Nash Says Oklahoma State Leads

LeBryan Nash is considering four schools but says one is the team to beat.

“Oklahoma State might have a slight lead over everybody and they might be the school to beat,” the 6-foot-7, 227-pound small forward from Dallas Lincoln said Saturday night by phone.

Nash is also mulling Baylor, Kansas and Arizona and has officials set to Arizona Sept. 24 and Kansas Oct. 15.

He recently tripped to Baylor and said he’s been to Oklahoma State — about three hours from his home — approximately half a dozen times.

“Arizona might be matched up with Oklahoma State,” he said. “They might be if everything goes well on the visit.”

Nash plans to announce Oct. 21 on ESPN.

He had initially trimmed his list to Baylor, Kansas and Oklahoma State, but now appears to be giving Arizona some serious consideration.

“I just kept them on the low,” he said. “I talked to my coach [Tony Johnson] and we decided to add that fourth team in there.”

Asked what he liked about Arizona, Nash said, “Because of their tradition and the way they can get players in the league. They produce a lot of pros. Arizona’s a basketball school and I’m thinking about going there.”

The Wildcats landed Nick Johnson from Findlay Prep and are also in the hunt for Oak Hill point guard Quinn Cook, who tentatively plans to visit Oct. 15.

“Nick Johnson’s going there,” he said. “They might get Quinn Cook. They might get me. They could be a top five recruiting class. I think us going there can get a national respect.”

Still, don’t forget about Baylor, which he visited last weekend.

“It was awesome,” he said. “The coaches are great. They are wonderful. They are a big decision for me.”

Nash likes that Baylor draws many AAU players he knows from Texas, including Nolan Dennis from his Dallas Mustangs team.

“It’s mostly guys that I know,” he said. “The rest of the guys [at Baylor] played with each other [in AAU].

“That’s gonna be a real factor.  It’s also got to do with who I can play with and who I can trust. I know I can trust them because I played with them before.”

Still, Oklahoma State has been recruiting Nash since the seventh grade and featured his half-brother Byron Eaton.

“He did his thing and if I choose Oklahoma State I’m gonna do mine,” Nash said of Eaton. “We’re two different players and two different people. I’m not looking at following in my brother’s footsteps. If Oklahoma State is the best decision for me I’m going to chose them.

“They’ve been recruiting me since the 7th grade and just me going, I think I’ll be the face of the school,” he added. “It’s a good basketball school. It’s a tremendous place to play. They are on TV a lot. Last year they beat Kansas. It’s a tough place to play.

“Me going there might give the fans more to come. We might even get a chance to win a national championship.”

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