Lon Kruger’s approach on the recruiting trails has made it clear Oklahoma men’s basketball coach wants options in the backcourt.
OU added another versatile guard to the roster with the signing of Isaiah Cousins (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Vernon) on Wednesday. A 6-foot-4 combo guard, Cousins is a two-star prospect on ESPN.com who picked the Sooners over offers from Xavier, Virginia Tech, Rhode Island and Dayton.
Cousins fits the mold of fellow 2012 signee Je'lon Hornbeak as a guard who can play point guard or shooting guard.
"He has played a lot at the off (-guard position), he's played a lot at the point,” Kruger said in a release. “He's a guy who will come in here and make good plays for his teammates. Everyone will enjoy playing with him. He loves to play, he's a good competitor and he has a really high desire to get better and be as good as he can be."
Most importantly, he should provide depth and fit into the hard-working mentality Kruger continues to try to build the program upon.
“He's the ultimate gym rat,” said Mount Vernon coach Bob Cimmino who has coached at the school for the past 18 years. “Isaiah is probably the most improved player I've coached in my tenure at Mount Vernon.
“He's always had a great work ethic, but something just clicked in the last year, and as a result, his talent just escalated off the charts. He got better and better and became a dominant force in our games. He only knows how to play at one particular level and that's hard. Isaiah takes no plays off and he works equally hard on both ends of the court."
Cousins joins Hornbeak, Buddy Hield and invited walk-on C.J. Cole as newcomers to the program next fall.
