It’s happened so much that it shouldn’t come as a surprise, but there we were again Tuesday night with more jaws on the floor.
Early in the first quarter, and there’s Kingfisher (Okla.) High’s Bijan Cortes leaping over Bethany defenders to slam down a baseline out of bounds alley-oop pass.
If a photo can say a thousand words, the reactions of Bethany students and supporters in the background told the story.
Cortes, ranked No. 150 in the Rivals 150 for the 2021 class, committed to Oklahoma two weeks ago and goes out every night and shows exactly why.
On this occasion, the junior had 24 points, six rebounds, four steals and eclipsed the 1,000-point career mark in a 75-63 road victory.
Kingfisher is undefeated and left Tuesday evening 74-2 with Cortes and riding a 40-game winning streak that includes winning last year’s Class 4A state championship.
The target is always on their back, especially when it comes to Cortes.
“It’s hard, but at the same time, you just have to go out there and do it,” Cortes said. “Listen to your coaches and don’t worry about what others are saying about you.”
Cortes said heading into seventh grade was when he really started to notice he might have Division I basketball talent. OU didn’t come in that early, but head coach Lon Kruger and staff had known about Cortes for a while and made the offer last April.
OU continued to pursue Cortes, and after his official visit, he said he had a strong feeling he knew it was time to make the call.
“A week or two before I committed is when I knew,” Cortes said. “During my official visit, it felt like home when I was there. I loved it down there. Everything about it. The way the coaches explained things and hanging out with the players. I felt it was the best fit for me.”
Cortes didn’t give himself a self-imposed deadline, but he said he did think he would wrap things up early so that he could focus on one thing at a time. It’s worked so far.
The Team Griffin all-star team has been a priority for the Sooners, and Cortes is definitely a key piece to that puzzle. Now it’s time to work on the others.
“Yea, for sure,” said Cortes about recruiting for the Sooners. “Him (Trey Alexander) and Damion, another big target that I’m trying to land, too. I talk to them once in a while about it, just saying ‘it could be us in the future’ and that sort of stuff.”
Cortes’ goal outside of recruiting has been to work on his all-around game. He’s had the highlight-worthy dunks, but there were some who wasn’t sure he could shoot.
He focused a lot on that and the results were on full display Tuesday. He was 7-of-8 from the field (3-4 from 3-point territory) and 7-8 from the free throw line. Hard to top the efficiency of 24 points on just eight shots.
Commitment to OU is locked down, no second thoughts. Cortes is comfortable in Norman, and OU fans will have a long time to get familiar with who definitely has the potential of being a very popular name when he arrives.