Cade Cunningham’s brother has been hired at Oklahoma State

2020 five-star guard and Kentucky target Cade Cunningham’s recruitment might be over before it really even begins.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys are set to hire Cannen Cunningham, Cade’s brother, to their coaching staff.

Welcome the newest assistant coach to the Cowboy basketball staff, Cannen Cunningham. #letswork #okstate

🏀 Standout forward at SMU under Larry Brown
🏀 Coaching/recruiting base in DFW
🏀 Spent ’18-19 season on staff at Tulane with @MikeDunleavySr

▶️ https://t.co/XiaCXLc41P pic.twitter.com/zmM6lAGZWF

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) June 25, 2019

Cunningham played basketball at SMU under Larry Brown before eventually spending the 2018-19 season on staff at Tulane.

Now, he’ll be tasked with convincing his brother, the No. 2 overall prospect in the class of 2020, to join him in Stillwater, OK.

As for Kentucky’s role in all of this, the Wildcats were long seen as the favorite in Cunningham’s recruitment before momentum shifted in Oklahoma State’s favor in May. UK once owned 100% of predictions for the 6-foot-7 guard’s Crystal Ball on 247Sports before the Cowboys received 11 consecutive picks, including from the likes of Evan Daniels, Andrew Slater, Brian Snow, and Jerry Meyer.

During the Nike EYBL regular season this spring, Kentucky was present for every one of Cunningham’s games and they were expected to make him a top priority for their 2020 recruiting class. And the interest has always been mutual.

“[Kentucky] is the first team I remember,” Cunningham told KSR at the Pangos All-American Camp this summer. “Coach Cal is great. It’s hard not to take a look at that track record and take them seriously.”

As for his interest in Oklahoma State, the five-star prospect said he has always had interest in the Cowboys out of pure loyalty to the program. After all, they were the first school to offer him a scholarship.

“Coach [Mike] Boynton, he was the first coach to offer me when he was an assistant,” he said. “So we’ve had a good connection, relationship since then.”

Back in May, the five-star guard trimmed his list down to ten, with Duke, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Texas, Virginia, and Washington making the cut. While he has said on multiple occasions that all of the schools on his list are on equal grounds, most assumed that his decision would come down to the Wildcats and the Cowboys.

With this news, though, it’d be silly to think Cunningham lands anywhere other than Oklahoma State next year.

Luckily for Kentucky, the Cats are seen as the favorite for both Jalen Green and Brandon Boston Jr., two five-star guards and top-10 prospects in the class of 2020.

Add an elite point guard such as Daishen Nix or Sharife Cooper to that backcourt, and UK will be absolutely set moving forward.

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