Where every player on the Oklahoma City Thunder played high school basketball, was ranked in their recruiting class

Contributor
Lance Smith
Where every player on the Oklahoma City Thunder played high school basketball, was ranked in their recruiting class image

With a gritty 111-104 road win against the Indiana Pacers, the Oklahoma City Thunder are back in the driver's seat of the NBA finals.

Their Game 4 victory restored their home court advantage for the series and constituted a disheartening blow to Indiana's momentum.

Before Oklahoma City's players were NBA finalists or even college stars, they were kids playing high school basketball – except for a few who were already professional hoopers overseas. Here's a quick look at where every player on the Thunder went to high school and stood as a prospect in their prep days.

(Recruiting rankings and offer sheets per 247Sports.com)

Alex Caruso, SG/SF/PG – A&M Consolidated (College Station, TX) – No. 86 in Class of 2012

At just 31 years old, Caruso is the elder statesman on the Thunder. He's developed an underdog persona for having ground his way up through the G-League after going undrafted and embracing a complementary role to cement his spot in the NBA. But Caruso was a big name in the Class of 2012, earning all-state honors, a 4-star ranking, and a spot in the national top 100 as a senior.

Kenrich Williams, SF/PF/SG – University (Waco, TX) – Unranked in Class of 2013

Like Caruso, Williams – Oklahoma City's only other player in his thirties – is a Texas high school product who entered the league undrafted as a defensive specialist. Unlike Caruso, however, Williams wasn't even a star recruit in high school. He averaged 14.6 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game as a senior at University before spending one season at New Mexico Junior College and then going to TCU.

Isaiah Hartenstein, C – Unranked in Class of 2016 (overseas professional)

Fun fact: Hartenstein, long one of Germany's top prospects/players, spent the first 10 or 11 years of his life growing up in Oregon before moving to Germany and shortly thereafter getting started in Germany's youth pipeline. He was an unranked prospect due to beginning his professional career in Europe before turning 18, playing first for Artland Dragons/QTSV Qüakenbruck and then briefly in Lithuania for Zalgiris Kaunas before the Houston Rockets drafted him in 2017. Hartenstein did make a couple youth appearances in the States at the 2014 Jordan Brand Classic International Game and 2017 Nike Hoop Summit.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, PG/SG – Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Chattanooga, TN) – No. 20 in Class of 2017

At 6-foot-6 with a 6-11 wingspan, SGA isn't many's people's idea of a midget. But he started his high school career by failing to make the St. Thomas More (Canada) junior team in ninth grade and instead starring on the midget team. Gilgeous-Alexander spent 10th grade at Sir Allan MacNab before doing two years in the States at Hamilton Heights Christian Academy, where he became a 5-star recruit ranked as high as 20th in his class.

Branden Carlsen, C/PF – Bingham (South Jordan, UT) – No. 153 in Class of 2017

You may be wondering what a current rookie was doing as a member of the Class of 2017. Carlsen was ranked as a high 3-star and low 4-star recruit at Bingham, where he was listed at 6-9 and 6-10 by the end of his high school career. After that, Carlsen went on a Church of Latter Day Saints mission for two years and then spent five years at Utah, which indeed means he was a rookie entering the fall of 2024. He was also up to seven feet tall by the middle of his career as a Ute.

Luguentz Dort, SG/SF – Athlete Institute Basketball Academy (Mono, Ontario, Canada) – No. 33 in Class of 2018

Given that he was a latecomer to the game of basketball, attended four schools in four years, and was a prototypical underdog entering the NBA undrafted as an undersized shooting guard who couldn't shoot, it might be surprising to hear that Dort was a national recruit. He was a 4-star guy and near-consensus top-50 prospect in his class who chose Arizona State over 16 other D-1 offers, most of which came from other traditionally strong high-major programs. Dort played his ninth grade near at a local secondary school in Quebec, spent his sophomore year at Arlington Country Day in Jacksonville, Florida, followed his ACDS head coach to Conrad Academy in Orlando for his junior year, and went back to Canada to spend his final prep season at Athlete Institute.

Aaron Wiggins, SF/SG – Wesleyan Christian (High Point, NC) – No. 47 in Class of 2018

Wiggins played his first three seasons at Grimsley in Greensboro, NC, before spending his last year at nationally-ranked Wesleyan Christian where he was an all-state senior. In his junior year at Grimsley, Wiggins was good but didn't set the world on fire, averaging 16.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.3 steals, 2.0 blocks, and 1.8 assists on 46/37/67 shooting splits for a team that went 16-9 but didn't play among the upper ranks of high school competition. Wiggins was presumably a natural late bloomer, but the scouting world saw his upside and he didn't fall through the cracks. By the end of his high school career he had double-digit college offers, almost entirely from traditional powerhouse programs, and he continuously improved during three years at Maryland.

Isaiah Joe, SG/PG – Northside (Fort Smith, AR) – No. 206 in Class of 2018

Hindsight is usually 20/20, but Joe's high 3-star ranking and lack of Division I offers makes a bit more sense than it does for most future NBA players. Joe was unquestionably one of the premier jump shooters in the Class of 2018, but a 6-foot-2, 160-pound off guard is a tough sell for blue bloods nonetheless. He got offers from Alabama, Arkansas-Little Rock, and Arkansas, the latter of which he attended and starred at right away before Philadelphia grabbed him in the second round two years later. Joe grew to 6-3 since leaving high school and has found ways to hold his own both on defense and when getting run off the three-point line, and he's blossomed as a prototypical three-point specialist.

