shot to create some difficult matchups for teams. Thomas scored 25 points in Stoneridge’s 92-88 victory in the championship game of the 14th annual Fullcourt Press Fall Hoops Classic last month. He scored 15 of his 25 points on five three-pointers.