2022 Four-star Rylan Griffen discusses recruitment, official visits
Rylan Griffen, a 6-5 shooting guard from Richardson, Texas, is taking his recruitment slow and is no rush to make a decision. Nevertheless, he’s already taken two official visits: Kansas State and Oklahoma State.
Griffen’s thoughts on the Kansas State Wildcats
Now I know what you’re thinking… a four-star prospect visiting a school like Kansas State? Just hear me out. Yes, it’s rare that Kansas State even lands a top-100 prospect, but this situation for Griffen is different.
Griffen has family ties to the school. His cousin, Thomas Gipson, played for the Wildcats several years ago, and Gipson’s best friend, Shane Southwell, is an assistant coach for the program.
Griffen visited the Wildcats on June 11 and gave his thoughts on his stay:
“I really like Coach Webber,” he said. “Down there it felt like family. They weren’t great last year but they started to get it together toward the end of the season. They only lost to Baylor by like five. They think they can be better this year. They added a couple of transfers, too. I watched them practice while I was on my visit, and I could tell they all like each other.”
Kansas State finished second to last in the Big 12 conference last year, finishing 9-20 overall. If the Wildcats improve this season, look for them to be one of the main contenders for Griffen.
Griffen’s thoughts on the Oklahoma State Cowboys
It’s no secret that Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham will be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, and the Cowboys are surely using that to their advantage on the recruiting trail.
Griffen visited Oklahoma State on June 19 and gave his thoughts:
“It went good,” he said. “Cade Cunningham went up there, but that’s not really what they were talking about. And that was interesting… that they didn’t talk much about Cade. They talked about how much better people get when they go there. Coach (Mike) Boynton just wants you to get better. I watched them practice, and they practice hard. On defense, they talk and communicate. It’s fun to see colleges compared to high school because it’s so different.”
Oklahoma State finished fifth in the loaded Big 12 conference last season, and will likely finish in the upper tier in the upcoming season as well. Oklahoma State has also been successful on the recruiting trail recently. Within the class of 2020, they finished with the No. 13 overall class and No. 2 in the Big 12. This offseason, they hit the transfer portal hard and landed Kansas’ Bryce Thompson, Texas Tech’s Tyreek Smith and Syracuse’s Woody Newton.
Rylan Griffen doesn’t have a timetable to narrow down his list of schools (27 offers), let alone announce a commitment. In fact, Florida State just entered the mix. Griffen does plan to take a few more college visits after the live period but doesn’t have any specific schools in mind just yet.