Adam Flagler, PG – Duluth (Duluth, GA) – Unranked in Class of 2018

Although he finished high school as Duluth's all-time leader in points and three-point field goals, Flagler went unranked and only got one D-1 scholarship offer, which came from Presbyterian. He then transferred to Baylor where he became a First Team All-Big 12 honoree and undrafted NBA prospect.

Jalen Williams, SF/PF/SG – Perry (Gilbert, AZ) – No. 230 in Class of 2019

Williams has such a likable, well-rounded game and has been so good so quickly in the NBA that it's hard to imagine that he was a 3-star recruit. And playing at a heavyweight like Perry, it's not as if he lacked exposure to scouts. Instead, Williams was one of countless high-caliber NBA players who started off as a less heralded guard before hitting a late growth spurt. He was a 6-foot-3 combo guard checking into Santa Clara University who added two inches of height and 30 pounds of bulk in his three years of college ball. While Williams still only topped out at 6-5, his wingspan topped out at 7-2.25, good for a standing reach of 8-9.5 that rivals many starting power forwards.

Alex Ducas, SG/SF – Unranked in Class of 2019 (overseas professional)

The Australian national attended his first two years of high school at Nagle Catholic College in West Canberra followed by two years at Lake Ginninderra College, but it appears he only suited up for the Geraldton Buccaneers and BA Centre of Excellence in the semipro NBL1 during that time. Then he headed to the States to play five years of college ball for the St. Mary's Gaels. Coincidentally, fellow Australian and 2016 NBA champion Matthew Dellavedova also attended Lake Ginninderra Secondary College and BA Centre of Excellence/Australian Institute of Sport before playing for St. Mary's College.

Jaylin Williams, PF/C – Northside (Fort Smith, AR) – No. 102 in Class of 2020

Fort Smith Northside ring a bell? Williams is the second Bear on this list after Isaiah Joe two classes above him, and they did indeed play high school basketball together for two years before reuniting on the Oklahoma City Thunder. After Joe graduated, Williams was a two-time Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Division I Player of the Year and, as a senior, Arkansas' Gatorade Player of the Year with 18.7 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.5 blocks per game.

Dillon Jones, SF – Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, KS) – No. 444 in Class of 2020

Jones didn't hit a late growth spurt but was simply a late bloomer in his basketball development. Thus, his uninspiring national ranking and 3-star status. With that said, he did help lead Keenan to a 30-1 record and state title as a junior in South Carolina with 12.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 2.9 steals a game on 57% shooting. Sunrise Christian was the No. 1 team in Kansas during his only season there – stats aren't available but it sounds like he made it count. Weber State was the highest-profile program out of six to offer him, and he eventually worked his way to the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft as a Wildcat.

Chet Holmgren, PF/C – Minnehaha Academy (Minneapolis, MN) – No. 1 in Class of 2021

While some picked nits with his particularly skinny frame for a big man, Holmgren has been a no-brainer future NBA star for a long, long time. He was the top overall recruit in the Class of 2021 with a rating of 100 in both 247Sports' own rankings and 247Sports Composite Rankings, and being the consensus No. 1 recruit is no joke for a class that included high school sensations such as Paolo Banchero and Emoni Bates. A whopping 30 colleges offered Holmgren, which might not seem like a high number to the football recruiting crowd but is extraordinarily high in the basketball world.

Ajay Mitchell, PG – No. 165 in Class of 2021 (overseas professional)

Unlike most European products who go pro before the age of 18, the Belgium product was able to spent two years in the PBL without losing his NCAA eligibility. Then at 19 years old he headed to UC Santa Barbara as a high 3-star recruit, eventually becoming a Mountain West Player of the Year and second round NBA Draft pick.

Ousmane Dieng, PF/SF – INSEP Paris (Paris, France) – Unranked in Class of 2021 (overseas professional)

Like Hartenstein, Dieng was a well-known prospect during what would've been his high school years but was unranked since he was already an overseas pro. Despite getting recruited by college powerhouses such as Memphis, Gonzaga, Arizona, and Stanford, plus the NBA G-League Ignite, Dieng went to the NBL at 18 years old to play for the New Zealand Breakers in his last year before getting drafted 11th overall by the Thunder (via trade from the New York Knicks) in 2021.

Cason Wallace, PG – Richardson (Richardson, TX) – No. 5 in Class of 2022

Wallace is one of just a select few members of the Thunder who were slated to make the NBA years before they ever did so. He was a 5-star McDonald's All-American and Texas' Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior at Richardson for averaging 19.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per game for the eighth-ranked team in the country. Wallace lived up to the hype, going 10th overall in the 2023 NBA Draft after one strong season at Kentucky, and has proven himself quickly as a bona fide NBA player.

Nikola Topic, PG/SG – Unranked in Class of 2023 (overseas professional)

OKC's 2024 lottery pick is still just 19 years of age, but he already has three years of pro ball under his belt playing for a whopping total of five teams. Topic made his pro debut at 16 for Crvena zvezda and also played for Slodes, OKK Beograd, and Mega in just two years playing in Europe. He's yet to make his NBA debut due to a torn ACL he suffered two months before he was drafted. The fact that little information is available about his path to NBA radars and he tore his ACL before the draft but still went 12th overall tells you everything you need to know about how highly scouts think of his talent.

RELATED: